Wipeouts are one of the greatest parts of surfing. I had a conversation in the line up with a friend of mine a few days ago about them. Isn’t it weird,” my friend said, “that sometimes you know you’re going to fall, and other times you’ve eaten shit before you even knew you were going to?” “Yes,” I answered. “Sometimes you don’t have time to have the ‘oh shit’ moment.”
But we were just talking about wipeouts on normal waves (unless she surfs much bigger waves than I thought). We were not talking about waves like these. On waves this big, even if there’s no time to have that oh shit moment, the wipeouts usually last so long you’d have time to compose a letter to your mother in your head before it was over. These are the nominees for the WSL’s Wipeout of the Year awards and each one of their Oh Shit Moments. Hold your breath.
1. Scott Dennis, remote Australia. August 5th.
OH SHIT MOMENT: When Scott’s board first begins its upwards slide on its way to a solo el rollo.
There are times in life when there’s just nothing you can do about anything. Scott Dennis found himself in that situation in early August, when he pulled into this juicy, sucking spawn of a sea-devil. He soon found out, however, that sometimes, there’s just no making it out.
2. Marcio Freire, Jaws, Hawaii. January 21.
OH SHIT MOMENT: When Marco realizes that yes, a large board and stiff wind will definitely cause problems. Credit is due, though–he juuuust about had that one. Just about.
Marcio Freire paddled out on a very, very large day at Jaws, probably expecting a wipeout or two. Be prepared for the worst, but expect the best, like they say. Big wave surfing requires a level of commitment that most normal folk probably don’t understand–notice that although Marcio is basically riding a flying carpet from the very beginning of this ride, he’s going all in. Of course, he ends up going all in… to the water. But still. Pot fucking committed.
3. Billy Kemper, Puerto Escondido. July 5th.
OH SHIT MOMENT: Just when Billy is finished with a very hairy Mexican drop, he glances up just in time to see a very, very heavy lip about to give him a kiss.
Billy Kemper basically wore the entirety of the Pacific as a hat on this one. A wet, heavy hat. A Pacific sombrero, if you will. Of course, Billy’s pretty used to this kind of thing. While it’s not for sure, chances are pretty good that Billy shook this one off and ended up on another bomb. Want to hear him talk about it? Surfline had a talk with him about “the worst situation he’s ever gotten himself into.” July 5th, by the way, was that day when Brad Domke decided that fins are for suckers and slid his way into the history books.
4. Jamie Mitchell and Chapman Murphey, Maverick’s. December 20th.
OH SHIT MOMENT: You know that moment when you get sucked over the falls and you just have one second to take a breath? Usually, it’s accompanied by a bit of weightlessness. This is that, times 1000.
Party waves are the coolest–sometimes. If it’s small and shitty or if it’s so big there’s room for two. In between those is that zone where it’s just really good and some other person is just jamming your shit all up. Jamie Mitchell and Chapman Murphey fell (pun intended) into the latter category. No that it mattered much, because neither of them actually managed to enjoy the party waving-ness. One would imagine that it was more sheer terror that enjoyment. Sometimes, though, those two things go hand-in-hand.
5. Benjamin Sanchis, Nazaré. December 11th.
OH SHIT MOMENT:If you watch carefully, just before Benjamin turns into a big splash, he makes what looks to be a ridiculous nose-high mid-face air drop. Hard to recover from hitting a three foot wind chop on an 80-foot wave while going 50 miles an hour. Or whatever. It’s a big wave and he’s going fast.
Benjamin Sanchis just so happened to find himself on one of the biggest waves in the biggest places on the biggest day of the year. Nazaré is one of those waves that’s so big people don’t know what it is. “It doesn’t break top to bottom,” they say. Or, “it’s just a big mush burger!” Then they go and surf whatever it is they surf that is much smaller and much less terrifying than Nazaré. How Benjamin Sanchis survived this is nearly beyond comprehension. And this wave, with its mid face chop, is eerily reminiscent of the wave that nearly took Maya Gabiera’s life.
