The Green Room

I’m on the boat. A couple early observations midway through the second heat:

With the swell already peaked the night before and the tide filling in quickly, the waves are kinda small for Maverick’s. I’ve got an urge to paddle out, but then an outside set wave will come through and call bullshit on me.

When we arrived before daylight, cars were already in overflow parking along Highway 1. While perhaps not as large as last year, when some 50,000 stormed the beach at Pillar Point, the crowds still haven’t heeded organizers’ advice to stay away. There are spectators packed all along the bluffs and beach and even along an eroded section of the cliffside.

Event producer Keir Beadling told me that the contest website is adding 1,000 viewers per minute on the free webcast. By 9:30 a.m. they had reported 30,000 viewers.

Boat watch: J.T. Snow, Eric Byrnes and F.P. Santangelo are among celebrity fans out on boats in the channel. Snow (above) in particular seemed to be enjoying the big waves.

Stay tuned…

The life of a professional big-wave surfer isn’t all nonstop adrenaline, glamour and glory. Just ask Santa Cruz’s Anthony Tashnick.

Thursday evening, Tashnick was sitting at a bar in the Portland airport, drinking a Bloody Mary and feeling utterly exhausted.

“I got here at 5 in the morning and I’m flying back tonight,” Tashnick said. “My girl is picking me up in San Jose at 10 and then I’m just going to try and get some sleep.”

After getting word that the Nelscott Reef Tow-in Classic was set to run Friday, Tashnick and tow partner Osh “Frog” Bartlett loaded up their truck with gear and left Santa Cruz with jet ski in tow at noon Wednesday, headed for the contest site in Lincoln City, Ore.

After a 17-hour marathon drive, the pair finally reached their destination in the early hours.

“It was a heavy drive,” Tashnick said. “We got stuck in a snowstorm going over Grant’s Pass and were stuck for hours.”

For all their efforts, Tashnick and Bartlett were greeted with howling South winds thrashing the surf and a poor forecast.

“It’s snowing and raining up here, there’s huge chops on the ocean, both Oregon buoys are broken,” Tashnick said. “It’s not even surfable right now.”

Then Tashnick got the call that Maverick’s had been given the green light to run Saturday, at which point he quickly changed his plans, rushed to the airport, and hunkered down dazed and confused at the airport bar waiting for his flight home.

Tashnick wasn’t the only Maverick’s invitee who had to turn back after making the long drive North. Peter Mel and the Smith brothers, Russell and Tyler, were in a two car caravan about half way between Santa Cruz and Lincoln City when they received the call from Maverick’s contest director Jeff Clark that the contest was a go for Saturday.

“Yeah I’m stoked I’m home now so I can actually take a shower,” Russell Smith said Thursday fresh off the road. “It was dumping snow flakes the size of golf balls up there. We made it close to the Oregon border, basically halfway, when we got the call from Jeff.”

Eleven of the 24 invitees to this year’s Maverick’s contest were also scheduled to compete in the Nelscott contest on Friday, and all of them decided to forego the event in favor of competing at Maverick’s, Clark included.

“We knew going in Maverick’s could be one issue, and it was,” said Nelscott contest founder and organizer John Forse. “We knew where everybody’s loyalties lied. The one conflict we were concerned about happened. It’s not Jeff’s fault, It’s not our fault. Jeff didn’t have it last year, so he really wanted it to happen, and we did too. … Plus, they have a bigger prize purse than us.”

“You kind of feel like the girl no one asked to the dance. … But I’ve dealt with worse rejection. The bottom line is, these guys are paddle surfers first, and I kind of like that.”

Forse said he didn’t foresee the conflict between contests stifling the future of mainland America’s only tow-in event.

“Will it affect the future of the contest? I don’t think so,” Forse said. “They just want to surf. … That’s what I hoped when we put the contest together. It’s not like a contest, it’s like a bunch of buddies surfing together.”

The big swell forecast to hit Northern California this weekend was just too promising for Clark to resist. Less than 24 hours after Clark reportedly told Mav’s invitees that the contest would not be held over the weekend, Clark and fellow contest organizers decided they couldn’t pass up a potentially golden opportunity and decided to run the prestigious big wave event after all on Saturday.

Despite having to make a 14-hour drive for nothing, Smith said he agreed with the call.

