Nuclear winds at Lake Garda - a story by Fabio Calo

27th of April 2016 was a very wavy and windy day on Lake Garda in Italy. The Italian wave rider and Mr. 4windsurf Fabio Calo challenged the storm and wrote a story about this day.

Fabio after an awesome session (Pic: FotoFiore)

Fabio after an awesome session at Assenza, Lago di Garda (Pic: FotoFiore)

The temperature has been dropping the last days. I checked the forecast: grey and bad weather until next week. Let’s hope the forecast is wrong which happens often in Lake Garda. Social friends posted photos of snow while it was grey and cold in Malcesine. I was at work in front of the computer, looking forward to a not really great windsurfing day.

Malcesine, Lake Garda (Pic: FotoFiore)

Around lunchtime the wind picked up a lot from the northern direction and it started to rain and then suddenly it started to clear up. In the northern part of the lake it was still cloudy but in the South there was sun and the wind was picking up. I had a look on the webcam and immediately knew it’s about time to leave the office, to get in the car and drive down further south to Malcesine. I ran home, got my windsurfing gear ready and set off for Assenza. It was cold and the Peler wind blew with 30 knots and in gusts of up to 35 knots. I loaded my wave board and a 4.2m sail inside the van.

Although I was used to the milder temperatures from the week before, my enthusiasm was unbroken. When I arrived at Malcesine no other windsurfer was on the water and only two windsurfers went out at Navene. The wind was blowing with nuclear wind force and the temperature went up to 11°C with the sun.

Fabio is rigging (Pic: FotoFiore)

I had a flashback to the gale of March 5th 2015, when I went out at Assenza in front of the Trimelone Island. Another epic day at Lake Garda! I kept on driving a few kilometers further south while I realized that the conditions could be even better in Crero, Desenzano and Toscolano. But it was already 3pm and there wasn’t that much time left to make it on the water.

Finally I decided to go to Assenza, parked there and rigged my 4.2m. Thinking about my experience last year when it was impossible to keep my freestyle board on the water I revised my ideas and got out on the lake on my wave board this time!

Fabio Calo nails a Forward (Pic: FotoFiore)

Fabio Calo is ready for the landing (Pic: FotoFiore)

I was ready for a great session of Back Loops and Forwards. The run from the beach to the island isn’t very long but long enough to pick up some speed and have a powerful take off on one of the steep sweet water ramps. During the session, just for the fun of it, I tried to surf front-side on a couple of beach break waves. We definitely got lake waves this time!

Fabio Calo throws some spray (Pic: FotoFiore)

All in all a Wednesday to remember. The session at the beach came to an end and we drank a beer and then went back to work. Fiore, the photographer, left too, with a lot of great shots on his memory card. I drove back to the office with my usual ‘post photo-shoot’ smile, happy in the knowledge that I live in one of the most beautiful places in the world.