Back from a trip to East Indo and faced with one of the coldest and rainiest springs ever at home in France, Reunion Isle Adrien Toyon decided to tag along on a early season one month stay to Tahiti with Joan Duru. He only just released the video footage today, spliced with a few chilly springtime windows back at home, but here’s what the slick goofyfooter had to say when we caught up with him early in the year.

How did your first trip to Teahupoo come about?
Joan [Duru] had planned to go and when I got back from Bali he invited me last minute. Who even says ‘no’ to a trip to Tahiti? We left from [Hossegor] together but I had to pick some boards in Cali so I stopped off there and then met up with him again in Tahiti.

How’d you find the waves there?
I wasn’t really feeling my surfing while I was there. Couldn’t seem to do any turns and just as well really as I just totally happy to spend my days getting barrelled at Teahupoo. I arrived with a full boardbag and I flew back with none. It wasn’t even that big but Teahupoo is so powerful.

Get raked across the bottom much?
A little bit but nothing too bad. There were a few that I got too deep on.

How big did it get?
The very biggest ones were probably 8ft. I definitely want to go back when it’s a little bit bigger. It’s kinda fun being a little scared. Having said that even on the smaller ones when you see all that water sucking up off the reef it’s scary as shit.