Daredevil Surfer Rides 30ft. 'Jaws' Waves . . . . At Night!
Language
Reading Level
Listen to Article
For most surfers, riding big waves even during the day, can be a little intimidating. Therefore, one can only imagine what it must have felt like for Australian big wave surfer Mark Visser, who made history on January 21st, when he surfed a 30ft. monster off the shores of Maui, Hawaii, in the wee hours of the morning.
And, we are not talking just any waves, but those that come off a deep reef break which has been nicknamed 'Jaws', thanks to the ferocity of the swells, which can get as high as, 120ft. and move as fast as, 30mph.
Mark Visser's night surf was not an impromptu event, but one that has been in the works for two years. In order to pull off this incredible stunt, he trained by spending time blindfolded inside underwater caves, swimming for miles in the ocean at night, and freediving from distances, as high as,100ft.
On the night of the event, as is custom during the high-swell season when waves travel too quickly to be caught by paddling, Mark was towed in by a jet-powered watercraft. To ensure that his ride could be caught clearly on tape, his buoyancy jacket and surfboard were fitted with LED lights. The area around was also illuminated with light from a helicopter hovering above.
What followed next can only be described as magical - A scene that even mesmerized Mark, who said that it was the scariest, but most exciting thing he had ever done, especially given the fact that he could not see a thing and had to depend completely on his instincts and years of surfing experience.
Dubbed 'Night Rider', this is the first in a series of nine extreme, first-time adventures that will be undertaken by Mark - If successful, they will be compiled into a documentary entitled '9 lives' - So, stay tuned for more exciting stunts.
Sources: grindtv.com, extremehorizon.com
Cite Article
Geography
Learn Keywords in this Article
538 Comments
- Sweat Girlalmost 14 yearsCooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooool!!!!!!
- cam almost 14 yearscccccooooooooollllllllll
- cam almost 14 yearscccccooooooooollllllllll
- Epiphanyalmost 14 yearsscary but ausome i would go on it
- malmost 14 yearsI did not know that mark visser was so intrested in surfing. I wounder how hard it is?
- joealmost 14 yearsWOW that must be hard!!! How does he do that? That looked cool!
- alex almost 14 yearsi can't believe he did that:)
- Kendraalmost 14 yearsThat guy Mark Visser is a daredevil. I could never do that not in my whole life he is so crazy. I think anyone who does that and lives is awesome!
- alex almost 14 yearsi can't believe that he did that:)
- DJalmost 14 yearsI think it was not really ahrd and he could not die because he has somthing that people can see him and the waves are only 5 meter high.