Surf The Big Waves
Surf’s up!
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Where are the big waves? Well, Hawaii is a top place for surfing. Southern California is another popular surfer’s hang out.
The Association of Surfing Professionals (ASP) holds competitions around the world at places like Oahu, Hawaii, Santa Catarina, Brazil, Tahiti, and the Gold Coast in Australia. Top prize for each of these events is US$340,000.
A 40-foot wave is considered to be a big wave, but some are 60 feet or taller. A 40-foot wave is as tall as a five-story building! That’s a mountain of water!
The Billabong Odyssey is a new project to find the biggest waves in the world and ride them. Mike Parsons, who recently surfed a wave that was roughly 67 feet tall, is a member of the Billabong team. He said, “This isn’t about the prizes. Most of the surfers would probably pay to come along on something like this. The Billabong Odyssey is about going where no one has ever gone before. A thousand people have climbed to the top of Mt. Everest, but how many people have ridden an eighty-foot wave? This is something special.”
Parsons was reported to have ridden one wave off the California coast that was 77-feet high, a world record.
Currently, the top men surfers as rated by the ASP are Joel Parkinson of Australia, Mike Fanning of Australia, C.J. Hobgood of the U.S., Bede Durbridge of Australia, and Kelly Slater of the U.S. The top ASP women surfers are Stephanie Gilmore (Australia), Silvana Lima (Brazil), Sofia Mulanovich (Peru), Melanie Bartels (U.S.), and Coco Ho (U.S.).
Many amateur surfers surf at beaches where the average wave is 10-20 feet tall. A 40-foot wave is too much of a challenge for most “newbies”, or beginners.
Why do they ride the waves? For some, it’s the carefree lifestyle, for others, the athletic challenge. Free souls often roam where the spirit takes them.
The sport is not without perils. The two biggest dangers are drowning and shark attacks. The Great Barrier Reef off the Gold Coast of Australia is notorious for sharks.
