Meet Orion Montreal’s Winter Ice Surfer on the St Lawrence

Meet Orion, Montreal’s legendary winter surfer who transforms the frozen St. Lawrence River into his own surf break. While most people stay far from the water once temperatures drop, Orion paddles straight into the current, carving river waves in the dead of winter. He weaves through massive chunks of ice and, at times, rides them downstream while searching for the perfect landlocked wave. Anyone who has stood near the St. Lawrence, even in summer, knows how intimidating it can be. The river is dark, fast, churning, and filled with powerful eddies. In winter, it becomes an entirely different and far more dangerous challenge.

Originally from British Columbia, Orion Miller moved to Montreal with his prog jazz and hip-hop band, The OM Sound, drawn by the city’s creative energy and vibrant arts scene. After settling in, he quickly discovered a surprising concentration of world-class river waves close to his new home. Today, Miller is an award-winning cold-water river surfer best known for riding the powerful rapids of the St. Lawrence River year-round. His most iconic sessions take place at the icy standing wave near Habitat 67, where he regularly surfs in brutal winter conditions, surrounded by floating ice and freezing temperatures.

Winner of Best Short Movie at the International Surf Film Festival Anglet in 2025, ORION offers a striking glimpse into the life and mindset of Montreal’s ice surfer. Known for surfing year-round on the St. Lawrence River, Orion willingly faces extreme conditions, including brutal cold that can plunge below minus 30 Celsius. Surrounded by ice floes and freezing spray, he searches for waves far from any ocean, redefining what surfing can be in a landlocked city.

ORION is not just a surf film. It is a lyrical and intimate journey into the “why” behind Orion’s obsession with cold, movement, and pushing beyond physical and mental limits. A true iceman, Orion is one of the only surfers in Montreal willing to measure himself against the river during the harshest Canadian winter months. His story captures the raw beauty, danger, and quiet poetry of winter surfing, proving that the search for waves does not end when the water freezes.