Maverick’s is one of the most feared and respected waves on the planet. Photo: YouTube//Screenshot
Maverick’s is one of California’s most famous waves. It’s named after a dog – Maverick. He was a German shepherd who hung around Pillar Point in 1961.
In the late 1960s, locals Alex Matienzo, Jim Thompson, and Dick Notmeyer often surfed the smaller waves and watched as the massive ones broke farther out. Now, of course, when it’s firing, the lineup is packed with some of the best big wave surfers in the world, and the most committed local Maverick’s surfers, as well — some of whom count as both.
On December 22, 2024, Maverick’s put on her dancing shoes and many of those gifted chargers found themselves in the Maverick’s lineup, chasing their own perfection, which you can watch in full, in the recap from Powerlines Productions, below.
All this attention on Mav’s – from the surfers to the lensmen and everyone in between – is a relatively new development. It’s one of the waves on Earth that remained a secret for a long, long time.
“For more than a decade, the man responsible for keeping that secret from the masses was Jeff Clark, a carpenter who, starting around 1975, rode the wave solo,” reads a short history I wrote for The Inertia in 2015. “On a huge, clean northwest swell, the 18-year-old Clark paddled out alone. As a goofy-footer, he initially rode the left. As he learned more about the wave, he learned to surf in a regular stance so he could surf the right on his forehand. Although word didn’t get out, Clark did try and convince some of his friends to ride it with him – there were just no takers. Clark had Maverick’s as his own personal playground.”
But in 1990, Clark finally convinced a few surfers to attempt it with him. David Schmidt and Tom Powers paddled out with Clark on January 22, and rode some of the biggest and best waves of their lives.
Today, it’s one of the most powerful and respected waves in the world. People dedicate their lives to it, and for good reason: Maverick’s will change your life, and on December 22, it showed why.
