FIELD NOTES: THE MAKING OF "FROSTBITE" WITH NED HART

In the bleak, wind-beaten corners of the North Atlantic, where frigid slabs and weather windows vanish in minutes, a surf film quietly took shape. FROSTBITE documents the spontaneous journey of Test Pilot Ned Hart as he chased heavy water across the coasts of Ireland and Scotland. What began as a loose adventure among friends quickly became a defining project for both Ned and filmmaker Oscar James.

“I had very little expectations and no plan to make any kind of film,” Oscar admits. “I just wanted to shoot.” But as each session unfolded they realized they were onto something. “If we got our heads down, we could actually create something pretty unique.”

The Cold & The Chaos

Oscar, who grew up braving the unruly weather of Scotland, is no stranger to the kind of conditions that would make most people retreat. But in the water this trip tested him like never before. “That slab session right at the start of the film,” he recalls. “It was pumping 15ft+, sets were closing out the channel into a cliff. I was thrown from the ski trying to escape a massive closeout. I didn’t want to swim that day—but I did. And I came away with some of the best footage I’ve ever shot. That swim defined FROSTBITE for me."

"It was the first time I had to truly swim in surf that size with a camera in hand. Everything in my body was screaming not to go, but I knew if I didn’t, I’d regret it.”

Oscar pointed his lens at the mayhem and pressed record. And from that chaos, he captured what would become the defining footage of the film. Not just because it was epic—but because he had to earn it. Every frame came with a shot of fear, a dose of adrenaline, and a deeper respect for the cold slabs of the Atlantic.

That swim, he says, changed everything. Just instinct and artistry. “This entire process pushed me mentally and physically right to my limit—and often over it.”

For Ned, FROSTBITE was equally transformative. Just days before flying to Europe, he cracked his heel bone. “I wasn’t able to walk. I had to postpone the trip by a week just to be able to fly,” he says. “I was constantly battling the injury, but the real struggle was mental—wondering if it would get better or worse while still wanting to push myself in waves like that.”

Ned grew up in Western Australia, where heavy water is part of the DNA. Cold slabs, unpredictable ledges, violent wipeouts—he’d seen it all before. But the North Atlantic was different. It wasn’t just about size or danger. It was the atmosphere. The bite in the wind. The gray tension of the sky. “There’s something thrilling about waves like that,” he said. “Daunting at the start. But the reward hits deeper when you make one.”

That payoff came at the end of the trip, in a session that tested everything he had left. Wave after wave, he got hammered. Everyone else had gone in. He was alone in the lineup, sore, rattled, and almost done.

“I swung on one,” he said. “The takeoff wasn’t perfect. But I made the air drop, held the line, and rode the slab the whole way.”

"That was the one. That was the wave.”

He and Oscar met just before the trip, and their working rhythm was simple. Ned surfed. Oscar filmed. They traveled together, kept things stripped back, and let the ocean set the tone. “There wasn’t a big plan,” Ned said. “We just went and did exactly what we came to do.”

In many ways, FROSTBITE was a Slab Tour of Ned’s own making—one inspired by Nathan Florence, whose ability to chase remote, dangerous waves around the globe helped carve out the blueprint. “Nathan’s kind of an enigma,” Ned says. “He’s everywhere at once. He gets the job done, no matter how gnarly the spot. Watching him is inspiring, and I hope I can follow that same path.”

But to chase waves like that, you have to come prepared—not just physically or mentally, but with gear that holds up when the weather turns.

“The elements will always get you first,” he says. “Out there, everything bites harder—the wind, the rain, the cold. That gear kept me warm, kept the heat in, and let me stay focused when things got real.”

And things did get real. "I can’t thank Nathan and FLORENCE enough for giving me a pathway to chase some of the craziest, most evil waves on Earth.”

“These are the prime duo,” he says of the Pertex® Down Puffer and 5/3mm Hooded Wetsuit. “The wind had this insane bite to it. But the gear kept the heat in and the weather out. I’d recommend them to anyone heading into that kind of chaos.”

SHOP NED'S TESTED GEAR

FROSTBITE is currently touring at select film festivals and is set to release online later this year.