Ambassador- Dante Peter Valentino

Dante Peter Valentino

Born and raised in TC I spent all my summers on and in the waters of the Old Mission Peninsula. From an early age my family traveled to Florida a few times a year where my older brothers started surfing, and me being to young I stayed on the beaches and took to skim boarding. After deciding to bring some boards back I started going down to Frankfort with my mom who enjoyed the beautiful beaches of Lake Michigan. This is where we realized it was possible to surf the Great Lakes. From then on I was addicted and once I was able to drive headed to Lake Michigan with some close friends when ever there was waves, and many times there ended up not being. The best part about Lake Michigan surfing is the closeness of the crew in the line ups and the amazing feeling of being apart of the water. Most people don’t believe you can surf the lakes and just think your crazy, and that is just fine. The less fools the better. Nothing gives you the feeling of catching a wave past the elbow at Frankfort and riding it all the way in, or trying to duck into a barrel on the steep wave of Leland.

What makes M-22 so sick is what the company is trying to do for Northern Michigan, both the lifestyle and the opportunities thats being made for kids.

I now live in Boulder, Colorado where I attended the University of Colorado and spend my winters skiing. I moved for my passion of skiing and the outdoors- the mountains are nasty-but not having water makes me miss the beauty of Northern Michigan and realize how blessed I was to grow up in such a place and call home.