Enter a world of magic and mystery, in my own head, where surfing and snowboarding are considered real jobs! Amazing feats of daring and skill are performed every day - and that's just getting the footage onto film!
Media anarchist, film guru, surf addict and web video blogger!
Roosta charging Dungeons on the Paddle day. (Photo: KoleskyNikon)
The Cape big wave community are abuzz with excitement after the first real swell of the year pulled into Cape Town last week. It was not pretty, but there were definitely some decent and pretty large waves ridden by the Tow Crews. I am really looking forward to seeing some of the paddle sessions when they get posted. The Rebel Tv Big Wave challenge is on here and it's pushing the crews here to go for broke. Check out Dungeons looking angry below:
The second of the Rebel Sessions days was called at the Dungeons, Hout Bay on Sunday in the biggest swell to hit Cape Town this winter.
On a cold, wet and blustery Sunday the big wave surfers of Cape Town congregated at the Hout Bay harbor to launch their wave runners and head out for what turned out to be an epic day of big wave surfing with a couple of rides eligible for a share of the R110 000 rebel Sessions prize money.
Having been disappointed by a swell that never reached its predicted size last weekend the eight tow in crews who took to the water this weekend weren't going to let the wind, rain or freezing water keep them from the huge swells that were unloading at the Dungeons, and as the crews started buzzing around the backline it became clear that this was going to be a special day of surfing.
Today, Thursday August 11th 2011, the best big wave riders in the world will compete at the Billabong Pico Alto 2011, presented by Sony, the second event of the 2011 Big Wave World Tour (BWWT) held at the famous surf spot in Pico Alto, Punta Hermosa beach, about 43 km south of Lima.
Billabong Peru BWWT Tour Director Gary Linden, Sean Collins, and Surfline.com, official forecaster of the BWWT, monitored the weather and made the final call. The conditions look optimal and the swell is expected to produce solid 30 foot face waves with some larger sets possible.
Legendary shaper and Big Wave World Tour Director Gary Linden said:
“With a long period swell on the way with great direction and light winds, Pico Alto will provide some excellent waves for this year’s event. While not quite as big as last year, the quality looks to be better and we can expect a very high level of big wave performance surfing.”
The best big wave surfers on the planet will be arriving this week in Peru. Last year’s winner and current Big Wave World Champ Jamie Sterling will defend his title against personalities like Greg Long (USA), former World Champ Carlos Burle (Brazil), XXL award winners Danilo Couto (Brazil) and Grant “Twiggy” Baker (South Africa), as well as locals legends like Alvaro Malpartida, Rafael Velarde, Gabriel Villarán, Sebastian de Romaña and more.
Gabriel Villarán, the highest ranked Peruvian, currently 3rd in the world, has the opportunity to surpass current BWWT leader Marcos Monteiro (Brazil).
The Billabong Pico Alto is one of the most intense waves of the Big Wave World Tour, giving athletes the opportunity to compete for $12,000 USD prize purse and leading into the third event, the Nelscott Reef Big Wave Classic 2011 to be held this Fall/Winter in Oregon, USA.
This past week the islands of Fiji were hit by an absolutely monster swell. A core crew of chargers from around the planet were there to charge the insane tubes on offer, including Kelly Slater, who ended up missing the Billabong Pro, in Jbay due to this surf. Some of these tubes defy description, but its those horrible wipes that really make my toes curl!
This is a pretty amazing video of Jason and his relationship with the behemoth known as Jaws. I really like the style of the edit as well as the classic voice over (Pretty sure that's the same guys as the Dirtbike movie Life Cycles.) Enjoy
Red Bull - Windsurfing world champion Jason Polakow has been on a search for the biggest, most gnarly waves until he found JAWS - which has shaped his life and become his sole obsession for the past 20 years.
Watch as Jason attacks the unbelievable waves on the North Shore of Hawaii.
