Riding Giants

0:00:02 > 0:00:09This programme contains some strong language.

0:00:12 > 0:00:16MUSIC: "Messe Solonelle: Sanctus" by The Orpheus Chamber Ensemble

0:00:50 > 0:00:52MUSIC: "Don't Stay" by Linkin Park

0:01:11 > 0:01:13MUSIC STOPS

0:01:40 > 0:01:44The ancient Hawaiian sport of surfing can be traced back

0:01:44 > 0:01:47as far as 1,000 years ago, as men, women, children

0:01:47 > 0:01:52and Hawaii's great King Kamehameha enjoyed the thrill of riding waves.

0:01:54 > 0:01:58In the earliest description of the sport by a visiting European,

0:01:58 > 0:02:02Captain James Cook observed upon watching an Hawaiian surf rider

0:02:02 > 0:02:04in the year of 1777:

0:02:04 > 0:02:06"I could not help concluding

0:02:06 > 0:02:08"that this man felt the most supreme pleasure

0:02:08 > 0:02:14"while he was being driven on so fast and so smoothly by the sea."

0:02:14 > 0:02:16Then in the 1800s,

0:02:16 > 0:02:21the waves fell flat with the arrival of the Calvados missionaries.

0:02:21 > 0:02:24Shocked and outraged by the state of undress

0:02:24 > 0:02:27and the easy mixing of the sexes that surfing fostered,

0:02:27 > 0:02:29the missionaries banned the sport.

0:02:31 > 0:02:33The extinct Polynesian pastime

0:02:33 > 0:02:37was then reintroduced in the early 20th century by Alexander Hume Ford,

0:02:37 > 0:02:42a globetrotting promoter who set about reviving Island tourism

0:02:42 > 0:02:44by romanticising surfing at Waikiki.

0:02:47 > 0:02:50In 1912, came surfing's first international icon.

0:02:50 > 0:02:54Waikiki beach boy and celebrated Olympic swimming champion,

0:02:54 > 0:02:56Duke Kahanamoku.

0:02:56 > 0:02:59The only surfer to ever appear on a US stamp.

0:02:59 > 0:03:03While travelling the globe giving swimming demonstrations,

0:03:03 > 0:03:06Duke became surfing's Johnny Appleseed,

0:03:06 > 0:03:11introducing his favourite sport to far-flung places like California, New York and Australia.

0:03:11 > 0:03:14One of the fans enthralled by the Duke

0:03:14 > 0:03:18was a young Wisconsin swimming champion named Tom Blake.

0:03:18 > 0:03:21Relocating to Hawaii, Blake would go on to become

0:03:21 > 0:03:25one of the 20th-century's most influential surfers through his innovative surfboard design,

0:03:25 > 0:03:30but most importantly, through his advocacy of surfing as a way of life.

0:03:41 > 0:03:46By 1948, surfing had taken root along the California coast,

0:03:46 > 0:03:50where a skinny, 10-year-old kid from Hermosa Beach named Greg Noll

0:03:50 > 0:03:54found himself immersed in the emerging subculture.

0:03:54 > 0:03:58Following in the footsteps of pioneers like Pete Peterson and Lorrin Harrison,

0:03:58 > 0:04:03Noll eagerly joined the ranks of these eccentric sportsmen,

0:04:03 > 0:04:06carving out an entirely new and free-spirited lifestyle.

0:04:06 > 0:04:07Those guys were all gentlemanly.

0:04:07 > 0:04:10It was a different era, a different time.

0:04:10 > 0:04:14Something went to hell in the early '50s. It's like somebody threw a light switch.

0:04:14 > 0:04:18When the lightweight longboard came in, something happened.

0:04:19 > 0:04:21# Hey babe

0:04:21 > 0:04:24# I don't feel like going to school no more

0:04:24 > 0:04:26# Me neither. #

0:04:26 > 0:04:29It was the introduction of lightweight balsawood

0:04:29 > 0:04:32and the newly discovered aerospace material fibreglass

0:04:32 > 0:04:34that suddenly cut the weight of surfboards in half,

0:04:34 > 0:04:40and paved the way for a younger generation to begin picking up the offbeat support.

0:04:40 > 0:04:42There was this great feeling

0:04:42 > 0:04:44of individuality and freedom

0:04:44 > 0:04:49from being able to ride this wave, and it made us feel free and I think maybe almost rebellious.

0:04:49 > 0:04:53the ride itself is such a bitching deal. So rewarding.

0:04:53 > 0:04:56It becomes so important to you that it becomes

0:04:56 > 0:04:59the object around which you plan the rest of your life,

0:04:59 > 0:05:02and everyone else is planning around money and acquisition of money.

0:05:02 > 0:05:06And all of a sudden, a bunch of guys come along and go, "Screw the money,

0:05:06 > 0:05:10"I'm having all the fun I could possibly have, girls are loving it,

0:05:10 > 0:05:11"we're a bunch of scroungy surfers."

0:05:11 > 0:05:14The shittier you dress and the funnier language you talk,

0:05:14 > 0:05:18nobody understood half the stuff we were saying because it was surf jargon,

0:05:18 > 0:05:21the more fun we were having, the more it would piss off society.

0:05:21 > 0:05:24# Well you're sexy and 17

0:05:24 > 0:05:27# My little rock a boat queen

0:05:27 > 0:05:29# That's a little bit I seen

0:05:29 > 0:05:31# Gotta let off a little steam. #

0:05:31 > 0:05:35With a devotion to riding waves came the creation of a new lifestyle,

0:05:35 > 0:05:38centred around all things beach.

0:05:38 > 0:05:42# Shake it around your body, body, body. #

0:05:50 > 0:05:54This emerging lifestyle went in direct opposition to mainstream values.

0:05:54 > 0:05:58Surfers were often regarded as nothing more than beach bums.

0:06:00 > 0:06:03My parents never saw me surf. They thought it was a disease.

0:06:03 > 0:06:09They couldn't come to the game, they couldn't see the score up on the board,

0:06:09 > 0:06:11and couldn't understand what good it did.

0:06:11 > 0:06:15Greg Noll talks about his principal calling him into the office saying,

0:06:15 > 0:06:17"What are you guys doing down there on the beach,

0:06:17 > 0:06:19"what exactly are you doing?"

0:06:19 > 0:06:23Not just going at the surf, what are you doing on the beach?

0:06:23 > 0:06:27For the first time ever, they had a group of guys who didn't give a rat's ass

0:06:27 > 0:06:31dropping out of the basketball team and football team, giving the whole thing the finger,

0:06:31 > 0:06:34and going, I don't give a shit, I want to go surfing.

0:06:39 > 0:06:41For this new generation of surfers,

0:06:41 > 0:06:45surfing wasn't just something you did, but something you became.

0:06:45 > 0:06:48Not just a sport, but a statement.

0:06:48 > 0:06:51I think getting radical was part of the culture at that time.

0:06:51 > 0:06:56After a while, it was expected of us and therefore we fulfilled those expectations.

0:06:56 > 0:07:01Some guy's dad had got back from the war and had a closet full of Nazi stuff that he brought back,

0:07:01 > 0:07:07and then they went over and took flexes and rode down a storm drain for a mile underneath Windansea.

0:07:26 > 0:07:32And that was just, you know, having a good time, but people see it and go, "Oh, what's this all about?"

0:07:32 > 0:07:37That behaviour was not mean-spirited. It was playful. It was like turning a hearse into a surf mobile.

