( CNN ) -- The cold has cleared the sunbathing crowds from New Jersey 's beaches , yet the freezing temperatures wo n't keep some surfers out of the water . They have grown up with `` ice cream headaches '' -- the painful ache when you eat something cold too fast -- they are the surfers from New Jersey . `` I 've had times when icicles form in my hair , '' says surfer Andrew Gesler . Even the smallest waves will have the hardcore surfer walking over the snow-covered sand to take advantage of the power of the chilly Atlantic Ocean . For years , professional surfer and cancer survivor Dean Randazzo has been among those in the frigid waters , wearing a full wet suit , hoodie , gloves and booties . `` You just deal with your surroundings , '' says Randazzo , `` if you love something so much you just keep doing it . '' Randazzo kept surfing year-round and it paid off in 1990 when he started making a living off the ocean . Early in his career at contests around the world , he would often be asked , `` Are there waves in Jersey ? '' As filmmaker Alex DePhillipo shows in his newly released surfing documentary `` Dark Fall '' , not only is the surf good in New Jersey , but there are a lot of good surfers in the state . The movie credits Randazzo , a New Jersey native , with proving that East Coast surfers are worthy contenders . `` He has absolutely paved the way for any surfer that wants to become a professional from New Jersey , '' says DePhillipo . Randazzo now just started his own line of surfboards . Gesler -- the narrator of `` Dark Fall '' and a professional surfer -- concurs , `` Randazzo is our big brother , coming from New Jersey you do n't have a lot of people that have made the impression that Dean has . '' It was the impression of a surfer and a state that took years for Randazzo to change . The money to be made in surfing comes from sponsors , appearances and editorial photographs . Only a few in the profession make enough money in surf contests to support themselves . Randazzo became a professional surfer in 1990 , yet he still could n't find a sponsor to support him . A sponsor pays the athletes to use or wear their product and they usually pick up the expenses incurred when traveling to contests . Randazzo could n't find a sponsor to believe in him , no one wanted to get behind a surfer from the Garden State . `` I had to win money , '' recalls Randazzo , `` there were places on the tour when I was n't eating if I did n't win money in that contest , or I did n't have a plane ticket home . '' Winning money meant winning contests and in 1996 Randazzo became just one of 44 surfers to qualify for the World Championship Tour . `` Somehow I managed to do that with no sponsorship , '' says Randazzo , then dryly adding the word `` barely . '' He also managed to put credibility into the New Jersey surf scene . `` Dean has paved the way , '' DePhillipo says , `` There 's never been a surfer from New Jersey or the Northeast that 's made the World Tour . '' The success Randazzo has enjoyed is no surprise when you learn a bit more about this Jersey boy . Fighting to be respected in the surf scene was nothing compared to the four battles Randazzo fought and won against cancer . It was in 2001 when he was first diagnosed with Hodgkin 's Lymphoma , a cancer of the lymph nodes . `` Everyone has their hometown hero , but in this case Dean 's just like a state hero , '' says DePhillipo , `` he 's even motivation for people who are n't from Jersey because of his fights , his battles . '' When Randazzo is n't in the water he uses his celebrity status along with the sport he loves to raise money for the Dan Randazzo Cancer Foundation . Currently residing in California , Randazzo frequently returns to New Jersey . Not forgetting where he came from , the foundation sponsors an annual event called `` Surf for a Cause '' in his hometown of Margate . `` It 's just one of those events that everybody wants to support even if they 're not surfing , they want to support Dean , '' says Stacey Marchel , a Jersey surfer and the owner of Stacey 's Surf Camp . As the film `` Dark Fall '' points out , it is because of Randazzo that being a surfer from New Jersey is no longer , as he puts it , `` like trying to be a professional snowboarder and growing up in Miami Beach . '' Florida does n't have snow but as captured in this new surf film , New Jersey definitely has waves . The state also experiences winter and that freezing season is what separates the surfing fraud from the fanatic . But as Randazzo or actually any Jersey surfer will tell you , the passion does n't waiver with the weather .
Dean Randazzo surfed year around off the New Jersey shore until he went pro . There were times on pro-tour when he says `` I was n't eating if I did n't win money '' Randazzo also fought and won four battles against cancer . Surfing documentary `` Dark Fall '' shows freezing weather does n't keep surfers off the water .