20 Year Swell, Cliffs Of Carnage, Wilem Banks & Russell Bierke & More

Video by Cliffs of Hope.

Cliffs of Carnage & Chaos was truly dominating on Day 2 of this never ended swell month. It's been 10foot & offshore for days on end. The Cliffs hasn't exactly broken since last March. So it's been a long time in coming. It was truly inspiring to see the best big wave surfers in the world - Wilem, Russel, Dan Green Room, Seamus McColdrick (Sligo Surf Experience), Nathan Florence, Tom Lowe and everyone else charge it. It was not at all easy to surf - even the pros were struggling to make waves.

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Chatting to Russel Bierke, he was saying he got a truly heavy wipeout, bounded off the reef and barely got back up before the next wave. You know when Russel is saying it's heavy, it's really insane.

THICK and HEAVY

Like all directors, Bruno and Mariana Dias took advantage of the confinement to favor editing and not filming, and thus make a small order in their files. And it is with this retrospective that they can allow themselves to affirm that these two minutes of "heavy and thick" waves represent Portugal in its best light.

We can only agree when we see these perfectly offshore conditions that inflate sometimes violent barrels in the best Portuguese locations. Vanlife Productions' cameras immortalized the elite of Portuguese surfing with Frederico Morais, Nic Von Rupp or Rafael Tapia, as well as prestigious guests like Tom Lowe or Kanoa Igarashi. And you, would you have surfed or filmed?

'Mordros' Tom Lowe and Mullaghmore

Near drownings, broken bones, and the wave of his life so far. A heartfelt reflection on Cornish big wave surfer Tom Lowe's pioneering efforts whilst paddling into waves of consequence at Irelands infamously hectic stretch of reef at 'Mullaghmore'.

Tom Lowe Makes a Nazare Bomb

January 4, Nazare, Tom Lowe's in the water with a crew of chargers. Spotting this wedgey peak, he spins and makes the drop. What followed after was a steam-rolling at Portugal's premier behemoth.

“Yeah was real wild morning on January 4”, Lowey tells. "30ft proper outside Nazare, me, Pedro Calado and Othmane Choufani were on first peak. Nobody else about at the time I caught this one. Was first wave of the day...Lucas Chumbo was on safety. Maya Gabeira towed the first wave of that set, then I saw a nice wedge entry on this.

“Next thing I was in the air off the bat, on my 11’0 Christenson. with the wind cross/onshore, which probably helped. I actually rode through to the inside because the wave formed up again, was a scary ride. Lucas followed me in on the ski and grabbed me straight away, the legend.

“Shortly after, I wiped out on a smaller wave, surfaced to that massive wedging beast on the head. Thing smashed me big time, hit my head on my board underwater, bit of panic mode and took a few waves on the head, but luckily enough I got washed to the beach. Ended up with six stitches which I’ll settle with considering....”

Scary and Intense

Tom Lowe, Kealii Mamala and Jérôme Sahyoun on a huge drop at Mavericks.

Photo: Bastien Bonnarme

Puerto Sessions

Puerto Sessions from Milenka Hrabovcak
It's not often you get to witness waves so powerful that shake the very ground you stand on. These spectacular gems delivered by puerto escondido really put things into perspective. Nature is god and surfers are merely humble servants of the sea.
Surfers: Jamie Whitten, Tom Lowe, Matt Bromley and more.