0:07:37 > 0:07:41Instead of dead bodies, it was all about living life to the full.

0:07:41 > 0:07:44Amidst the mirth and mayhem of the fledgling surf scenes,

0:07:44 > 0:07:46from Windansea to San Onofre to Malibu,

0:07:46 > 0:07:50much homage was given to the sport's Polynesian roots,

0:07:50 > 0:07:55with grass shacks, floral Aloha shirts and the playing of ukuleles.

0:07:59 > 0:08:03But on a winter morning in 1953, another Hawaiian import

0:08:03 > 0:08:07landed like a bomb on the front porch of California.

0:08:07 > 0:08:10I can remember I was a 14-year-old paperboy

0:08:10 > 0:08:12delivering papers in Santa Monica -

0:08:12 > 0:08:14it was the Evening Outlook and I got to work that afternoon

0:08:14 > 0:08:15I looked at the front page

0:08:15 > 0:08:19and there was Buzzy Trent, George Downing and Wally Froiseth

0:08:19 > 0:08:22coming down the face of what looked like a 30-foot wave.

0:08:27 > 0:08:31This simple image sent shockwaves through California's emerging surf culture,

0:08:31 > 0:08:34triggering the first migration of West Coast surfers

0:08:34 > 0:08:38to the Hawaiian Islands and Oahu's Makaha Beach.

0:08:38 > 0:08:44# Wind and wave and sand and sunshine... #

0:08:44 > 0:08:46It was Makaha's combination of smooth,

0:08:46 > 0:08:50crystal-blue warm water and large, gently-tapered waves

0:08:50 > 0:08:54that helped create surfing's first accessible big-wave riding paradise.

0:08:54 > 0:08:59# Just to ride Makaha waves... #

0:08:59 > 0:09:02At Makaha, if we had ten guys on a good day, that was a lot.

0:09:02 > 0:09:05You knew every one of them - they were there every time.

0:09:05 > 0:09:06To us, that was a crowd at that time.

0:09:06 > 0:09:10You'd be out there for about two, three hours.

0:09:10 > 0:09:12And you'd only catch, like, five waves.

0:09:12 > 0:09:15Cos you don't want to mess it up.

0:09:15 > 0:09:18You don't have no leash and you were out there.

0:09:18 > 0:09:21When you wipe out, there's nobody.

0:09:21 > 0:09:28# And the surfers ride their high boards

0:09:28 > 0:09:35# Toward the bright Makaha shore... #

0:09:35 > 0:09:38In the early days, we lived on the beach. We had tents.

0:09:38 > 0:09:42Then, later on, we all got together and rented quonset huts -

0:09:42 > 0:09:46for 25-50 bucks - ten guys would be in the quonset hut.

0:09:46 > 0:09:49You know, so it was cheap, that was an upgrade.

0:09:49 > 0:09:52It was easygoing, no problems, no hassles.

0:09:52 > 0:09:57You know, we used to leave our board on the beach there, go into Waikiki

0:09:57 > 0:10:00for two days, come back - it'd still be there, nobody'd touch it.

0:10:00 > 0:10:07# Let them love at old Makaha

0:10:08 > 0:10:15# On the bright Makaha shore. #

0:10:22 > 0:10:24The young Californians were mentored by Makaha's

0:10:24 > 0:10:26first generation of big wave riders.

0:10:26 > 0:10:31Surfers like Woody Brown, along with Wally Froiseth, George Downing and Buzzy Trent

0:10:31 > 0:10:37had spent much of the previous decade challenging Makaha's giant surf.

0:10:37 > 0:10:39They were the astronauts of their era,

0:10:39 > 0:10:42conquering big waves that no-one had conquered before them.

0:10:42 > 0:10:45To me, those guys were bigger than life before I went over there.

0:10:45 > 0:10:51That trio of guys were the first really hardcore big wave riders

0:10:51 > 0:10:55that set the blueprint for the next generation.

0:10:55 > 0:10:59But it was 23-year-old George Downing who carved the mould

0:10:59 > 0:11:01from which all other big wave riders were cast.

0:11:01 > 0:11:05I think that George Downing in a sense is truly the original big-wave surfer.

0:11:05 > 0:11:10Downing designed and built the first true big-wave surfboard.

0:11:10 > 0:11:13It was instrumental in exploring many of Oahu's other big wave breaks.

0:11:13 > 0:11:16They all wanted to ride more big waves

0:11:16 > 0:11:18and Makaha doesn't get big that often.

0:11:18 > 0:11:22We had heard these fabulous tales about this deep, dark,

0:11:22 > 0:11:25foreboding place called the North Shore.

0:11:27 > 0:11:3115 miles up the coast from Makaha was the North Shore -

0:11:31 > 0:11:34a remote, 13-mile stretch of coastline backed up against

0:11:34 > 0:11:38a patchwork of pineapple fields and taro farms.

0:11:44 > 0:11:48I can remember coming out of the pineapple fields of Schofield,

0:11:48 > 0:11:51and getting my first glimpse of the North Shore.

0:11:51 > 0:11:55Here's this magical place laid out in front of you.

0:11:55 > 0:11:59Suddenly they get to a place where all those dreams live.

0:11:59 > 0:12:04Every time you'd go another couple of hundred yards, "Shit, there's another place! Look at this!"

0:12:04 > 0:12:07At first, we didn't have a clue that we had stumbled on something

0:12:07 > 0:12:08so fabulously magical and powerful.

0:12:08 > 0:12:10Just taking the waves into consideration,

0:12:10 > 0:12:13they must have thought that they'd found Nirvana.

0:12:16 > 0:12:20The discovery of the North Shore was surfing's equivalent of Columbus reaching the New World.

0:12:20 > 0:12:23Nowhere else on Earth would there be found

0:12:23 > 0:12:26so many world-class big wave breaks in such close proximity.

0:12:26 > 0:12:29What the Paris runways are to fashion,

0:12:29 > 0:12:32is what the North Shore is to the world of surfing.

0:12:32 > 0:12:36We're among the first groups of Californians to live out there

0:12:36 > 0:12:38and just dedicate themselves to surfing.

0:12:38 > 0:12:42MUSIC: "Rudy's Rock" by Bill Haley and The Comets

0:12:58 > 0:13:02We were spending, eight, ten hours a day in the water,

0:13:02 > 0:13:04doing nothing but surfing our guts out.

0:13:04 > 0:13:06There wasn't any home life, so, you know,

0:13:06 > 0:13:08we spent our days on the beach and that's what we did.

0:13:08 > 0:13:12We surfed all day. Every day - no matter what.

0:13:12 > 0:13:14In those days, we never saw girls.

0:13:14 > 0:13:16And if you brought a date out

0:13:16 > 0:13:20and sat her in the car while you surfed four or five hours, you never had that date again.

0:13:24 > 0:13:28These guys came to surf, and it was kind of unheard of...

0:13:28 > 0:13:32"You don't have a JOB? You spend a couple of months here to surf?"

0:13:32 > 0:13:36No watch. No money. No car. No nothing.

0:13:36 > 0:13:38Just shorts and a T-shirt.

0:13:38 > 0:13:42There were no hotels - there was one place in Haleiwa that was a set of cubicles.

0:13:42 > 0:13:46You'd have guys sharing the place and getting mattresses

0:13:46 > 0:13:49from the Salvation Army and throwing 'em on the floor.

0:13:49 > 0:13:52I mean, it was a scene to try to make ends meet.