“Oregon is fickle,” Smith said. “It’s gotta be early season in order to have that contest. I hope the best for them if they’re still planning on doing the contest, but Jeff and Twiggy [Grant Baker] said it was supposed to be pumping. With the direction, it looks like it’s gonna be a sunny, nice, paddle day. I think they made a really good call.”

Meanwhile in Hawaii, talk of running The Eddie at Waimea Bay this weekend has also been circulating and event sponsor Quiksilver sent out a press release saying it was eyeing Sunday for a possible green light.

By all accounts the large West-Northwest swell lining up across the Pacific off of Japan appears to be the product of the perfect storm by big-wave contest standards. With three of the most prestigious heavy water events all threatening to go off at the same time, what’s a big wave surfer to do?

For Tashnick, it’s a no-brainer.

“Nelscott is a pretty good wave and for other guys it might be Waimea, but Maverick’s means more to me,” he said. “For me, Mav’s is like the Super Bowl.”

It’s official. The Maverick’s surf contest has been given the green light.

Now 24 of the world’s best big wave surfers have approximately 24 hours to make it to the legendary break in Half Moon Bay by early Saturday morning, when the event’s opening heat is scheduled to run.

“We have a really good swell coming at us with great weather,” contest director and Maverick’s pioneer Jeff Clark said Thursday. “All the Santa Cruz guys are around, the South Africans are here, a lot of guys are still on their way, and we’re stoked.”

Clark said that, based on the current buoy readings, he is expecting to see waves of 30 feet on the face for the contest.

Click here for a slide show of the 2006 event!!!

“Not the biggest Maverick’s,” he said, “but 30-foot Mav’s is no pushover either. I think we’re going to see some really high-performance big-wave surfing out there.”

The decision to hold the contest this weekend was a delicate one because another big wave contest, the Nelscott Reef Tow-in Classic, was scheduled to run Friday, taking advantage of the same big swell. Eleven of the 24 invitees to the Maverick’s contest are also invited to compete in the Nelscott event.

Anthony Tashnick of Santa Cruz, the 2005 Mavericks champion, is one of those 11 surfers. Tashnick had already made a 17-hour drive up to Oregon when he heard that the Mavericks Contest had been given the green light. He elected to hop a Thursday night flight back home in order to be ready for Mav’s.

“It’s gonna be way better at Mav’s,” Tashnick said while waiting for his flight in the Portland airport Thursday night. “This swell is a straight west. Mav’s is going to be big and gnarly with perfect conditions.”

Contest organizers are urging big-wave surf fans to steer clear of the break off Pillar Point Harbor on contest day in an effort to reduce the impact of massive crowds on the sensitive coastal environment.

Clark said that spectators will have a better viewing experience by taking advantage of the numerous live broadcasts planned for Saturday, instead of squinting to see the action out at the break a half mile offshore.

Clark plans to have a live feed of the contest broadcasting at the Mavericks Surf Shop in Princeton. Fans can also head to AT&T Park in San Francisco, where a live feed will be shown via the jumbotron. A live webcast is also available online at www.maverickssurf.com.

Opening heats are slated for 8 a.m. with four six-man rounds of 40 minutes each. The semifinals will follow, with the finals loosely scheduled for 1:30 p.m.

This is the sixth running of the event. Santa Cruz surfers have won four of the first five titles, with the Westside’s Darryl “Flea” Virostko taking the first three, followed by Tashnick in 2005.

South African surfer Grant Baker is the defending champion, after coming out of nowhere to top the field in February 2007 in the best conditions the event has seen.

This year’s event boasts a $75,000 prize purse, with $30,000 for first place, $12,000 for second place, $7,500 for third place, $3,500 for fourth, $2,500 for fifth and $1,500 for sixth place.

The big swell forecast to hit Northern California this weekend was just too promising for Mavericks Surf Contest director Jeff Clark to resist. Less than 24 hours after Clark allegedly told Peter Mel and other Mav’s invitees that the contest would not be held on either of the back to back WNW swells scheduled to hit the West Coast Friday through Sunday, Clark and fellow contest organizers decided they couldn’t pass up a potentially golden opportunity and have decided to run the prestigious big wave event after all.

