December 28 was one of the biggest surfable days of the 2023 Maverick’s season. It was definitely not a day you’d want to find yourself on the wrong end of a multi-wave hold-down.
Unfortunately, that’s exactly the situation big wave charger Bianca Valenti found herself in. We first saw fleeting footage of the event on Tucker Wooding’s Instagram, but a new video from Powerlines Productions gets more in depth into what exactly happened during her insane wipeout and the ensuing rescue.
“It was probably one of the more brutal wipeouts I saw that day,” recalled Maverick’s rescuer Drake Stanley. “I went in to do the pickup on her and it took a while just to get to her. She took a few waves before I could even get to where she was on the inside. By that time, there was so much foam that, even after I’d grabbed her and gotten her onto the board, I had to immediately start moving, because that next wave was right behind us.” Moments later, Valenti was ripped off of Stanley’s sled, to be picked up soon after by another rescuer.
Instances like this highlight one of the most difficult aspects of being a big wave surf lifesaver: helping others, while at the same time making sure you don’t find yourself in need of rescuing. As Stanley explained, “It’s a fine line of wanting to be there the minute your friends need you, but also knowing enough to get them properly, without putting yourself into danger as well.”
