Monster Wave Surf - Real or Fake?

[Dan T.]

Check out this clip of a jet ski pulling a surfer into position to ride a huge wave.

http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=1041053573910778617

Real or fake?

[HOF44]

I'd say real. The thing that I think makes it look fake is he caught it a little earlier than you normally see and hung at the top for what looked to be to long. As for riding that size wave, they definetely do it, and are towed into it like that.

Jaws in HI is famous for tow in surfing. Mavericks in CA is another place you can catch waves like that. Most paddle in there though.

[GibbsFactor]

That was at Mavericks right?

Unreal.

[zoony]

I think that's real. It looks to be about a 40' wave. Probably Hawaii in the winter.


Those dudes are effing nuts. I remember going out in 9 foot chop when I was about 15... that was enough for me. Especially when my leash broke, I was hanging on for dear life


*edit*
Just read in Predicto's post that it was a 100' wave. Yikes

....

[Enter Apotheosis]

The situation is realistic. That specific video... :whoknows:

[Dan T.]

Nothing on Snopes about it, so I guess it's real. It just seemed like his ride down the wall of the wave was too placid - not the breakneck speed I would expect. By that time the shot is from long distance so you lose some of the intensity and speed.

Wild though.

[Predicto]

Oh, it's real.

Read this about the surf contest at Maverick's a few years back.


DESPERATE RACE FOR SURVIVAL
RIDING FOR THEIR LIVES: Two water safety patrollers on Jet Skis at Maverick's reef turned around to see deadly 100-foot waves crashing toward them. They had just seconds to figure out how to stay alive.


http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2007/01/31/MNGQCNS3NM1.DTL&hw=mavericks&sn=001&sc=1000

[twa]

Yeah, it's real...there are some awesome videos out there too.


http://www.mavsurfer.com/main_page/
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IWoKkaWieE4

This pic from Teahupoo is INSANE :notworthy

http://www.ferket.com/jvlt/images/teahupoo_1.jpg

[Predicto]

*edit*
Just read in Predicto's post that it was a 100' wave. Yikes

....

The one in that video isn't a hundred footer. More like 40-45 - which is damn HUGE. I can't imagine what the hundred footer looked like.

[Mooka]

The one in that video isn't a hundred footer. More like 40-45 - which is damn HUGE. I can't imagine what the hundred footer looked like. Those guys are just insane. I've checked out Mavericks when the waves get real big and the ocean is ROUGH. Can't imagine going past ankle deep in that water, let alone paddling out past the break.

[TorresA]

That stuff is real, The reason for the jet ski is that the wave is moving too fast to paddle into it, they have to be pulled into it.

[Stophovr6]

Nothing on Snopes about it, so I guess it's real. It just seemed like his ride down the wall of the wave was too placid - not the breakneck speed I would expect. By that time the shot is from long distance so you lose some of the intensity and speed.

Wild though.

Consdering they need a helicopter to keep up with those shots, i'd say the speed doesn't look right because the helicopter is traveling at the same speed as the surfer. If the camera wasn't moving and it followed the surfer as it went by, you'd probably notice the speed.

[Predicto]

http://img2.freeimagehosting.net/uploads/d7881799f4.jpg (http://www.freeimagehosting.net/)

[COOLeyCatchTds]

I cant tell from the video, but its either Mavericks or Jaws (Maui).

[Spaceman Spiff]

It's real.

You guys have to check out this documentary "Riding Giants" It's all about the history of big wave surfing. The period at the end talks about the guys who invented tow in surfing...Laird Hamilton, Buzzy Kerbox.

I love watching this video, it's one of my favorites.

http://www.mov.com.tw/movie/albums/2004/riding_giants_verdvd.jpg

I've never been surfing before, it's one of my lifelong goals though. I dunno if I'd ever want to surf anything that big either...but I marvel at the people who do.

http://www.sheilaomalley.com/archives/laird_hamilton_teahupoo.jpg

:notworthy :notworthy :notworthy :notworthy

[HOF44]

I cant tell from the video, but its either Mavericks or Jaws (Maui).

I'd guess Jaws. At Mavericks you don't usually see swimsuits like that guy is wearing. It tends to be a pretty cold spot. That coud be red neoprene though, hard to tell from the vid.

[KevinthePRF]

Always made me question the Powerade commercial from a couple of years ago.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wbKPd9vG2FI

[Drockvb]

That was real, but i dont think that was mavericks. It looked more like Jaws.

[COOLeyCatchTds]

It's real.

You guys have to check out this documentary "Riding Giants" It's all about the history of big wave surfing. The period at the end talks about the guys who invented tow in surfing...Laird Hamilton, Buzzy Kerbox.

I love watching this video, it's one of my favorites.

http://www.mov.com.tw/movie/albums/2004/riding_giants_verdvd.jpg

I've never been surfing before, it's one of my lifelong goals though. I dunno if I'd ever want to surf anything that big either...but I marvel at the people who do.

http://www.sheilaomalley.com/archives/laird_hamilton_teahupoo.jpg

:notworthy :notworthy :notworthy :notworthy

The picture you provided and the most amazing part of that movie was Teahupoo. While not as big as Jaws or Mavericks, its probably as dangerous, if not more dangerous. Its a super thick, knarly wave that breaks in about two foot of water over top of reef.


I'd guess Jaws. At Mavericks you don't usually see swimsuits like that guy is wearing. It tends to be a pretty cold spot. That coud be red neoprene though, hard to tell from the vid.


Good point, I think youre right.

[SkinsTerps26]

just search teahupoo on google video or youtube

http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=8391050192808385666&q=teahupoo&total=349&start=0&num=10&so=0&type=search&plindex=1

[SC3]

Oh it's real alright and extremely dangerous, unless you can hold your breath a long time.