0:13:52 > 0:13:56There wasn't a lot of money, so if we wanted to eat, we had to go diving.

0:13:56 > 0:14:01We'd dive every day and get fish and lobster - and turtle, in those days.

0:14:01 > 0:14:05They'd go pick coconuts and papayas and go fishing -

0:14:05 > 0:14:07in those days, you could live off the land.

0:14:07 > 0:14:12Guys'd come over from the mainland, they'd patch our surfboards for us for a peanut butter sandwich.

0:14:12 > 0:14:15Pat Curren and I, we'd get in a bit of trouble -

0:14:15 > 0:14:18we'd steal chickens, or something like that.

0:14:20 > 0:14:26MUSIC: "Parchman Farm" by John Mayall and the Bluesbreakers

0:14:26 > 0:14:29I mean, the whole thing was waiting for waves.

0:14:29 > 0:14:31You know, we would do anything to amuse ourselves and each other,

0:14:31 > 0:14:36so somewhere I'd learned about how to put lighter fluid in your mouth

0:14:36 > 0:14:38and torch it off!

0:14:38 > 0:14:42Actually, I did set the side of that house on fire!

0:14:43 > 0:14:47They're just spending their days living in the sun,

0:14:47 > 0:14:51and living a life that's not the '50s men-in-a-grey-flannel-suit thing.

0:14:51 > 0:14:54It's like an alternative thing the way Kerouac was

0:14:54 > 0:14:57and bikers were, except they're having fun.

0:14:57 > 0:15:00That was the counter-culture of its day.

0:15:00 > 0:15:04You were bucking the system and you went to Hawaii and you rode waves.

0:15:07 > 0:15:11They were the pioneers, not only of riding big waves, but of the culture of surfing.

0:15:11 > 0:15:15They're the ones who set the pace, this free-and-easy lifestyle.

0:15:15 > 0:15:17That really was a unique period in history.

0:15:17 > 0:15:21They were doing something so unique in the 20th century.

0:15:21 > 0:15:24The fact was, there was a handful of them - it wasn't like jazz,

0:15:24 > 0:15:27where there was the Chicago scene and the New York scene, this was IT.

0:15:27 > 0:15:31That tiny little epicentre - those two dozen intrepid men

0:15:31 > 0:15:33and the women that went with them living that life.

0:15:33 > 0:15:35It only lasted a few years.

0:15:35 > 0:15:37What a remarkable time that must have been.

0:15:37 > 0:15:41MUSIC: "Glass Off" by Bankok Starters

0:16:57 > 0:17:01As these surfers rode more and more of the North Shore's fantastic waves,

0:17:01 > 0:17:04the biggest wave of all still eluded them.

0:17:04 > 0:17:08The spot? Waimea Bay, which began to break

0:17:08 > 0:17:12when the rest of the North Shore was too big to surf.

0:17:18 > 0:17:21But Waimea Bay was riddled with taboos and fears

0:17:21 > 0:17:25as surfers of the '50s were haunted by the memory of Dickie Cross,

0:17:25 > 0:17:28a young California surfer who in December of 1943

0:17:28 > 0:17:32became trapped by a fast-rising storm swell while surfing Sunset Beach.

0:17:34 > 0:17:39Unable to reach the shore, he and fellow surfer Woody Brown elected to paddle three miles south

0:17:39 > 0:17:43to the safer, deep water at Waimea Bay.

0:17:43 > 0:17:46But 50-foot waves were closing out the bay

0:17:46 > 0:17:49and while attempting to reach the shore, both were caught

0:17:49 > 0:17:52by mountains of white water and ripped from their boards.

0:17:52 > 0:17:54Brown eventually washed up on shore naked,

0:17:54 > 0:17:59while 17-year-old Cross was never seen again.

0:17:59 > 0:18:03I mean, it spooked everybody. They were like, "You can't ride there. It's a killer.

0:18:03 > 0:18:05"We're not going to go out there - you're going to die."

0:18:05 > 0:18:09Along with the death of Dickie Cross, Waimea's reputation

0:18:09 > 0:18:11was steeped in superstition and dread,

0:18:11 > 0:18:14with tales that ranged from haunted houses on the Point

0:18:14 > 0:18:19to human sacrifices at the heiau, or Hawaiian burial ground, overlooking the bay.

0:18:19 > 0:18:23All of these things were whizzing around this place

0:18:23 > 0:18:25like a bunch of ghouls and people really believed

0:18:25 > 0:18:29that if you paddled out, there was going to be this goddamn vortex -

0:18:29 > 0:18:33it'd be like flushing the toilet and there go the holidays for the season.

0:18:33 > 0:18:36People thought you couldn't ride Waimea Bay - they watched,

0:18:36 > 0:18:38looked at it and said, "Can't be done".

0:18:38 > 0:18:41You'd look at Waimea and you'd wonder,

0:18:41 > 0:18:43can the human body survive the wipeout?

0:18:46 > 0:18:50But the lure of riding Waimea was unrelenting,

0:18:50 > 0:18:53as during each big swell, surfers would find themselves

0:18:53 > 0:18:56standing spellbound on the shore, transfixed by the sight

0:18:56 > 0:19:00of these huge, perfectly-shaped waves, exploding off the point.

0:19:02 > 0:19:05We'd go by there when it was breaking and go, "Jeez,

0:19:05 > 0:19:07"that looks like a ride of a wave."

0:19:07 > 0:19:11You could see that this had all of the potential of being a great surf spot.

0:19:11 > 0:19:15And at some point, you just had to go, "To hell with it.

0:19:15 > 0:19:17"We can do this thing."

0:19:17 > 0:19:21On a fall day of October 1957, a handful of surfers

0:19:21 > 0:19:25converged on Waimea as a 20-foot swell began lining up the bay.

0:19:25 > 0:19:29MUSIC: "Rumble" by Link Wray

0:19:33 > 0:19:36Sitting on the point, watching the huge empty waves with his buddy,

0:19:36 > 0:19:40Mike Stang, 19-year-old Greg Noll had finally seen enough.

0:19:40 > 0:19:43He unstrapped his board, and with Mike Stang in tow,

0:19:43 > 0:19:45walked down to the water's edge.

0:19:45 > 0:19:48Moments later, they were joined by fellow surfers

0:19:48 > 0:19:51Pat Curren, Micky Munoz, Del Cannon,

0:19:51 > 0:19:56Fred Van Dyke, Harry Schurch, Bing Copeland and Bob Bermell...

0:19:58 > 0:20:00..who, together with Noll and Stang,

0:20:00 > 0:20:02paddled out to attempt the impossible.

0:20:10 > 0:20:14It was obvious where the waves were breaking and we'd all had

0:20:14 > 0:20:18enough experience so that you knew pretty much where to paddle to.

0:20:18 > 0:20:21I remember paddling into the line-up

0:20:21 > 0:20:23and your balls were just in your stomach, you know?

0:20:23 > 0:20:25Thinking that the bottom was going to fall out

0:20:25 > 0:20:28and something was going to eat you alive.

0:20:29 > 0:20:33I'm thinking to myself, I don't want to get wiped out,

0:20:33 > 0:20:37cos I know there's sharks here and I'm not into swimming with sharks, exactly!

0:20:37 > 0:20:40We got out there, it was a big surprise -

0:20:40 > 0:20:42it's not an easy take-off.

0:20:56 > 0:21:00I took off on a wave and went down the side and popped out the other end.

0:21:00 > 0:21:03Went... "Shit! I'm still alive, nothing's happened."