While the official announcement has yet to be made and the status bar on the contest’s website has yet to be switched from yellow to green (as of Thursday evening), an unidentified source at Mavericks Surf Ventures has verified the rumors that have been swirling around the entire surfing world for the last 48 hours that, indeed, the 2007/08 Mavericks Surf Contest will be held this weekend. According to the inside source, the contest is slated to run this Saturday, January 12th.

An official press release is expected some time early Friday morning, allowing for the minimum 24 hours notice.

The last minute change of plans threatens to throw a wrench into the contest campaigns of a number of Mav’s invitees who had already begun making the long drive/flight to Oregon with gear in tow to take part in the Nelscott Reef Tow In Classic. In fact, 11 of the 24 invitees to this year’s Maverick’s contest are also scheduled to compete in the Nelscott contest, which it was announced Wednesday would be held on the very same swell Clark had his eye on for Maverick’s.

Essentially, both contests have now been called for the same swell. Nelscott is scheduled to run Friday when the swell peaks in Oregon, and Maverick’s is planned for Saturday when the brunt of the swell should max out in Northern California. Meanwhile, a number of big wave surfers slated to compete in both contests–and are scattered around, with some in Oregon, some still hanging around Northern California, and some waiting at airports deciding where to fly to–are now stuck scrambling to decide which event to surf in. Some are reportedly even trying to work out the logistics in an attempt to pull off the unthinkable–compete in Nelscott on Friday, then catch a red eye flight to SFO and make it to Maverick’s by early Saturday morning in time for their opening heat.

Stay tuned to the Sentinel and continue checking The Green Room for up-to-the-minute updates on everything you need to know for the Mavericks Surf Contest.

The 2007/08 Nelscott Reef Tow In Classic is officially ON! Contest directors are anticipating a long awaited break in the stormy weather and hurricane force winds that have assaulted the Oregon coast relentlessly with every large swell so far this winter. 

The contest is scheduled for this Friday, January 11th, when a massive WNW swell is scheduled to hit the Oregon coast and build throughout the day, while a storm front clears out and light SE winds (hopefully) help clean up the waves. The Sentinel will be sending its team up to Oregon for the event so stay tuned to the paper and The Green Room for all the latest news, footage, and results.

Right now elite tow-in teams from around the world are boarding planes, prepping their gear, loading up trucks, trailers and skis and heading to Lincoln City, Oregon. Contestants have 48 hours to make it to Nelscott Reef by Friday morning. Click here for the full list of contestants.

With a series of large WNW swells stacked up in the Pacific, many of the invitees were waiting to hear if other big wave contests might be called for the same swell.

Apparently Santa Cruz tow partners Peter Mel and Ryan Augenstein were ready at the drop of a hat and began motoring North from Santa Cruz with all their gear as soon as word broke Wednesday of the contest green light, but then stopped the trip a couple hours outside of Santa Cruz to make sure Jeff Clark wasn’t planning on running the Maverick’s contest.

Mel made a cell phone call to Clark, who then apparently made his decision over the phone not to hold the contest at least through the weekend, despite a very promising and large WNW swell forecast to hit Friday with good conditions, and another, slightly smaller swell but also with good conditions, scheduled to hit on Sunday. Read the full story in the Sentinel here.

Talk of running The Eddie at Waimea Bay this weekend has also been circulating. Read about it here.

With heaps of large swell lined up across the Pacific, and prestigious heavy water contests threatening to all go off at the same time, what’s a big wave surfer to do?

Below is the Nelscott Reef event’s official press release…

PRESS RELEASE
January 9, 2008
Behemoth LLC changed the contest status today to green as a large swell is forecast for Friday January 11, 2008. The third annual Nelscott Reef Tow In Classic will be held in Lincoln City, OR on this Friday.

It looks as if the decision to extend the holding period until March 31st was a good one. The forecast for Friday calls for light winds out of the SSE, and a long period swell. The swell will build throughout the day peaking at 20′ at 18 seconds.

“This is the first real swell of the season that is not combined with hurricane force winds. It should be bigger than the past two years, which were held in 14′ and 16′ swells”, said contest founder John Forse.

The Nelscott Reef Tow in Classic operates under a three month holding period. Forse is looking for the right combination of swell and wind - large swell and light or no winds. On the few days a year that these conditions occur, the waves at Nelscott Reef can be epic.