Anyhow, it's very difficult to make a digital fake of anything water related. Graphical tools just aren't there yet.

[Drockvb]

The picture you provided and the most amazing part of that movie was Teahupoo. While not as big as Jaws or Mavericks, its probably as dangerous, if not more dangerous. Its a super thick, knarly wave that breaks in about two foot of water over top of reef.



Teahupoo is just plain sick.

http://www.surfline.com/womens/photo_bamp.cfm?id=11242&ad=1 <<<check out photo 9 and 11 for an underwater view. Maya Gabeira makes it look easy.

[Buddy Dude]

The video it was taken from was a documentary called Billabong Odyssey. My brother in law had we watch it a while back. They never mentioned the exact height, but did say it was the biggest wave ever surfed with footage to prove it.

[COOLeyCatchTds]

Teahupoo is just plain sick.

http://www.surfline.com/womens/photo_bamp.cfm?id=11242&ad=1 <<<check out photo 9 and 11 for an underwater view. Maya Gabeira makes it look easy.


Teahupoo is more than sick. In the documentary, they said a surfer died there a week before Laird Hamilton surfed the biggest wave Teahupoo had ever offered. And just before Lairds particular wave, he tried dropping in on one that closed out, a wave that almost certainly would have ground him up in the reef for fish food. Dudes a nut!

Its a must see for everybody, not just surfers!

[China]

U.S surfer sets Guinness World Record for largest wave ever after barreling down a 'supersize' 78 ft tall wall of water (http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2142440/American-man-sets-Guinness-World-Record-largest-wave-surfed-barreling-supersize-78-ft-tall-wall-water.html#ixzz1uZp75OlK)

Thrill-seeker Garrett McNamara has taken the Guinness World Record for the largest wave ever surfed after riding a 78-foot tall break off the coast of Portugal in November.

Confirmed by a panel of experts at the annual Billabong XXL Global Big Wave Awards, McNamara, 44, beat the previous mark held since 2008 by surfing legend Mike Parson by just one foot.

Barreling down the enormous wave at Nazaré, McNamara risked being drowned or crushed by the enormous wall of water he was riding to take the coveted crown.


http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=RcGdarrUfGA

Click on the link for the full article and pictures

[PokerPacker]

going through old threads today, China?

[deejaydana]

I couldn't view the video on my Kindle just now but the beaches with the biggest beasts almost always require a jet ski so the surfer can be towed in (Jaws/Teahupoo/Cortes Bank.) This makes the ride look a bit unreal but it's definitely legit. To my knowledge nobody has eclipsed or come close to the 100 foot mark as it's a real rarity to even find such an animal. I had the great good fortune to grow up from a very early age surfing and back in my prime actually rode some really sizeable waves in both California and Hawaii. It's an adrenaline high that I've never found in any other sport. As a related aside there's a video out there from Teahupoo (pronounced Cho-pooh btw) where a guy bails out on his jet ski and nearly decapitates a guy riding in the barrel. It's about 10 years old but check it out. Teahupoo is a freak of nature wave found in Tahiti and it actually breaks BELOW sea level. It's claimed a couple lives in recent years (and those lives were elite surfers so the wave don't **** around!).

[AsburySkinsFan]

Can't see the vid in the OP, but I'd say real. Check out the movie "Endless Summer II" and you'll see them do the exact same thing there.

[Enter Apotheosis]

To those trying to view the OP video, allow me to point out this was a 5-year bump.

[S.T.real,lights,out]

To those trying to view the OP video, allow me to point out this was a 5-year bump.

:ols:


And thats crazy China

[HBnotBlades]

From the discription I'd guess that the original video was this one:


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l8_38LHTeDg

It's from Billabong Odyssey. Great movie by the way.

[deejaydana]

Here's a bump of an old thread. Garrett McNamara (fittingly a Hawaiian) just rode some absolute MONSTER waves last month in Portugal. It's amazing how jet ski tow-ins have moved this sport to wave heights that were a generation ago thought untouchable/unrideable.


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MluFyh109kY

[gortiz]

okay, what's crazier, these guys or the guys that free climb?? I'm saying free climbers, but I must admit watching the surfing video leaves me at a loss for words. just amazing.

[Skinz4Life12]

i'm scared just watching it. respect.

[deejaydana]

okay, what's crazier, these guys or the guys that free climb?? I'm saying free climbers, but I must admit watching the surfing video leaves me at a loss for words. just amazing.

Both require grapefruit sized cojones. Not sure it's worth contemplating which one is crazier.

---------- Post added February-12th-2013 at 11:39 AM ----------

OK, while I'm at it, I'll add this one. Watch the trough of the wave and how unrideable this wave quickly becomes. Just sickening and sick at the same time.


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_nCXnpOPD0k

[Mr. Sinister]

Damn. that dude got crushed

[Skinz4Life12]

deejay is that Cyclops?

[gortiz]

Both require grapefruit sized cojones. Not sure it's worth contemplating which one is crazier.

---------- Post added February-12th-2013 at 11:39 AM ----------

OK, while I'm at it, I'll add this one. Watch the trough of the wave and how unrideable this wave quickly becomes. Just sickening and sick at the same time.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_nCXnpOPD0k

Yeah ... i agree. Free Climber wouldn't last a sec on those MONSTER waves, surfer wouldn't last a sec on the cliffs without ropes ...

do we know what happened to the McKean?

[deejaydana]

The second wave I posted is Shipstern Bluffs in Tasmania. It's just downright nasty because to a degree your talent level is completely at the whims of the rocks below the surface which serve to chop the heck out of the wave face. On top of that the water is cold as heck which serves to cramp up muscles quickly. The guy was fine. I don't know how long Verizon has been awarding a "wipeout of the year" wave though. Cyclops is in Australia (and equally harrowing).