0:21:03 > 0:21:07After we got a couple of waves, that kind of took, you know,

0:21:07 > 0:21:10"Hey, we can do this".

0:21:10 > 0:21:13They broke the taboo - they went out and did it and once it was done,

0:21:13 > 0:21:17opened up the floodgates, like, "OK, now, how far do we take it?"

0:21:17 > 0:21:20MUSIC: "Pipeline" by Matter Music

0:21:20 > 0:21:24The following year of 1958, Waimea Bay blew big wave surfing wide open

0:21:24 > 0:21:27as another migration of ambitious surfers

0:21:27 > 0:21:32came charging onto Hawaii's North Shore to campaign the huge surf.

0:21:35 > 0:21:38These surfers were out to ride the biggest swells nature could produce,

0:21:38 > 0:21:42so they built what came to be known as "guns" - long, narrow surfboards

0:21:42 > 0:21:47designed exclusively for catching the fast-moving 25-foot waves of Waimea.

0:21:50 > 0:21:54I rode an 11'6". It was first and foremost a wave-catching machine,

0:21:54 > 0:21:58because if you can't catch a wave, nothing else matters.

0:21:58 > 0:22:03Unlike the somewhat easy take-off of Makaha, Waimea was a fear-inducing

0:22:03 > 0:22:0925-foot elevator drop, sometimes requiring more faith than skill.

0:22:16 > 0:22:19It almost doesn't help sometimes to know what you're doing out there,

0:22:19 > 0:22:22because if you know too much, it intimidates you.

0:22:22 > 0:22:24Everything is moving, in flux.

0:22:24 > 0:22:29Nothing is constant. It's so dynamic that you can't pre-plan it.

0:22:29 > 0:22:31Not only are you riding down this mountain,

0:22:31 > 0:22:34but this mountain is chasing you and you have to use all your skill

0:22:34 > 0:22:36and all your ability to get away from this mountain,

0:22:36 > 0:22:38but at the same time,

0:22:38 > 0:22:40use it to your own benefit.

0:22:40 > 0:22:43When you come down the face of a mountain,

0:22:43 > 0:22:45you're on fire, your heart is exploding.

0:22:45 > 0:22:50Endorphins are just busting out in your brain and you want to...

0:22:50 > 0:22:52not just prove that you can do it,

0:22:52 > 0:22:55but discover what you're made out of.

0:22:58 > 0:23:01Apart from the challenge of learning to ride Waimea,

0:23:01 > 0:23:05was the even greater challenge of surviving the horrifying wipe-outs.

0:23:05 > 0:23:09You'd feel like a piece of lint in a washing machine,

0:23:09 > 0:23:11because the force of nature that you're in the middle of

0:23:11 > 0:23:15is so quantum beyond comprehension.

0:23:16 > 0:23:19I can remember fracturing my neck at Waimea.

0:23:21 > 0:23:24I went over the falls, I hit the water,

0:23:24 > 0:23:27my neck went back in whiplash and fractured my neck.

0:23:27 > 0:23:30Lost all feelings in my arms and legs.

0:23:30 > 0:23:32I was like a seagull full of oil.

0:23:32 > 0:23:35Just fluttering in the white water, out of control.

0:23:42 > 0:23:45Some guys came over, helped me in. I'm lucky to be alive.

0:23:45 > 0:23:47And I think every single big wave surfer

0:23:47 > 0:23:49could tell you a story like that.

0:23:53 > 0:23:56We didn't have flotation devices, we didn't have leashes,

0:23:56 > 0:23:59we didn't have helicopters waiting to scoop you out.

0:23:59 > 0:24:02So if you fucked up, you were on your own.

0:24:18 > 0:24:21By 1959, Waimea had become the epicentre of big wave surfing,

0:24:21 > 0:24:26fostering a new crew of big wave talents - Pat Curren, Peter Cole,

0:24:26 > 0:24:29Ricky Grigg, Fred Van Dyke,

0:24:29 > 0:24:31Jose Angel, Kealoha Kaio

0:24:31 > 0:24:34and Greg Noll, whose big wave obsession

0:24:34 > 0:24:36and even bigger wave personality

0:24:36 > 0:24:39would forever link him with Waimea Bay.

0:24:39 > 0:24:42MUSIC: "Sleep Walk" by Matter Music

0:24:48 > 0:24:52Waimea was my gal. She was like...

0:24:52 > 0:24:54I mean, I surfed with this beautiful woman

0:24:54 > 0:24:58who allowed me to get away with shit

0:24:58 > 0:25:02as long as I didn't act too outrageously towards her.

0:25:15 > 0:25:20There were times when the surf would get perfect, you know,

0:25:20 > 0:25:23and you'd go out and catch a wave...

0:25:23 > 0:25:27just make this thing and have your adrenalin dripping out of your ears,

0:25:27 > 0:25:30paddle back out and do it again.

0:25:30 > 0:25:33You get a little too cocky, you'd get your ass slapped a little bit.

0:25:33 > 0:25:36She'd let you know it but, for the most part,

0:25:36 > 0:25:41it was just this full-on love affair that took place for 25 years.

0:25:56 > 0:25:59Nicknamed the Bull for his charging style,

0:25:59 > 0:26:03and clothing himself in loud, jailhouse-striped trunks,

0:26:03 > 0:26:06Noll emerged as surfing's first big wave celebrity.

0:26:06 > 0:26:09He had the perfect big wave persona. He looked like a big wave rider

0:26:09 > 0:26:11with that big, thick neck,

0:26:11 > 0:26:15and he had the black-and-white striped trunks, which was genius.

0:26:15 > 0:26:18MUSIC: "Rumble in Brixton" by Stray Cats

0:26:18 > 0:26:21Surfing needed Greg Noll.

0:26:21 > 0:26:23Some of those surfers, they were a stoic bunch.

0:26:23 > 0:26:26Greg Noll introduced flamboyance to it.

0:26:26 > 0:26:29He introduced showmanship, he introduced that colourful aspect

0:26:29 > 0:26:33that most people associated with Malibu. Not just the way he surfed,

0:26:33 > 0:26:37but the spirit of it. He introduced that into big wave riding.

0:26:41 > 0:26:45He wanted to ride the biggest wave anybody had ever ridden.

0:26:45 > 0:26:49Greg made his reputation on taking off on the biggest wave, the heaviest wave.

0:26:49 > 0:26:53He stuffed himself into positions nobody else would want. He'd sit over deeper,

0:26:53 > 0:26:56he'd take off later, he'd spin around at the last minute.

0:26:56 > 0:26:58He was surfing's first hell man.

0:27:03 > 0:27:06He just liked confrontation. He sought it out.

0:27:06 > 0:27:09In human terms and in big wave terms.

0:27:09 > 0:27:11I was really a young, skinny kid

0:27:11 > 0:27:15and I got my ass kicked from the time I can remember.

0:27:15 > 0:27:19I went to school and had my ass kicked. I went to high school, I had my ass kicked.

0:27:19 > 0:27:24And in some ways, maybe there was something there that drove me

0:27:24 > 0:27:27to want to pursue big wave riding to make some kind of a statement.

0:27:27 > 0:27:30I'm not a psychologist, I don't know.

0:27:30 > 0:27:33All I know is, once you get into it, there's an adrenalin, a stoke

0:27:33 > 0:27:36and that high is so addictive that, once you have a taste of it,

0:27:36 > 0:27:39it's very difficult to not want more.

