Surfing in Switzerland with the Tudor Black Bay Ceramic
Mike ChristensenWhen you think of popular sports in Switzerland beginning with ’S’, naturally skiing or snowboarding spring to mind; soccer sometimes, squash if you’re that way inclined and skydiving at a stretch. Indeed, given the country’s land-locked geographical whereabouts, it will come as a surprise to many that you can also surf there. It’s not some freak swell that magically materialises on Lake Geneva once in a blue moon or a novelty wave William Finnegan found and frothed about in Barbarian Days: A Surfing Life – we’re talking consistent sets of perfect barrelling waves.
Opening its doors on May 1 this year, Alaïa Bay wave pool has brought shakas, improved rail games and the sweet smell of surf wax to Sion – the most sun-blessed town of Switzerland. A dream project of surfer Adam Bonvin, Alaïa Bay’s inception came back in 2016 when Bonvin launched a crowdfunding campaign after being inspired by a surf trip to Hossegor on France’s west coast. Within months it raised hundreds of thousands of dollars and paved the way, or should I say wave, for Switzerland’s first-ever surfing hotspot – 500m above sea level and at least a day’s drive away from any other rideable waves.
The first of its kind in continental Europe, the technical and mechanical feat is down to the Wavegarden Cove system that also powers wave pools in Bristol and Melbourne. Without going into specifics, all you need to know is that there’s an on switch, and once pressed it delivers guaranteed wave after wave of varying heights and sizes depending on the setting (there are 20 in total) – which means it’s perfect for all abilities, from beginner right up to the pros.
Being the born-to-dare type within the watch world, in no time at all Tudor announced a partnership with Alaïa Bay which, for a watch lover and a surfing fiend like myself, is a match made in heaven. With a horology-oriented trip to Switzerland already in the diary, it seemed only right that I should try and get a surf session in as well.
A two-hour scenic drive from Genèva, it’s worth the trip alone just for the chance to see the stunning vistas over Lake Genèva and upwards towards the Swiss Alps. On arrival, the backdrop to the waves is like few others as you are essentially surfing with snow-topped mountains all around you. In true Tudor spirit, instead of just trying out Alaïa Bay’s waves for size, I figured why not put the latest Black Bay ceramic model through its METAS-certified paces at the same time.
Also in May of this year, Tudor announced that it would be joining Omega as another watchmaker to serve timepieces with a Master Chronometer certification from METAS. Before making tracks to Alaïa Bay for my surf, I had the pleasure of being shown around the METAS corner office at Tudor HQ, which is where meticulous tests are run to determine whether the water/pressure, timing, and anti-magnetism match METAS’s high standard.
In order to qualify for such a certification, each watch has to be COSC-certified and comply to the following standards. It must display precision at two temperatures in six different positions and at two different levels of power reserve (100 per cent and 33 per cent); it must be smooth functioning when exposed to a magnetic field of 15,000 gauss and still be precise following exposure; it must be 200m water-resistance in accordance with ISO standard 22810:2010; it must boast a 70-hour power reserve and it must have regulated performance within a five-second range of variation each day (0 +5).
Taking stock of these prerequisites in the surf, I can confirm that some of my wipeouts early on in the session may well have equated to a high-pressured environment as I was bashed around by a few waves, though nothing like 15,000 gauss. So far as depth goes, I rarely fell below two metres under water and in terms of temperatures, again I gave it a red-hot go fluctuating from the gorgeous late summer sun out of the water to the rather chilly water temperature.
With its distinctive matt black case, the Black Bay ceramic proved something of an eye opener to my fellow surfers in the water, all keen to cop an eyeful of the black beauty on my wrist.
And as far as my surf went, Alaïa Bay has the added benefit of having its own in-house surfboard shaper in Carlos Lopes, so after speaking to him I was able to find and ride a board that was as close to my own as possible. That and the fact Alaïa Bay has the biggest surf shop in the country meant that despite being in unfamiliar territory I was still kitted out as best as I possibly could be without the faff of having to check boards into flights and all that malarkey. Instead, I was able to just turn up and surf as many waves as my arms could paddle into in an hour. Like I said, some were better than others but each time the beauty of a wave pool is that, like the Black Bay on my wrist, it rounds like clockwork. Just as every second ticks forward on the watch, each wave glides through at the same silky pace as the next. There is a synergy to wave pools where the ocean is only able to deliver raw energy. And I guess that’s why this partnership between Alaïa Bay and Tudor works so well – because it’s the best of man-made mechanisms paired with and inspired by the beauty of raw materials and nature.
So next time you take a trip to the home of watches, remember to sign yourself up for some waves at the same time – we dare you.