You’ve never seen waves like this

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gXDEtGw7d3Q&[/youtube]

This is Teahupoo (pronounced cho-po), Tahiti.  One of the heavyest and most dangerous surf breaks in the world on the biggest day it has ever been surfed. It was August 27th 2011 on a break day from the Billabong Pro surf contest, when contest organizers deemed the waves too big. That didn’t deter many of the pros that went out anyway, alongside local legends and people from around the world that flew in to ride these epic monsters. There were boy and girl surfers, young and older surfers, and amateur surfers in the lineup with the world’s best, including 11 time world champ, Kelly Slater.

I watched this live on the web in awe. Remarkably, nobody died, despite the fact that few riders made it out of the bowl that forms at the end before the wave runs into the channel the camera crew was filming from. Only a foot or two of water covers the reef below. It is amazing to me that even the pros went out, risking their lives, during a down day in the contest. Imagine pros from most other sports doing something like this. Tiger woods playing a few rounds during a lightening storm during a day off from the PGA championship.  Not a chance.  The video was shot by Chris Bryan using the Phantom HD Gold camera.


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