0:27:40 > 0:27:45But for Greg Noll, big wave surfing became more than just an adrenalin fix.

0:27:45 > 0:27:49It became his identity, his way of life and his business.

0:27:49 > 0:27:51He was doing it to promote his surfboard business

0:27:51 > 0:27:54and worked actively to promote himself.

0:27:54 > 0:27:59Greg was a good hurdy gurdy man. He knew how to self-promote himself.

0:27:59 > 0:28:01As well as being a successful surf film-maker,

0:28:01 > 0:28:05the nickel and dime surfboard business Noll began in his parents' garage

0:28:05 > 0:28:10had, by 1965, become a 20,000 square foot surfboard factory

0:28:10 > 0:28:12built around his big wave image.

0:28:12 > 0:28:14I had a big building, I had 67 employees,

0:28:14 > 0:28:17I made 150 boards a week and, for the most part,

0:28:17 > 0:28:20I was just turning money over because I'd sell them so cheap.

0:28:20 > 0:28:24You know, we're all competing with each other.

0:28:24 > 0:28:28He was a board designer, a really influential manufacturer.

0:28:28 > 0:28:32He was the most complete surfer of the '50s and '60s. No-one else even came close.

0:28:32 > 0:28:37Despite the dramatic exploits of Noll and the other Waimea-based surfers,

0:28:37 > 0:28:41it was a naive 15-year-old girl from California

0:28:41 > 0:28:46and her desire to join the Malibu surf set that launched surfing into mainstream America.

0:28:46 > 0:28:48Surfing is out of this world!

0:28:48 > 0:28:51You can't imagine the thrill of shooting the curl!

0:28:51 > 0:28:54It positively surpasses every living emotion I've ever had!

0:28:57 > 0:28:59Hey! This is the ultimate!

0:28:59 > 0:29:01# She acts sort of teenage

0:29:01 > 0:29:02# Just in-between age

0:29:02 > 0:29:05# Looks about 4 foot 3... #

0:29:05 > 0:29:08When you look at surfing's history from the '50s into the '60s,

0:29:08 > 0:29:13everything has to be perceived as either pre-Gidget or post-Gidget.

0:29:13 > 0:29:16- You can't mean...?- I'm a surf bum.

0:29:16 > 0:29:19You know, ride the waves, eat, sleep, not a care in the world.

0:29:19 > 0:29:23From the movie Gidget coming out in '59, when there was fewer than 5,000 surfers,

0:29:23 > 0:29:26to 1963, there was probably 2 million surfers.

0:29:26 > 0:29:30So, in five years, it went from 5,000 to 2 or 3 million people doing it.

0:29:30 > 0:29:33MUSIC: Miserlou by Dick Dale

0:29:37 > 0:29:39Following the film release of Gidget,

0:29:39 > 0:29:42surfing underwent a radical transformation.

0:29:42 > 0:29:46Surf shops opened doors up and down America's west and east coasts.

0:29:46 > 0:29:50John Severson's Surfer magazine began publication.

0:29:50 > 0:29:54In 1962, surf music pioneer Dick Dale

0:29:54 > 0:29:59sold 75,000 copies of his album Surfers' Choice in Southern California alone.

0:30:08 > 0:30:11Suddenly, surfing was perceived as hip.

0:30:11 > 0:30:16People assumed that surfers were in the know. Look at the life they were leading - living on the beach,

0:30:16 > 0:30:20the sun, bikinis, that sort of aura of sex, beach blankets,

0:30:20 > 0:30:24fires and then all that golden flesh in the sun.

0:30:27 > 0:30:31Hollywood followed Gidget with a medley of surf exploitation films.

0:30:31 > 0:30:36Then, in 1864, the Hollywood film Ride The Wild Surf

0:30:36 > 0:30:41turned its lens on Hawaii's big wave surfers challenging Waimea Bay.

0:30:41 > 0:30:43I've been hot to surf Waimea since I was 13!

0:30:43 > 0:30:48But the question is, can we do it, without winding up in traction?

0:30:48 > 0:30:50MUSIC: "Ride The Wild Surf" by Jan & Dean

0:30:50 > 0:30:52The theme is always the same -

0:30:52 > 0:30:57a bunch of chicks in bikinis wringing their hands that their boyfriends

0:30:57 > 0:31:01are going to go out and risk their lives on some big wave and it just...

0:31:01 > 0:31:04Man, it just makes me puke!

0:31:04 > 0:31:06- Man, is he getting creamed. - He's cooking gas!

0:31:06 > 0:31:12They show the film of a guy sitting in a fish pond without a ripple...

0:31:12 > 0:31:14Hey! It's coming!

0:31:14 > 0:31:18..and then they cut to a 25-foot wave, guys all pouring down the face of the wave.

0:31:21 > 0:31:24I mean, who can believe that shit?

0:31:27 > 0:31:30Hollywood's always had a misconstrued view of surfing

0:31:30 > 0:31:34so it's more or less offensive to the surfing community.

0:31:34 > 0:31:37All the ancillary artistic pursuits that surrounded surfing,

0:31:37 > 0:31:42they really did all come together in a rush and all of it happening from 1960 to 1965.

0:31:48 > 0:31:50THUNDER CRASHES, WIND ROARS

0:31:50 > 0:31:53SIREN WAILS

0:32:00 > 0:32:03On December 4th 1969, big wave surfing was hit

0:32:03 > 0:32:07with what would become known as the greatest swell of the 20th century.

0:32:13 > 0:32:16A massive low pressure system metastasised

0:32:16 > 0:32:20into one colossal storm system that consumed the North Pacific Ocean basin,

0:32:20 > 0:32:24resulting in the largest waves ever recorded.

0:32:26 > 0:32:29The super-size storm uprooted trees,

0:32:29 > 0:32:32dislodged boats onto Oahu's Kam highway

0:32:32 > 0:32:34and blew houses off their foundations.

0:32:36 > 0:32:39Oahu's 13-mile stretch of stunning, world-class surf breaks

0:32:39 > 0:32:43became a morass of turbulent, six-storey storm surf.

0:32:49 > 0:32:53I was sitting at Waimea looking in disbelief at what I was seeing,

0:32:53 > 0:32:58that it was breaking so big that Waimea was just full of white water.

0:33:01 > 0:33:03So I decided to go round Kaena Point

0:33:03 > 0:33:06and look at Makaha because that would be the last spot

0:33:06 > 0:33:10that would still have some chance of holding out.

0:33:12 > 0:33:16Noll set off west to Makaha, the birthplace of modern big-wave surfing,

0:33:16 > 0:33:19thinking the huge swells slamming into the North Shore

0:33:19 > 0:33:24would be tempered as they wrapped around the island's far western bend.

0:33:24 > 0:33:26On the drive west,

0:33:26 > 0:33:29he stopped briefly at Kaena Point to snap this picture

0:33:29 > 0:33:34which Surfer magazine later claimed was the largest wave ever photographed.

0:33:37 > 0:33:41When we got to Makaha, the cops were going around with their blare horns

0:33:41 > 0:33:46on their cars telling people to evacuate their homes on the Point.

0:33:46 > 0:33:50Makaha was the only big wave break on Oahu considered rideable,

0:33:50 > 0:33:54as Noll and a handful of daring surfers attempted the huge swells.

0:33:56 > 0:33:59As the morning progressed, the 100-year swell

0:33:59 > 0:34:01surging out of the North Pacific

0:34:01 > 0:34:05was giving rise to bigger and bigger waves.

