Photographer Chris Burkard said that Norway was the coldest location he has ever surfed. (Chris Burkard)

Photos of surfers riding swells are nothing new, but California-based photographer has taken his surfing excursions to the most unexpected places all over the world -- the icy waters of Norway, Russia and Iceland.

“I love places like Malibu, but that scene has never been for me,” Burkard told weather.com. “My surf experience and mindset has always been destitute as I gravitate towards empty coastlines with nothing but myself, a surfer, and a dramatic landscape.”

There’s nothing easy about this feat. The freezing beaches are often difficult to access due to snow, and the surfers have to take a snowmobile or a military truck to get to their destination.

“Surfing in cold water is a constant battle against the elements,” said Burkard. “Some days the air temps would be below freezing, and keeping your hands warm is a losing fight. Other days, we would pull up to a spot with clear skies, and within 20 minutes be in a blizzard. In Iceland the weather is constantly shifting and it seems every 30 minutes, a new front comes through.”

His trip to Norway in March 2012 was, he said, the coldest location in which he’s ever surfed.

“The surfing sessions were especially brutal. After we would get out of the ocean we would be racing for the hot tubs for instant warmth,” the photographer explained.

However, Burkard is inspired by the cold waters. Growing up in Central California, he was introduced to the chilly Pacific at an early age. He bought his first camera from Goodwill for $65 after graduating from high school, and immediately started taking photos of the sea. This hobby developed into a love for landscape photography.

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The cold temperatures Burkard experienced weren’t even the largest of the problems he faced on his journeys. Visa complications landed him in a Russian jail for a short period of time. He lost all of his gear on a small boat off the coast of Chile thanks to a drunk captain’s careless driving. In Alaska, he found himself face-to-face with a pod of orcas, which were between he and the boat he was trying to swim towards. Luckily, after waiting a bit, the whales moved enough so that Burkard was able to swim safely around them.

“You accept that element of danger before you are even at the beach,” Burkard explained. “In general, the colder the climate the greater chance there is of something going wrong. It feels dangerous but it also is good to scare yourself a little bit.”