Usually plagued with short lived swells, The Nelscott Reef Tow In Classic is looking at 3 days of solid waves. The swell should remain in the 20′ range through Sunday afternoon, allowing a little breathing room for the contest organizers. If conditions do not pan out on Friday, the contest will be pushed to Saturday or Sunday. Either way, the contest will be held this weekend.

Nelscott Reef’s web page has all the latest information and updates, as well as a real time traffic light for contest status, which is now showing green. Visit www.nelscottreef.org for all the latest information.

The Nelscott Reef Tow In Classic is the only tow in contest on the North American continent and Oregon’s only professional surf event. It is also the only tow in contest to be certified carbon free by Carbonfund.org.

At 23 years old, Santa Cruz’s Anthony Tashnick is the youngest invitee to the Mavericks Surf Contest. He’s been surfing Maverick’s since the ripe old age of sixteen when, on just his fourth session at the break, he paddled out on a clean, 25-foot day into a crowded Mav’s lineup stacked with veterans and caught the wave of the winter–and subsequently took the beating of his life when he reached the bottom and got obliterated by the guillotine lip.

Since his spectacular initiation season in 2001, ‘Tazzy’ has continued to grow as a big wave surfer, traveling around the world to put in his time at the heaviest breaks he can find. Under the wing of Santa Cruz heavy water veterans such as Peter Mel, Josh Loya and Ken Collins, Tashnick has become a regular summertime pilgrim to the Mexican Pipeline at Puerto Escondido and makes multiple trips to Oahu’s North Shore every winter. Here Tashnick speaks about how he got into the game and his thoughts on this winter… 

How did you get into surfing Maverick’s?

I was in my sophomore year of high school. The summer before my sophomore year, I had Mark Goin shape me my first Mav’s gun. It was a 10’1”, still the biggest board I’ve ever had. The reality didn’t get to me till I had the board in my hand and realized how big the thing was.

Describe your first legit session out there

I went up with Brummy (Mike Brummet) for one of my first sessions. He left and I got a ride home with Skinny (Ken Collins). Skinny had anchored his ski out there in the channel and said I had to get a wave first before I could get a ride back in. There were just eight guys out, it was about 15 feet and I was in the bowl by myself so I went for it.

My first three sessions I had gnarly wipeouts. I took a pretty solid beating every time. It was good in the long run. It’s really scary until it happens to you, but then you feel more confident. I had taken some pretty gnarly beatings at Middle Peak but this was way heavier.

Describe “the wave” that you caught when you were 16 years old in 2001

I went up there with Brummy and we got there early in the morning. He told me it was going to be a big day. It was the same day that Parsons caught his XXL winner at Cortez Bank. He told me to just wait by the dock and feel it out while he went to go tow and wait for him to come back. Meanwhile, Chris Brown drives up to the dock without a tow partner and says he’ll give me a ride out.

I had never sat on a jet ski before in my life. I get out there, it’s a little overcast, and next thing you know, Brown is like, ‘I got a new tow board, I want to try it out. Why don’t you tow me around in a few circles real quick.’

I said OK, and I didn’t even do two circles when an outside set came. He’s yelling at me to pull him in and I’m like, ‘oh fuck.’ I got him in perfect and I followed him along the shoulder. I hadn’t been on the ski before ever. I had no idea how to do it, but by like half an hour I was whipping him in behind the bowl coming in from Ross’ cove. Then a really big one came in and I pulled him in real deep. He went left and it was a good decision. After that we went in and ate lunch.

Tashnick air dropping en route to his 2005 title.

Then I went back out and paddled with Brummy and Chris Brown. They told me to just sit and watch, don’t even catch waves. Of course, I was a cocky little grom. I said, ‘yeah right’ and paddled out and around, outside of everyone.

Next thing you know this outside set came and I was all psyched to be out surfing with my hero Chris Brown. This set came and I paddled over three waves and then saw the fourth. It was the opportunity of a lifetime so I decided to go.

