Photo: Nic Von Rupp // YouTube
There’s a recognizable look in the eyes of a surfer who’s about to charge Nazaré for the first time. It’s a slightly wide-eyed glint of excitement, but there’s also a twinge of fear. That’s because, no matter how good you are at surfing, how heavy of water you’ve already been in, there’s no real way to truly be ready for the biggest wave in the world.
I’ve seen the look in person, standing in the Red Bull boathouse, watching Eden Edwards try on an inflation vest for the first time. It wasn’t surprise — we’d just spent three days trying to get to Nazaré for this moment. It wasn’t because she wasn’t prepared, either — she’d charged monstrous Teahupo’o just a few weeks before. It was because there’s a moment of reckoning that only happens while standing on the precipice at Praia Do Norte.
In the latest video from Nazaré regular Nic Von Rupp, you can see that look again, this time in the eyes of Portuguese CT surfer Frederico Morais. Morais has been a professional surfer for 20 years and on the CT since 2017, but, according to Von Rupp, only now is he getting a taste of “real-sized waves.” Check out the video to see what how it went.
