The Black Friday swell, as you’ve likely heard by now, was a surprise. While a significant swell was expected in Hawaii, when surfers awoke on Friday morning and checked the buoy readings, it was clear that conditions were going to be bigger than expected. A lot bigger. But you know who wasn’t complaining? Kai Lenny.
He trains for days like Black Friday and they don’t come around all that often, so when Lenny saw what the day was likely to bring, he was excited, to say the least.
“The swell wasn’t meant to come in this big,” he wrote. “All the swell forecasters got it wrong, but we are not complaining. This is best-case scenario! I’ve been wanting to mix it up and throw a new trick in big waves, and what better time to try than when it’s bombing!?”
While most of us wouldn’t look at a 60-foot Jaws wave and think, “yeah, I’ll try something new here,” Kai needs waves of that size to do what his whole life revolves around: breaking new ground in monstrous surf. But like any attempt at something new, you’ve got to take a few lickings before you get it right… and Kai certainly took his lickings. But in the end, he did what he was there for.