0:34:05 > 0:34:08Finally, everybody was out of the water, I was the only one left.

0:34:08 > 0:34:13I was having a real hard time trying to gear myself for this

0:34:13 > 0:34:16cos I knew that, basically, it was a situation

0:34:16 > 0:34:19where your chances of surviving one of these waves was about 50/50.

0:34:19 > 0:34:21I'm thinking to myself,

0:34:21 > 0:34:24"Is it worth giving up the farm for a stupid wave?"

0:34:24 > 0:34:30And I finally had to just paddle outside the line of 100 yards

0:34:30 > 0:34:34and sit on my board with my head down and kind of go into another gear.

0:34:34 > 0:34:39And the final decision was that I would never have forgiven myself

0:34:39 > 0:34:45if I'd allowed this day to go by without at least trying for a wave.

0:34:45 > 0:34:50Noll turned and paddled for what was then considered the biggest wave ever attempted.

0:34:52 > 0:34:55No photographers were on hand to capture his wave.

0:34:55 > 0:34:58Not a single shot or a single frame of footage exists.

0:34:58 > 0:35:02All that remains are the memories of the handful of surfers

0:35:02 > 0:35:05who were there that day to witness his momentous ride.

0:35:05 > 0:35:09Greg Noll starts to paddle and we're all in our cars going,

0:35:09 > 0:35:12"Oh, my God, look at this!" He's starting to paddle into the sea.

0:35:12 > 0:35:14It's this huge, black, massive wall

0:35:14 > 0:35:17and we watch him and he takes off, stands up.

0:35:17 > 0:35:20He's this little speck on this gigantic wall.

0:35:20 > 0:35:24And he drops in and he looks like a little tiny cartoon figure.

0:35:24 > 0:35:27He gets that Greg Noll stance... "Rrrr, I'm going!"

0:35:27 > 0:35:29And he drops down, drops down, drops down

0:35:29 > 0:35:34and he gets to the bottom of the wave and the whole thing's already to come over the top of him.

0:35:34 > 0:35:38And he just kind of stepped off the rail. There was nowhere to go, that was it.

0:35:38 > 0:35:41The fact that he made the drop, got to the bottom of the wave

0:35:41 > 0:35:44and it was like oblivion after that. The whole thing just...

0:35:49 > 0:35:52Along with the birth of my sons and my daughter,

0:35:52 > 0:35:55it was probably the most significant day of my life.

0:35:55 > 0:35:57Even though it wasn't photographed

0:35:57 > 0:36:01and even though people have argued since then, "How big was it?"

0:36:01 > 0:36:04It doesn't matter. In our imaginations, it just was huge.

0:36:04 > 0:36:07Because on that classic day of the biggest swell ever seen,

0:36:07 > 0:36:11he essentially rode alone and he faced it when it came to him.

0:36:11 > 0:36:15And that's what every surfer does in their own life. Everyone can relate to that.

0:36:25 > 0:36:27As Greg Noll's giant wave broke and vanished,

0:36:27 > 0:36:31so too did the popularity of big wave surfing at Waimea Bay

0:36:31 > 0:36:35as it was broadsided by the late '60s shortboard revolution

0:36:35 > 0:36:39where the longer, heavier, big guns were phased out

0:36:39 > 0:36:42in favour of shorter and more manoeuvrable surfboards.

0:36:42 > 0:36:45By the early '70s, the great Waimea had been usurped

0:36:45 > 0:36:50by two spectacular, more performance-oriented North Shore breaks -

0:36:50 > 0:36:53the Banzai Pipeline led by surfers like Gerry Lopez,

0:36:53 > 0:36:58and at Sunset Beach by surfers like Jeff Hakman and Barry Kanaiaupuni.

0:37:00 > 0:37:02All this changed in the mid-'80s,

0:37:02 > 0:37:06first with the emergence of Ken Bradshaw and then Mark Foo,

0:37:06 > 0:37:10two professional big wave riders determined to reintroduce

0:37:10 > 0:37:14personality and showmanship to the challenge of riding giant Waimea.

0:37:14 > 0:37:18Then came the Eddie, Quiksilver's big-wave riding contest at Waimea Bay

0:37:18 > 0:37:23held in memory of the late, great, big wave rider Eddie Aikau.

0:37:24 > 0:37:27Together, Ken Bradshaw, Mark Foo and the Eddie

0:37:27 > 0:37:30wrenched the surfing world's attention back to Waimea Bay,

0:37:30 > 0:37:35then still considered the Mount Everest of big wave surfing.

0:37:43 > 0:37:48MUSIC: "Toccata and Fugue" by Christopher Herrick

0:37:48 > 0:37:52Mavericks wasn't supposed to exist, it wasn't supposed to be there!

0:37:58 > 0:38:01It was a mystery that it was just suddenly found in this area

0:38:01 > 0:38:04about 20 miles from San Francisco.

0:38:10 > 0:38:14In Half Moon Bay, formerly famous for its annual pumpkin festival!

0:38:14 > 0:38:18It's as if they discovered Mount Everest behind Mount Whitney.

0:38:18 > 0:38:21MUSIC: "Stay" by David Bowie

0:38:24 > 0:38:28Teenage surfer Jeff Clark grew up along Half Moon Bay's secluded coast

0:38:28 > 0:38:33riding home-made boards in the region's powerful rugged waves.

0:38:33 > 0:38:35He carved out a frontier existence

0:38:35 > 0:38:38far removed from surfing's mainstream.

0:38:39 > 0:38:41I was a freshman in high school.

0:38:41 > 0:38:46You could see this place exploding from out behind the building where we'd all congregate.

0:38:46 > 0:38:53I was with my childhood friend and I said, "Brian! We've got to go check that out!"

0:38:53 > 0:38:57We'd sit up on a cliff and watch this place go.

0:38:57 > 0:39:02One day, it was like, "Brian, today's the day. Bring your board."

0:39:02 > 0:39:07He's like, "There's no way I'm paddling half a mile offshore

0:39:07 > 0:39:08"to a place I've never been."

0:39:08 > 0:39:13So we sat here and he said, "I'll call the coastguard and tell them where I last saw you!"

0:39:16 > 0:39:18The year was 1975

0:39:18 > 0:39:22and the wave Clark intended to ride broke half a mile offshore

0:39:22 > 0:39:25into a veritable graveyard of jagged rocks.

0:39:27 > 0:39:31The wave was considered more a navigational hazard than a surf spot.

0:39:32 > 0:39:38I just remember a wave jacking up, I'm in the vein and total commitment.

0:39:38 > 0:39:40If I eat it, I eat it, but I'm going.

0:39:43 > 0:39:44And I hit my feet

0:39:44 > 0:39:50and I've never felt water pass across the bottom of a surfboard so fast.

0:39:50 > 0:39:51Fastest I've ever gone!

0:39:52 > 0:39:57And I made it. And I just thought, "I want another one of those!"

0:40:02 > 0:40:05MUSIC: "Hayling" by FC Kahuna.

0:40:18 > 0:40:21Jeff went out there for the first time and rode it by himself

0:40:21 > 0:40:24and couldn't get anyone to go back out with him.

0:40:26 > 0:40:29There just weren't any takers around here.

0:40:29 > 0:40:31People just didn't believe me. They just thought,

0:40:31 > 0:40:35"Oh, yeah, he's out of his mind, he doesn't know what he's talking about."

0:40:35 > 0:40:38I said, "It's the best big wave you'll ever surf."

