THE HISTORY OF CALIFORNIA BIG WAVE SURFING

THE HISTORY OF CALIFORNIA

BIG WAVE SURFING

MAVERICK'S

The story of Maverick’s is just as fascinating and unique as any, but it shares certain characteristics with the earlier pioneers of big wave surfing in Hawaii. It seemingly always starts with a group of guys (or in the case of Maverick’s, one guy) determined to surf the biggest waves they can find. The place is actually named after a dog. In 1961, a group of surfers surfing the smaller inside waves brought along their German shepherd named Maverick, who followed them into the waves. It would be years after that before man or beast would ever attempt to ride the big surf at Maverick’s.
In 1975, high school student Jeff Clarke, perhaps a cross between man and beast, became the first person ever to ride the huge waves Maverick’s had to offer, and he did it completely alone for 15 years. The goofy-footed surfer taught himself to ride switch so that he could face the wave on both lefts and rights. After his first ride in 1975, Jeff regularly surfed Maverick’s for the next decade and a half, but the obscure location and horrifying conditions kept him alone until 1990, when two other surfers finally agreed to join him. Santa Cruz surfers Dave Schmidt and Tom Powers became the next two to ride Maverick’s, and the word finally got out. After the 1992 publication of Maverick’s in an article called “Cold Sweat” and the huge swells that followed over the next two years, Maverick’s became an official big wave spot.
The most infamous day in Maverick’s history was December 23, 1994, when Mark Foo accompanied Ken Bradshaw to surf Maverick’s for the first time. Sometime during the first day of his visit, Mark fell on a smaller 15-foot wave and went unnoticed until he was discovered later in the day, floating face down, his broken board still attached to his ankle. The death of Mark Foo, one of their own, humbled big wave surfers and forced them to face their own mortality. Ultimately, Foo’s death was determined a freak accident of big wave surfing, and led Maverick’s to be known as a whole new type of terrifying.
Though there have always been other big wave spots, the discovery of Maverick’s broke Hawaii’s and more specifically Waimea’s stranglehold on big waves. Maverick’s was not only longer, bigger, and gnarlier than Waimea, it was new territory. With the revelation of California’s big wave potential came the possibility for bigger and bigger waves all over the world. The pursuit of bigger and bigger waves continued, this time at a faster pace.

CORTEZ BANK

115 miles off the coast of San Diego, this spot was originally located in the late ‘60s by early big wave surfers Walter and Flippy Hoffman, and then again by photographer and editor of Surfing Magazine Larry Moore in 1990. However, it wasn’t until 2001 that big Cortez Bank was actually surfed. In a scheme orchestrated by Larry Moore, six surfers and a camera crew embarked upon what they called “Project Neptune,” with Mike Parsons, Brad Gerlach, Kenny Collins, and Peter Mel as the tow-in surfers and Evan Slater and John Walla as paddle surfers. Mike Parsons ended up winning the prize, both literally and figuratively, when he was towed into a wave with an estimated 66-foot face—the biggest wave ever ridden! The ride earned him first place in the Swell XXL Big-Wave Contest and the $60,000 prize.
Following the theme of big wave surfing, Mike Parsons continued the pattern of pushing the sport into the twilight of the unknown and did it again a few years later: in January 2008, he returned with Brad Gerlach, Twiggy Baker, and Greg Long to ride a wave bigger than his $60,000 wave, with a face that measured over 70 feet.
With this, we arrive at the present and discover an entire world full of big waves. With Shipstern Bluff and Cyclops in Australia, Dungeons in South Africa, Belharra in France, and Aileens off the coast of Ireland, the appetite for big waves is being developed and nourished all over the world. The history of big wave surfing is being updated with every surf trip and magazine publication. At the center of it is the same old pattern: surfers who have tasted the thrill and remain hungry for more.

If you would like to see what's all about with Maverick's, you should definitely watch the "Chasing Maverick's movie:

When young Jay Moriarty discovers that the mythic Mavericks surf break, one of the biggest waves on Earth, exists just miles from his Santa Cruz home, he enlists the help of local legend Frosty Hesson to train him to survive it...
This movie is based on a true story of Jay Moriarity, the youngest surfer, who survive surfing on Maverick's in age of 15!

The official trailer:

THE HISTORY OF CALIFORNIA BIG WAVE SURFING