Clif Bar Cold Shot Challenge 4.0: January Recap

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The Clif Bar Cold Shot Challenge is back and we could not be more stoked.  Celebrating its 4th year, Clif Bar has increased the prize purse to 10k! Running from Mid-December to March 31st, photographers and surfers from North Carolina to Maine and the Great lakes have their shot to take home some big bucks.  Similar to last year, there will be smaller Swell Packages up for grabs throughout the waiting period so stay tuned for when those will pop up.

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The start of 2020 kicked off with a great dose of swell for the Atlantic Seaboard.  The New Years swell graced our coastline with waves in the head high range and offshore winds for most easterly facing shorelines.  Just about every Sunday of the month had clean, solid waves allowing for some really great entries from every region.  

 

The first week of January saw some cold, clean, smaller but really fun surf; then came the heat wave.  On Sunday January 12th, the East Coast experienced unusually high temperatures, reaching the 70s in New York and New Jersey.  Coupled with the unseasonably warm weather came an overhead south swell along with offshore winds for many east facing shores lines.  What felt like a mild summer day made changing in and out of a 5 millimeter wetsuit quite pleasant.  

 

During this swell our friends at Yeti decided to give out the first Swell Package to the best photo entered.  Yeti narrowed it down to the top four photos, then it was down to the public to vote on their favorite. Timmy Torchia ended up walking away with a Yeti Tundra Haul for a photo he shot of James McMahon parked in a heaving righthander. Congrats Timmy!

Winner of the Yeti Swell Giveaway. Photo: Timmy Torchia Surfer: James McMahon

 

The following two Sundays saw another round of waves with some really great photos entered.  January really set the bar for February and March. Only thing we can hope for is a big snowstorm coinciding with some big barrels. Fingers crossed.

Lastly, we would like to thank all of the photographers and surfers who have supported us over the past 4 years.  We are so stoked on your enthusiasm and passion for cold water surf photography. Clif Bar also deserves a huge shoutout; without them this contest would not be possible, thanks so much guys!  Good luck to everyone in the coming months.