0:40:41 > 0:40:44Jeff Clark was sitting out there, nobody in the bleachers,

0:40:44 > 0:40:47no helicopters flying over, no cheering crowds.

0:40:47 > 0:40:50Doing his shit by himself.

0:40:50 > 0:40:56# Don't think about all those things you fear

0:40:59 > 0:41:02# Just be glad to be here. #

0:41:05 > 0:41:07He'd be like the equivalent of a mountain man

0:41:07 > 0:41:09killing grizzly in the Rockies.

0:41:09 > 0:41:12Doing a three-day battle and then sleeping inside the carcass

0:41:12 > 0:41:15that night, not having anyone to tell about it.

0:41:17 > 0:41:20My parents had no idea I was riding waves like this.

0:41:20 > 0:41:23I believed in my ability to go out there and ride it.

0:41:23 > 0:41:28It was my sanctuary. I could leave the shore and go out there

0:41:28 > 0:41:31and be so focused and so in tune

0:41:31 > 0:41:36and feel the ocean with every fibre in my body

0:41:36 > 0:41:37and I was part of it.

0:41:41 > 0:41:44Jeff Clark's greatest challenge was how he internalised

0:41:44 > 0:41:48all that emotion and all that drama and all that adrenaline.

0:41:48 > 0:41:53Surfing that place alone year after year after year.

0:41:53 > 0:41:56Jeff Clark surfed Mavericks alone for 15 years.

0:41:58 > 0:42:02Until finally in 1990, he was able to convince two Santa Cruz surfers,

0:42:02 > 0:42:05Dave Schmidt and Tom Powers to join him.

0:42:05 > 0:42:10They went back to Santa Cruz with these tales of these waves.

0:42:10 > 0:42:14And the next time it broke, there were photographers,

0:42:14 > 0:42:15there were ten guys.

0:42:15 > 0:42:18Suddenly it's like, wait a minute, California is a big wave place.

0:42:18 > 0:42:23MUSIC: "My Wave" by Soundgarden.

0:42:23 > 0:42:27The discovery of this monstrous wave in Northern California

0:42:27 > 0:42:29produced an entirely new breed of big wave surfer.

0:42:29 > 0:42:33# Take, if you want a slice... #

0:42:33 > 0:42:36Once Mavericks came about, it was like right in our backyard.

0:42:36 > 0:42:40It took time to figure out what we had. It wasn't instantaneous.

0:42:40 > 0:42:42Even though we knew it was heavy and gnarly,

0:42:42 > 0:42:45it took time for me to conceptualise what we had.

0:42:45 > 0:42:47It was taboo for us to say 20 feet.

0:42:47 > 0:42:50It was like 20 foot waves only happen in Hawaii.

0:42:50 > 0:42:53The thought was, it can't be as big as Waimea,

0:42:53 > 0:42:55it can't be as gnarly as Waimea.

0:42:55 > 0:42:58This can't be as hard as what they're doing there

0:42:58 > 0:43:00when in fact, it was WAY harder.

0:43:00 > 0:43:02It was way more fearsome and way gnarlier.

0:43:02 > 0:43:06# Just keep it off my wave. #

0:43:06 > 0:43:11Just so gnarly and rocky and...just violent and hateful. It's hateful.

0:43:11 > 0:43:14I jumped in the water there and I had the worst ice cream headache

0:43:14 > 0:43:17and within 30 seconds, I couldn't feel my hands or feet.

0:43:17 > 0:43:22How are you supposed to ride 30, 40, 50 feet faces? I'm out of here.

0:43:22 > 0:43:24- # Keep it off my wave.- #

0:43:24 > 0:43:26You've got sharks, you've got rocks,

0:43:26 > 0:43:29you've got cold water, you've got huge surf.

0:43:29 > 0:43:31Five millimetre wetsuits,

0:43:31 > 0:43:34fog banks you can't see two feet in front of you.

0:43:34 > 0:43:39Oversized boulders from the Land of the Lost.

0:43:39 > 0:43:43They extend across the whole length of where the wave is breaking.

0:43:47 > 0:43:48ONLOOKERS: Whoa! LAUGHTER

0:43:50 > 0:43:52To reach the waves at Mavericks,

0:43:52 > 0:43:56surfers must paddle over 45 minutes through a maze of rocks,

0:43:56 > 0:43:58rip currents and frigid open ocean chop

0:43:58 > 0:44:01until they finally reach the line-up.

0:44:03 > 0:44:07The sacred thing in big wave surfing is, "What are the line-ups?"

0:44:09 > 0:44:13Line-ups are a means of triangulating your position in the ocean

0:44:13 > 0:44:18so you find two reference points on land at about 90 degrees.

0:44:18 > 0:44:21Mainly what I use is positioning

0:44:21 > 0:44:24on hillside. There's a big mountain behind and then a closer cliff

0:44:24 > 0:44:27and there's a satellite dish you can line up.

0:44:27 > 0:44:29You line them up so you know within a few feet

0:44:29 > 0:44:32where you are in reference to the reef and the coastline.

0:44:32 > 0:44:35If you just look at waves, you don't know if you're right.

0:44:35 > 0:44:37It's very important to be in the right spot

0:44:37 > 0:44:40at Mavericks because if you're too deep, you won't make it.

0:44:40 > 0:44:43You're not just sitting there waiting for a wave.

0:44:43 > 0:44:46The currents are so strong, you constantly paddle,

0:44:46 > 0:44:48trying to maintain your opposition.

0:44:48 > 0:44:52The worst thing that can happen out at Mavericks is getting caught inside.

0:44:55 > 0:44:58There's sets that come that are on a regular basis.

0:44:58 > 0:45:01And people get used to that, you know what I mean?

0:45:01 > 0:45:05Sitting right where those come, then a sneak set will just come out of the blue.

0:45:05 > 0:45:07It's literally just like in those beach blanket movies.

0:45:07 > 0:45:11There's nothing happening, you're sitting on your board and sometimes,

0:45:11 > 0:45:15corny though it may sound, someone actually yells, "Outside!"

0:45:15 > 0:45:17And you turn and you go, oh, wow!

0:45:17 > 0:45:20MUSIC: "Them Bones" by Alice in Chains.

0:45:20 > 0:45:24Your adrenaline's running, everything is full RPM.

0:45:24 > 0:45:26And you just want to stroke as hard as you can.

0:45:28 > 0:45:31Your heart in your throat, paddling as if you're trying to catch a wave

0:45:31 > 0:45:35- only you're trying to get out. - It's just a total survival thing.

0:45:35 > 0:45:39Nobody really cares about the other guy at that point,

0:45:39 > 0:45:40you just want to get over it.

0:45:43 > 0:45:47Each successive wave will be bigger than the one before.

0:45:47 > 0:45:50And you pray that the one you just barely made it over

0:45:50 > 0:45:52will get you to the next one.

0:45:52 > 0:45:56The next one's twice as big as the wave you just saw and will land right on you.

0:45:56 > 0:45:58Then... Oh, man, the sinking feeling.

0:45:58 > 0:46:00I'm caught, and I'm not going to get away.

0:46:00 > 0:46:03CAMERAMAN: Oh, that guy's in the impact zone.

0:46:03 > 0:46:04# I feel so alone

0:46:04 > 0:46:08# Gonna end up a big ol' pile of them bones. #

0:46:11 > 0:46:13There's a point where it gets so critical

0:46:13 > 0:46:17you have to either commit and you'll make it out the back

0:46:17 > 0:46:22or you slide off your board and swim into a vertical face of water.

