It's been a bizare year in the world of Big-Wave Surfing.
Ride of the year nominees were filming themselves on mega-shacks or simply pulling suicide tubes during contests. In a single day Mavericks produced three of the five Monster Paddle nominees and then went mysteriously silent the rest of the winter. But regardless, some heavy *bleep* went down and the nominees for the 2009 Billabong XXL Big Wave awards are now offical.
This article is actually a video, but it is ridculous!! These awards give $50,000 to the person who rides the biggest and best wave of the year. These surfers hit a few hot-spots for big waves, and its not where you would think. These videos are from Teahupoo, Tahiti; Boca Grande, Mexico; Shipstern's Bluff, Tasmania; and Dungeons, South Africa. These waves only come around one time a year, and most of the time that is in the winter. Waves like these can easily reach 90 feet or more, the surfers can't paddle fast enough to catch the waves so they are pulled by jetskis. The sheer force of these waves could probably break bones but these guys love the thrill of it. I am a surfer but I have exactly riden a wave quite this big. One day i hope to try to be apart of the Billabong XXL awards but it might have to be a while, my mother is scared for me to try it. Just watch the video and you will see how sick it would be to ride these waves.
