Wait for the biggest wave of the set. Put the head down. Go.
In truth, tracking big waves is a game of perception, patience and the ability to wait on pins and needles for months at a time to put oneself in a position to actually traverse a mountain of water. It means months with the ears tuned to the snowy hum of the weather radio, one eye constantly poring over the raw data of the buoy report.
While popular culture would love to lump big-wave surfing into the same go-for-broke, adrenaline-addled bag as a dunderheaded pursuit such as BASE jumping, the mobile playing field attendant to surfing, in addition to the knowledge required, makes it entirely unique, particularly as a sport.
In the coming weeks and months, the world's elite big-wave surfers will remain constantly vigilant - regardless of where they are in the world - to answer the call of big-wave surfing competitions. Events in Oregon, San Francisco and Hawaii, as well as international contests judged by photographic evidence at the end of the season, already have sent the word out to surfers around the world to be on hold to respond to a report of favorable conditions.
In competition, big-wave surfing presents special challenges. Like most surf contests, big-wave events have distinct waiting periods, a time when organizers wait for the best day of waves to run the event. Unlike most surf contests, these waiting periods are months long, as the events require enormous swells and favorable conditions to bring their venues to life.
Starting Dec. 7, the Maverick's Surf Contest, held in Half Moon Bay, Calif., will begin its waiting period. From that day until March 31, 2008, an international contingent of 24 surfers will be put on alert. Should they get the "green light alert," they would have 24 hours to arrive at Maverick's for the event. That alert will come when a significant northwest swell is on the radar.
"The perfect contest day we're looking for is typically a northwest groundswell between 18 and 20 feet (translating into wave faces of 30 to 40 feet)," Maverick's contest director Jeff Clark told reporters last week.
Further north up the coast, at Nelscott Reef in Lincoln City, Ore., the world's best tow-in surfers - surfers who are pulled by personal watercraft into giant waves, that is - are already on alert, and will be given 48 hours notice should a favorable swell materialize.
In Hawaii, at the mythical break of Waimea Bay, the Eddie Aikau Big Wave Invitational has set a holding period of Dec. 1 to Feb. 29, and will be run only if 20-foot surf (30-40 faces) is on offer.
In recent years, the game of big-wave hunting has become a high-stakes affair. The annual Billabong XXL Challenge presents a $50,000 check to the surfer who is photographed in the "heaviest" wave of the season.
The Eddie Aikau Big Wave Invitational in Hawaii offers $86,800; the Maverick's Surf Contest offers a $75,000 purse. The Nelscott Reef Tow In Classic rewards surfers with a $20,000 purse. Most surfers will tell you that scoring a solid big wave offers its own intrinsic reward.
But cash is always nice.
More information:
- Maverick's Surf Contest: maverickssurf.com.
- Quiksilver Big Wave Invitational in Memory of Eddie Aikau: quiksilver.com/bigwave.
- Nelscott Reef Tow-In Classic: nelscottreef.org.
- Billabong XXL Big Wave Challenge: billabongxxl.com.