I knew it was a bomb. I got annihilated. My eyes couldn’t focus for a few seconds when I first came up. There were more waves in the set and I took three on the head and got washed through the rocks. I inhaled some water and vomited a little when I got to shore. I still don’t really remember it that well. That was the thing, I was kind of choking, gasping and panicking while getting washed through the rocks. The rocks are dense. I had so much adrenaline going I had to paddle back out and get a couple more. That season there wasn’t too many more sessions. I went to Puerto the summer after that year. Skinny dragged me down there.

Who pushed you?

Mike Brummet, Skindog and Zach Wormhoudt were the main guys who pumped me up about it. Mike Brummet got me up there for my first two sessions. I looked up to Richard Schmidt and all the other guys, of course. But Brummy was the one calling my house, pulling me out of school and waking me up at 3 in the morning getting me psyched to go surf it. Skinny was also really supportive. Zach Wormhoudt got me pumped too. I remember talking to him about it before heading up for the first time. Brummet and Zach were my junior guards instructors. Skinny I would see out at the Lane. He would give me dunkings. He was also an airbrusher for Arrow.

What attracted you to big waves?

Living in Santa Cruz, growing up surfing the Lane, some days were big. You just kinda deal with it. As a grom, I started learning the excitement of dropping into a big wave. I used to surf big Middle Peak when I was a kid and I got a couple bombs, for being 12 years old. My friend Pat Groen, who’s no longer here, started taking me down to other spots like Moss Landing. He helped me out a lot. He got me sponsored by Pac Wave, my first sponsor.

Are you still anxious when you paddle out at Mav’s or does it just feel natural?

Always.

What guys do you look up to out there?

Every guy has some little characteristic that stands out. One guy might have something that the other doesn’t and vice versa. Grant and Flea. Nathan Fletcher, the last two years we’ve paired up and really pushed each other. Flea, Skindog, Peter Mel for sure. Peter Mel’s helped me a lot with traveling and getting used to being on the road and we were tow partners for a while. Those guys are all gnarly. I’ve learned a little bit from so many people over the years, it’s hard to pinpoint just one person.

How did your life change after winning the Mav’s contest in 2005?

When I was 19 I got into the event. I made it to the finals and took fourth. I was twenty the next year when I won it. Definitely, my life’s changed. My career was able to move forward for sure as far as sponsors and traveling. I got into the Red Bull contest in Africa and onto the alternates for the Eddie. At the same time, people kind of look at you differently. Being the underdog is cool because you feel like you have nothing to lose.

Do you have a preference for tow or paddle?

Paddle. Paddling is way more of a rush. You might not be getting as many waves, but when you get one you feel it. It’s way more vertical. I think paddling is the gnarliest thing you can do.

I think that if jet skis do get banned, it almost might be better for my career. So many people are going out there behind skis getting bombs these days. If all the tow-ins just disappeared…I mean I’d be bummed, because I like towing too, but if paddling was the only option on crazy days, certain people might start standing out. There are people out there getting big, gnarly waves paddling in still. Without the skis, we might start seeing people coming up from the underground being recognized more. I think more new faces might emerge a little bit if there was only paddle. There are some gnarly guys all over the world who just paddle into huge waves but don’t get photos.

Do you think a ban on tow-in surfing will ever realistically be enforced?

I don’t really see that.

Do you think the Mav’s contest will happen this year?

Yeah, there’s no reason why it shouldn’t.

Is your opening round heat (with Peter Mel, Flea, Twiggy, Tyler Smith and Zach Wormhoudt) for this year’s contest the most stacked big wave heat you’ve been in?

Every heat is stacked out there and everyone in that contest is gnarly pretty much. In that heat, people who are contenders are gonna be knocked out. I think every heat’s hard in that event. I’m not thinking about the heat because you’re surfing for yourself out there. As soon as you start trying to surf against someone you’re in trouble. I’m just going out trying to focus on getting two good waves and not get overwhelmed by surfing in the same event as my heroes.

The timing for this year’s Maverick’s surf contest opening ceremony was either an ironic twist of fate or an appropriately timed kickoff to the big wave contest season.

Appropriate in the sense that the North Pacific has fired up with plenty of big storms just in time for the holding period, a good indicator of things to come. Ironic because contestants and organizers waited eagerly all last winter, and even into the spring, for the right combination of swell and weather to materialize, only to be shut out and forced to cancel the event. Then, what will almost certainly go down as the biggest swell of 2007 slammed Maverick’s this week, producing massive, clean, barreling waves just days before the contest window reopened.

