Harrison Roach Talks Equipment, Travel, And Entering The Fantasy Realm

Goblins. Dragons. Gargoyles and Imps. Oddly specific elf attraction fantasies. Hosting multi-day role play sagas with your bros. Writing confessionals in your journal in Runic script. 

The Fantasy realm is, without a doubt, a fabulously rich world to be involved in, and after learning that the 2022 WSL World Longboard Champ moonlights as a misunderstood wizard, medieval weaponry has never seemed more enticing.

“I’m in a group chat called Lord of the Memes, man,” Harrison Roach confesses, proudly. “We just send each other Lord of the Rings memes all day. When the real world’s too tough, don’t start looking to conspiracy theories. Just dive deep into fantasy books — swords and elves and shit. You’ll do much better for yourself. You’ll still be able to have a Christmas lunch with your family and not piss anyone off.”

Hailing from Queensland’s temperamental, swell-starved Sunny Coast, Harry’s been forced to seek out escapism in other pursuits — fantasy fiction, for one — but also in unconventional boards to keep surfing fun during the quiet months. “Different horses for different courses” appears to be a mantra he’s latched onto, and it’s clearly worked out for him. Is there a more proficient generalist — a true master of all trades — than Harry?

“When I was growing up, I used to get called all kinds of names for riding a bunch of different boards,” Harry recalls. “But our waves here lend themselves so well to a variety of surfcraft. Even when I was a grom, I always thought everyone else was tripping. I was having a better time than everyone else in the water — smiling while they were getting aggressive, trying to rip and get all their waves on the point in mid-summer. As long as you trust in doing what’s fun, then you can’t be doing anything wrong. If you’re having a good time, then fuck, who cares?”

When I poke around, half jokingly, to see if he’s been spending any time on a HP thruster, he responds emphatically toward the affirmative.

“Fucking oath I have been. I actually started getting into them after doing The Mysterious Affair a few years ago. After that, I started building a relationship with guys at JS, and I’ve been getting some really mean thrusters lately. I’m absolutely loving them.”

In the second instalment of Creatures ‘Packed’ series, we see Harry skylarking at home — a place he’s come to love more than any other. “When you’re young, you kind of want to get out and experience other things, get away from the place you grew up in,” he reflects. “But the more I did it, the more I just wanted to be back here, and now I don’t pretend any other way. I’m just happy here. It might not be forever, but right now it’s fucking good.”

In the episode, we watch the world champ sliding on a variety of boards, reflecting on the use of wetsuits as diapers, his surfing, his life in general, and his travel tips. None more profound, however, than this: 

“For comfort purposes, I religiously listen to The Hobbit and the Lord of the Rings series, read by Andy Serkis — the guy who did the Gollum voice. Whenever I’m stressed, having a shit day, or have a long flight ahead of me, I just put that on. It fixes everything.”