Tsunami Surfing

[ksmith]

I found this link contained within windrose's Sun Tsunami post. I don't know how that guy stayed on that board.

ETA: the best part for me--when the camera pulls back, and you see this little bitty human and this Great! Big! wave that builds and builds and finally breaks...

"Tsunami Surfing" on Google Video
Surfing a tsunami

Comments

[kalligraphy.livejournal.com]

I suspect that was not a tsunami. There are a few places where the weather conditions and the bottom contour are such that extremely large (30-40 foot+) waves can form as part of it's normal wave cycle. Typically these wave heights are seasonal and predictable, while tsunami's are not. So it would be some kind of bizare luck to be able to catch a tsunami, while catching a repeating large wave pattern is easy.

As for how he caught it, the jet ski. That surfer would never have been able to catch the wave if the jet ski hadn't dragged him into the wave. Still a pretty impressive show of surfing skills, and the sport with waves that sized is extremely dangerous.

[affinity8.livejournal.com]

That's a lot of water!!

[kristine-smith.livejournal.com]

I'd love to know where that took place.

[kristine-smith.livejournal.com]

I wish they'd caught the last few seconds. He looks like he wiped out, but you can't be sure.

[trolleypup.livejournal.com]

Looks and sounds like Mavericks, a few miles south of San Francisco. Waves in the 40 foot range can occur regularly on a good day. It is dependable enough that they give top surfers 24 hours notice for the yearly contest.

There are a number of websites out there with more images and video.

[galeni.livejournal.com]

Oh my gawd. That's terrifying to even watch!