However the general consensus among the Mavericks surfers attending Friday’s opening ceremony at Pillar Point was that this week’s “Ugly Tuesday” swell was actually perfectly timed. Despite all the hype, the massive swell wouldn’t have gotten the contest the green light, even if it had arrived within the contest window, Mavericks contest director Jeff Clark said.

“Maybe if the swell was from a different direction,” Clark said. “But the direction on this swell was too south, so the waves were pushing into the rocks and making it too dangerous. It was really nasty out there.”

Foggy conditions prevailed along the coast during much of the swell also.

“The lack of visibility was also a big problem,” Clark said. “If the judges can’t see what’s going on out there, then we can’t run the contest. That’s the challenge, to find a day with clear conditions, good wind and consistent big waves for every heat.”

While the conditions weren’t right for the paddle-in contest, they were excellent for tow-in surfing, Clark said.

“We had a great swell this week,” Clark said. “There were about 15 tow teams out on Tuesday and guys were getting some of the most incredible rides we’ve seen out here in years.”

This year’s opening ceremony fell several weeks earlier than in years past. Clark said he elected to extend the waiting period earlier into December when he saw that the winter storm season was showing excellent early potential.

Longtime Maverick’s surfer and contest invitee Josh Loya said that the solid run of North Pacific juice we’ve seen since Thanksgiving validates Clark’s decision.

“It’s definitely been quicker to kick in this winter,” Loya said. “[Maverick's] has already broken about five or six times and we’ve had better conditions already than all of last year. This last swell [Ugly Tuesday] was probably the swell of the winter.”

Now that the official contest window has opened, 24 of the world’s best big wave surfers will be on call until March 31. They will be expected to drop everything at 24 hours notice and show up in Half Moon Bay ready to charge if Clark determines that conditions are right and gives the green light to run the contest.

This year’s event boasts a $75,000 prize purse, with $30,000 for first place, $12,000 for second place, $7,500 for third place, $3,500 for fourth, $2,500 for fifth and $1,500 for sixth place. Although the event is still searching for an official sponsor, the prize money is already guaranteed according to contest officials.

None of the surfers at the opening ceremony seemed too concerned about the politics behind the event’s sponsorship. Most said they were just honored to attend, and would surf in the contest even if no prize money were offered. After all, most of the invitees were out there risking their lives on Tuesday, towing into some of the biggest waves ever seen when no prize purse was up for grabs.

“Whether the contest is running or not, I’m gonna be surfing this wave,” said Santa Cruz invitee Russell Smith, who tow surfed out at Ghost Tree on Tuesday with his brother Tyler. “I’ve been coming up here for a long time before the contest.”

Because of the extremely windy conditions and choppy waters offshore, the surfers decided to forego the traditional ceremonial paddle out. Instead, they lined up side by side with their massive boards looming behind them as Clark thanked the competitors for their participation and wished them all a safe and successful event.

The entire crowd also shared a moment of silence to honor the memory of legendary Monterey/Carmel waterman Pete Davi. Davi died on Tuesday while attempting to paddle surf the colossal waves out at Ghost Tree, the notoriously treacherous break off of Pescadero Point in Pebble Beach.

Bill Lovejoy/Sentinel
Flea Virostko arrives for the opening ceremonies at Maverick’s with one of his friend Peter Davi’s old guns. Davi died while surfing huge waves off Pescadero Point in Carmel a few days before the opening ceremony.

Davi was well known up and down the coast for his incredible performances in heavy waves from Big Sur to Hawaii, and was also one of the original crew to tackle Maverick’s in the early 1990s after Jeff Clark let the word out about the big wave spot.

Gigantic Ghost Tree, claims of “biggest Maverick’s ever.” It’s safe to say that the west swell that hit Northern California on Tuesday, December 4th was by far the biggest swell of 2007.

Up in SF, the beach was a washing machine of white water. Because of the thick mist and lack of visibility, one could only guess exactly how big the waves were detonating on the farthest outside bars. In Santa Cruz, Middle Peak was completely washed out with massive burgers capping out on third reef. The Harbor was grinding out frothy, bucking barrels for a few while the Eastside had some rideable waves with packs of surfers scoring head high waves at the little southeast facing nooks that are usually flat as a lake.

