-I heard of Surfer Dan. -Yes.
He has the world's most epic beard in the winter.
-Wait, so you've actually seen him?
-Yes, stopped on the side of the road
in a really bad storm.
I was like, "There's this man out there surfing.
What is happening?"
-He comes out of the water and this, like, frozen beard.
-We've got some pretty extreme people up here,
but he's one of the most extreme extreme people.
-He's like a local legend. He takes care of everyone.
-I think somebody, like, almost died, and he saved them,
like, on his surfboard or some shit like that.
-My understanding is that he literally just,
like, lives in the water.
-I don't think he's real.
♪♪
-Morning.
How's the sky look out there?
Let me check the forecast.
-Still building.
-Wind chill, 7 degrees Fahrenheit.
-7? -Yeah, it looks like
you're probably gonna be bearding today, dude.
I guess everybody kind of thinks they know Surfer Dan, myself.
Hardcore Dan, Surfer Dan, Psycho Dan, Late for Dinner Dan,
whatever you want to call me Dan.
Do they really know me or do they just know of me?
Dan Solo.
Surfer Dan Squatch.
I got to find my pants Dan.
My name is Daniel, I live in Marquette, Michigan.
It's the biggest town in the UP.
Man, I sure love living in my hometown.
♪♪
A Yooper is someone from the Upper Peninsula of Michigan,
born in the Upper Peninsula of Michigan.
Someone who loves the Upper Peninsula of Michigan.
My friend Allen's staying here right now,
catching waves, ice bearding, doing his thing,
and I have my dog, and I have a lot of friends,
and I'm really grateful for that.
♪♪
So cold right now.
There's waves breaking over the wall over there right now,
splashing over it.
There's waves, baby.
Smokey, you ready?
Go. Come on.
Up there. That a boy.
We can't see the bottom of the lake.
We don't really know what's in there.
We think we know what's in there.
And I know the ocean has way more life in it,
it's older and everything,
but there's also mysteries in the lake,
there's magic spirit beings, there's folk lore,
there's Grandfather Turtle at the bottom of the lake,
moving around.
♪♪
This is where the ice beard started for me, right here.
I started surfing this spot with a wet suit,
and then I noticed I started to get icicles on my beard,
and it made me feel like I was a kid again
when you take a shower before school,
and you're walking to school, and your hair freezes,
but it was on my face,
and I had this vision to grow the ice beard in the wet suit,
and then cut out of the wet suit, and surf naked,
and the ice beard would be so big
that it would cover my private parts.
Through the ice surfing and the beard,
this media thing these days,
and learning how to use the Internet a little bit,
it's really, like, sort of exploded.
♪♪
I shaved my beard for next year,
so the focus is on Allen's ice beard this year.
Man, he's got a great ice beard. -I saw Dan ice beard it up.
He called me up, I hadn't seen him in years,
and he goes, "Do you have your beard still?"
And I said yeah. He sent me that picture,
and I was just like, "I got to do this."
You know, he's just like, "Get up here, man.
We're gonna bully them with your beard."
And I'm glad to be back.
Every time I get a chance to come back and surf,
like, I just love to.
It's like a garden of Eden, kind of, except, like,
just made of snow and ice.
I didn't realize how hard the lakes are to surf
because it's no salt in the water,
so the buoyancy's a lot less, but it gets really fun.
It's a real wild thing getting in the water
and then feeling that water the first time
every day, like, that first hit.
-Yeah!
♪♪
Surfing's a weird thing because it's sort of a selfish thing.
You're enjoying this beautiful magic place,
so you kind of want to guard it,
but at the same time, it feels so good.
Me as a person, I want to share that feeling.
First time I surfed, I was living in Okinawa, Japan,
and we stopped in Waikiki on the way to Michigan,
and I caught a wave with a boogie board,
and I was like, "Whoo!
This is the best feeling ever!"
And instantly, I was addicted.
Then we came back to Michigan and I saw the waves.
So now I had this new thing called surfing in my mind
and in my heart to apply to our local waves.
I kind of sort of gave up on school
for the life of the lake.
I drifted away from surfing for quite a while,
and now that I'm back into surfing,
it's really -- it's become my medicine.
I quit drinking, I got back into surfing.
Had I not, I would probably be dead or in prison
because surfing has saved my life.
♪♪
Hi, everybody.
Come say hit to them.
Say hi to the pigeons, dude.
-There's pigeons? Hey, pigeons!
-Fly around a little bit.
There they go! There they are.
Come here, babies.
Okay, let's go get some food.
What's up?
-Dan! -We got a crew.
-I know, they were in yesterday. -Hold on, feel this.
-Ugh! I hate it. -No!
-Just let me warm up a little bit.
-Don't do it!
-Okay, okay, okay. -Give me a hug.
-I didn't know if you were around here anymore.
-Dan! -Come on in,
we're sitting at the counter.
Let me get a steak and eggs.
-Surfer Dan comes here about three or four times a week.
I'd say this is his spot.
I think it's crazy that he surfs in the winter.
It's so cold in the summer in the lakes,
I can barely get in the lake.
I can't imagine how cold it is in the winter.
-He doesn't have, like, a specific job.
He kind of just works on his own.
I don't know, he's kind of just like a free bird,
just kind of surfs and finds jobs here and there, I think.
-Everybody's got different skill levels and bravery levels,
and it can be very dangerous.
So, being comfortable in these positions
and knowing what's happening can really help save your life.
When the fire chief told me
that I'm the most valuable guy in the water during rescues...
I agreed with him.
Whoo!
-He's rescued at least three people I know from drowning.
-I've saved a lot of people.
Last summer, I was out at a little inland lake,
and there was a raft where all the kids were playing.
The moms were on the beach talking,
and I see a kid struggling
right in front of everybody, but nobody sees him.
So I jumped on this kayak and I paddled straight to him.
He went right under,
and I reached down out of nowhere,
and I picked him up and put him on the kayak.
He would've drowned right in front of everybody!
I'm not always looking, I can't save everybody.
When it happens, that makes me feel good
that I helped someone live to have another breath.
Hey, you guys should get in over there where it's beautiful!
Come on.
Where it's beautiful over there,
with the trees in the water and the sand.
-Over there? -Yeah, over here.
♪♪
-Whoo!
♪♪
When I go surfing, sometimes I'll get so cold
and so hypothermic that I'm convulsing,
that activity itself
makes me really appreciate normal, everyday life
that gets boring or depressing to me.
So all of a sudden, I'm grateful for those warm,
boring times where I felt restless.
Now I'm really grateful for a hot shower,
a comfortable chair to sit in,
and surfing in this cold weather and that, it --
it brings it back into perspective for me.
I don't really know what a legend is.
It's a lot of pressure, but at the same time,
I'm not trying to live up to that.
I'm just being me because I think the fun stuff we do
is so unique that it seems legendary to people when,
to me, it's kind of, like, normal.
You can look at us and say,
"Oh, they're not that great of surfers," or --
or, "Those waves aren't really that good,"
but it gets real out there, and it can be very dangerous,
but I think that's part of the draw for me.
Sometimes I get to the brink of death,
but it really makes me feel alive.
As much as it almost kills me,
it's really given me more of a purpose.
♪♪
Isn't it fun when I'm talking?
The...
♪♪