Videos from WSL Big Wave Awards
Compilation of the four episodes the TAG Heuer's big wave series "Don't Crack Under Pressure"
Episode One
Episode Two
Episode Three
Episode Four
How They Survive
Anyone who has ever been thumped by a head-high wave knows the sick feeling of dread in your gut when you're fumbling towards the surface, vying for a gasp of fresh air. Now times that feeling by ten. No, scratch that, times it by fifty and you're beginning to understand what a wipeout at Pe'ahi or Nazare or Maverick's feels like. "It's like, get ready for eight rounds with Mike Tyson, 'cause it's coming straight at you," said 2x Pe'ahi Challenge Champ Billy Kemper.
Don't Crack Under Pressure
In this Tag Heuer "Don't Crack Under Pressure" feature, the WSL Big Wave Tour's Medical Director, Dr. Terry Farrell, breaks down some of the physiological challenges surfers face when dealing with intense wipeouts, specifically the stress it places on a human's lungs. "You just overcome and adapt," Kemper said.
Back in January 2016, Maui's Aaron Gold paddled himself into perhaps the largest wave ever ridden without vehicle assistance -- a 66ft. behemoth at Jaws, aka Pe'ahi. Not long after that, he nearly drowned surfing at Cloudbreak in Fiji during another huge Pacific swell.
Compilation of the four episodes the TAG Heuer's big wave series "Don't Crack Under Pressure"
Episode One
In the first episode of TAG Heuer's big wave series "Don't Crack Under Pressure" the world of high surf rescue is examined in depth.
In the second episode of TAG Heuer's big wave series "Don't Crack Under Pressure" we hear about what motivates Gary Linden, the founder of the Big Wave Tour.
What makes Big Wave Women's Champion Paige Alms tick? Find out what drives the Maui surfer to be the best there is in the third episode of TAG Heuer's big wave series "Don't Crack Under Pressure".
What does it take physically and mentally to survive wipeouts under unfathomable tons of furious whitewater? Listen to the best big wave riders in the world explain how they prepare and how they execute in the heaviest situations in the fourth episode of TAG Heuer's big wave series "Don't Crack Under Pressure".
Anyone who has ever been thumped by a head-high wave knows the sick feeling of dread in your gut when you're fumbling towards the surface, vying for a gasp of fresh air. Now times that feeling by ten. No, scratch that, times it by fifty and you're beginning to understand what a wipeout at Pe'ahi or Nazare or Maverick's feels like. "It's like, get ready for eight rounds with Mike Tyson, 'cause it's coming straight at you," said 2x Pe'ahi Challenge Champ Billy Kemper.
Don't Crack Under Pressure
In this Tag Heuer "Don't Crack Under Pressure" feature, the WSL Big Wave Tour's Medical Director, Dr. Terry Farrell, breaks down some of the physiological challenges surfers face when dealing with intense wipeouts, specifically the stress it places on a human's lungs. "You just overcome and adapt," Kemper said.
Back in January 2016, Maui's Aaron Gold paddled himself into perhaps the largest wave ever ridden without vehicle assistance -- a 66ft. behemoth at Jaws, aka Pe'ahi. Not long after that, he nearly drowned surfing at Cloudbreak in Fiji during another huge Pacific swell.
Billy Kemper at Jaws, Hawaii on December 6, 2015 (B). Photo by Mike Neal. A 2016 Paddle Award entry.
Even big wave surfers like Billy Kemper are forced to face their fears head on in frightening conditions. It's what you do to compose yourself in the moment that makes the difference. - WSL / Mike Neal
The incident is forever crystallized in his mind. "I fell on the first wave, basically got held down by the next wave and then it was like somebody shut the lights off, I blacked out," Gold explained. "Luckily they wound up seeing my board and found me floating unconscious under water, grabbed me and were able to resuscitate me."