Top and bottom: Harbor going top to bottom.

Meanwhile, on the Westside one stretch of westcliff was providing the best and biggest waves around for the non-tow-in minded. Legitimate Outside Swift came roaring back to life after a long slumber, dishing up double and triple overhead screamers for anyone who could make it out past the Zambezi river-like current sucking most surfers southeast into Mitchell’s and then trying to slam them against Finger Bowl. Lifeguards had to work throughout the day–and into the evening–fishing surfers out of the current sucking into Mitchell’s and towards the rocks with their PWCs.

For the few who were able to to make it outside, there were some serious waves. Fifteen foot faces, some possibly bigger. One dude even claimed he had seen a 20 ft. (face) wave rumble through from out of the evening mist as the swell peaked.

Above and below: One of the only reefs in town that could hold the size. These shots were taken on Wednesday, after the mist had cleared and the swell had dropped significantly.

While there were certainly larger waves ridden in Northern California on Tuesday, for sheer novelty, Nacho Lopez’s epic ride from outside Swift St. clear through to the sand at Mitchell’s will be remembered by local surfers probably as well as any of the insane tow-in spectacles that went down the same day. By linking the extremely rare Westside version of J-Bay, Lopez scored close to a mile-long ride and joins an exclusive club that includes Josh Loya–who did it back in the El Nino winter of 97/98– and the legendary Richard Schmidt.

Mysto slab. Bigger than it looks.

And then there was Flea’s wipeout at Maverick’s. Yet another incredible display of confidence and bravado in the face of death by the man at Maverick’s. You know it’s a bad wipeout when the guys from Powerlines Productions, who have been on it to document every rideable day at Mav’s since ‘94, are freaking out in the background as they film it. How anyone could survive that, I don’t know. But even more amazing, Flea heads right back out for more. Awesome.

Quiksilver recently announced the official list of invitees for this year’s Eddie Aikau memorial big wave contest at Waimea Bay. Santa Cruz big wave stalwarts Peter Mel and Darryl “Flea” Virostko were once again among the chosen few, while the younger generation of Santa Cruz big wave riders was represented by the westside’s Anthony Tashnick (2005 Mav’s champ) who made it on the alternates list. Aside from Mel and Virostko, the only other surfer from California to make the main event was San Clemente’s Greg Long.

The last time the Eddie ran was three years ago in December of 2004 when Kauai’s Bruce Irons shocked everyone by winning the world’s most prestigious big wave event in just his first time out surfing Waimea. The Eddie is beholden to the highest big wave contest standards and unless the waves are a legitimate 20 feet “Hawaiian” (thirty to forty foot faces) with ideal conditions, the event will not be held. Only Mother Nature knows whether a large enough Aleutian swell will combine with ideal conditions in order to warrant the contest to run this winter. If it does take place, it will be the first time in the event’s 23-year history that the number of competing surfers will be extended from 24 to 28, in order to include a top big wave rider from four regions around the world: South America, Africa, Europe, and Asia.

Mel has been a regular invitee to The Eddie since 1999 when he tied for third place. Since then, he has consistently finished in the top tier, taking fifth place the last time the contest was held in December of 2004.

Flea, meanwhile, will forever be remembered in The Eddie lore for his “wipeout of the decade” at the most recent contest (see photo above). Kelly Slater, who was in Flea’s heat and was watching from the shoulder as he free fell out in front of the massive closeout lip, said it was one the scariest things he’s ever witnessed.

I’m sure everyone, Northern Californians and Hawaiians alike, are hoping to see a healthy Flea out charging again if a legitimate Eddie swell does get the Bay rumbling.

Below is the full list of invitees and alternates along with the event press release:

INVITEES
Andy Irons (HI)
Brian Keaulana (HI)
Brock Little (HI)
Bruce Irons (HI)
Carlos Burle (BRZ)**
Clyde Aikau (HI)
Darryl Virostko (CA)
Greg Long (CA)
Ibon Amatriain (SPN)**
Jamie O’Brien (HI)
Jamie Sterling (HI)
Keone Downing (HI)
Jason Ribbink (ZAF)**
Kelly Slater (FL)
Makua Rothman (HI)
Mark Healey (HI)
Michael Ho (HI)
Noah Johnson (HI)
Paul Paterson (AUS)
Peter Mel (CA)
Ross Clarke-Jones (AUS)
Rusty Keaulana (HI)
Shane Dorian (HI)
Sunny Garcia (HI)
Takayuki Wakita (JPN)**
Titus Kinimaka (HI)
Tom Carroll (AUS)
Tony Ray (AUS)

ALTERNATES
Darrick Doerner (HI)
Chava Greenlee (HI)
Kalani Chapman (HI)
Pancho Sullivan (HI)
Taylor Knox (CA)
Reef McIntosh (HI)
Tony Moniz (HI)
Garrett McNamara (HI)
Ross Williams (HI)
Dave Wassel (HI)
Ian Walsh (HI)
Braden Dias (HI)
Myles Padaca (HI)
Anthony Tashnick (CA)
Kala Alexander (HI)
Keoni Watson (HI)
Derek Ho (HI)
Tom Curren (CA)
Nathan Fletcher (CA)
Danny Fuller (HI)
Dustin Barca (HI)
Koby Abberton (AUS)
Laurie Towner (AUS)
Manoa Drollet (TAH)

HONORARY
Mark Foo (HI)
Todd Chesser (HI)
Tiger Espere (HI)
Jay Moriarity (CA)

LOCATION: Waimea Bay, North Shore, Oahu
OPENING CEREMONY: Thursday, November 29, 2007. 3pm
HOLDING PERIOD: Dec. 1, 2007 to Feb. 29, 2008.
To be held on one day when surf
measures at least 20 feet.
BIG WAVE RIDERS: 28 of the world’s best.
PRIZE MONEY: US$98,000 in prize money
US$55,000 for first place.

Huntington Beach, California, November 1, 2007 (NYSE:ZQK) Quiksilver, the leading brand in boardriding and presenters of The Quiksilver Big Wave Invitational, In Memory of Eddie Aikau, has officially announced the Invitees and Alternates to this year’s event. For the first time in the event’s 23-year history, the list of Invitees has been extended from 24 to 28, reflecting the growth in international big-wave riding talent.

Starting this year, the regions of Asia, South America, Africa, and Europe have each been awarded one Invitee slot for their top big-wave rider, taking the total number of Invitees to 28. (Those four Invitees are denoted by ** in the official list.)

“We are extremely pleased to announce the growth of this year’s event and to welcome elected riders from Asia, Africa, South America and Europe,” said Bob McKnight, CEO, Quiksilver, Inc. “The quest to ride the world’s biggest waves has become a truly international and influential sport, complete with an ever-growing depth of talent and the discovery of big-wave riding locations around the globe.

“Eddie Aikau was a man who loved to ride big waves and who shared his passion with many during his own travels to places like South Africa, South America, and Australia. We believe that the growth of this event, in his honor, is becoming a truer representation of how far Aikau’s life and legacy have traveled with each passing year.”

For the first time the event website, www.quiksilver.com/bigwave, will host a live webcast of the Opening Ceremonies on November 29th, 2007. The actual contest, if and when it goes, will also be broadcast live on the internet. The event website, which is live today, also features photos, videos and text from the event’s storied history, links to purchase limited edition merchandise and profiles of each competitor.

Scheduled to take place at the hallowed grounds of Waimea Bay, on the North Shore of Oahu, between December 1, 2007, and February 29, 2008, the event, otherwise known as “The Eddie”, requires a minimum of 20-foot surf (based on Hawaiian scale measurement, translating to 30-40 foot face waves) in order to run.

Created in 1984 (first year event ran) to honor the legendary Hawaiian waterman, Eddie Aikau, The Quiksilver Big Wave Invitational, In Memory of Eddie Aikau gathers the most skillful and dynamic big-wave surfers from around the world as polled by a comprehensive panel consisting of influential watermen, members of the surf industry, internationally recognized surfing Associations, as well as a public poll.

Past winners include Denton Miyamura, Clyde Aikau, Keone Downing, Noah Johnson, Ross Clarke-Jones, Kelly Slater and Bruce Irons. Following is a complete list of invitees and alternates for this year’s event.

For further information go directly to http://www.quiksilver.com/bigwave