0:46:22 > 0:46:26You feel like, "Oh, I made it," and then all of a sudden, you're getting

0:46:26 > 0:46:31sucked back and the feeling of going over backwards is just horrifying.

0:46:31 > 0:46:32It's the worst kind of beating.

0:46:32 > 0:46:33Oh, shit.

0:46:35 > 0:46:37There's a fiendish pleasure though

0:46:37 > 0:46:41of watching one by one the people you started with, they get

0:46:41 > 0:46:44picked off, they don't quite punch through right, and they're goners.

0:46:44 > 0:46:47# I feel so alone

0:46:47 > 0:46:51# Gonna end up a big ol' pile of them bones. #

0:46:59 > 0:47:04Not only is the take-off the hardest part of big wave surfing,

0:47:04 > 0:47:05it's the most fun.

0:47:05 > 0:47:09It's entirely different to any kind of normal surf

0:47:09 > 0:47:12because it's basically one burst of energy.

0:47:12 > 0:47:17MUSIC: "Go" by Pearl Jam.

0:47:22 > 0:47:26The wave comes out of deep water but it just stops

0:47:26 > 0:47:28and that whole mass of that wave jacks up.

0:47:28 > 0:47:32The bottom of the wave becomes the top in half a second.

0:47:32 > 0:47:34It rears up and holds back and sucks up

0:47:34 > 0:47:38and you really have to find your niche where you can be under that.

0:47:39 > 0:47:43You thought you were paddling into something maybe 20 or 30 feet.

0:47:43 > 0:47:45Now you're riding something that's 35, 40 feet tall.

0:47:45 > 0:47:49You have to put everything you have into getting yourself as far

0:47:49 > 0:47:51down the face as you can before it picks you up.

0:47:51 > 0:47:56You have to jump off the cliff right when the thing's about to jump on you.

0:48:06 > 0:48:08If you make haste in a take-off,

0:48:08 > 0:48:11the odds of you making that wave are very low.

0:48:13 > 0:48:18The whole aspect is really more mental than physical. You have to believe you'll make it.

0:48:18 > 0:48:22I know when I'll make a wave or not before I even paddle for it.

0:48:22 > 0:48:26I have to overcome that safety mechanism that wants to rise

0:48:26 > 0:48:29up in me and to keep me from doing something that could kill me.

0:48:29 > 0:48:32So this fear of the unknown becomes something

0:48:32 > 0:48:34you absolutely have to confront.

0:48:34 > 0:48:37Because there is no way to turn back your decision.

0:48:41 > 0:48:44MUSIC: "Don't Give Up" by Basement Jaxx

0:48:44 > 0:48:48I've just wiped out. I'm getting just worked.

0:48:49 > 0:48:53Fluttering down the face getting sucked back over the face

0:48:53 > 0:48:55then you basically become the lip.

0:49:00 > 0:49:04Backflips front flips, big twists,

0:49:04 > 0:49:08every which way underwater real fast over, like, a football field.

0:49:08 > 0:49:12You don't know which direction is up or down or right or left.

0:49:12 > 0:49:15It's black, it's dark, I can feel the pressure in my ears.

0:49:15 > 0:49:20You're sure you're near the surface. Then what you perceived to be up is actually the bottom.

0:49:20 > 0:49:24The leash is pulling hard on you. The board is tombstoning up there.

0:49:24 > 0:49:29I realised if there's another wave coming, I'm finished.

0:49:29 > 0:49:33At one point, it started to stop. I thought, "OK, I'm going to live."

0:49:33 > 0:49:35And I started to swim up.

0:49:35 > 0:49:36And the next wave hit.

0:49:36 > 0:49:40Then it just started all over again, just every bit as bad as the first part.

0:49:40 > 0:49:43THROBBING BASS

0:49:43 > 0:49:47I remember feeling like going over a waterfall underwater.

0:49:47 > 0:49:50Like literally getting sucked into a hole.

0:49:50 > 0:49:52Here I am 30 feet down, it takes me another 15, 20 feet down.

0:49:52 > 0:49:55I get slammed into the bottom down there.

0:49:55 > 0:49:58You think, "Oh, my God, I'm deeper than anyone's ever been."

0:50:01 > 0:50:03You get to a point when you're down there,

0:50:03 > 0:50:06"OK, this is not happening any more."

0:50:06 > 0:50:09You have to get to the surface to get air.

0:50:09 > 0:50:11Finally when I come up to the surface

0:50:11 > 0:50:14I remember it being so bright,

0:50:14 > 0:50:17it was like being in a dream and all of a sudden...

0:50:17 > 0:50:19WHOOSHING SOUND

0:50:19 > 0:50:22..back to, "OK, this is real, this is live now."

0:50:23 > 0:50:25PIANO PLAYS SOFTLY

0:50:27 > 0:50:30THUNDER ROLLS

0:50:46 > 0:50:50Almost every traumatic thing that can happen to you at Mavericks

0:50:50 > 0:50:51is due to the leash.

0:50:51 > 0:50:54I think leashes are one of the most dangerous things

0:50:54 > 0:50:57in the line-up in any surf spot over 20 feet.

0:50:57 > 0:51:00There's those few critical situations where leashes become

0:51:00 > 0:51:02more of a hindrance than a help.

0:51:02 > 0:51:04After going down on the first wave of the set,

0:51:04 > 0:51:07Flea found himself on the wrong end of his leash.

0:51:07 > 0:51:11When entangled in a crevice, the urethane cord held him in place

0:51:11 > 0:51:14while he was repeatedly battered by incoming white-water.

0:51:14 > 0:51:17The leash wrapped round the rocks and just...

0:51:17 > 0:51:19I was stuck for, like, eight waves.

0:51:19 > 0:51:21How come you couldn't get the leash of your foot?

0:51:21 > 0:51:23Cos the water current was so strong.

0:51:23 > 0:51:27It's like doing a sit-up with 200 pounds on your chest.

0:51:38 > 0:51:40Flea eventually worked himself loose

0:51:40 > 0:51:43but in an even more dramatic incident,

0:51:43 > 0:51:46Jeff Clark was hurled into Mavericks' rocky boneyard

0:51:46 > 0:51:50and was trapped when his leash became hooked onto Sail Rock.

0:51:50 > 0:51:53I can't get the leash off my ankle and this broken half of my board

0:51:53 > 0:51:56is dragging me right into the rocks and finally

0:51:56 > 0:52:00I'm getting swirled around. I got my hands out and I feel the rock

0:52:00 > 0:52:03and I'm hanging onto the side of this rock and I'm underwater

0:52:03 > 0:52:06and the water starts to drain and I am high and dry.

0:52:08 > 0:52:11Next thing I know, another wave came over the rock.

0:52:11 > 0:52:15I'm underwater again, the tension from my leg rope relieved,

0:52:15 > 0:52:16I climbed on the rock

0:52:16 > 0:52:19and I got rid of that damn anchor that was around my leg.

0:52:20 > 0:52:23It's so funny that the Mavericks surfers value their surfboards

0:52:23 > 0:52:25more than their lives.

0:52:25 > 0:52:28It's like a lifeline. If you get held down,

0:52:28 > 0:52:32the only thing I know is at the end of this is something that floats a lot more than I do

0:52:32 > 0:52:35so if I wait and hold onto it, that's up.

0:52:35 > 0:52:36So I reach around and grab my leash

0:52:36 > 0:52:39and climb it back to the top, back to the surface.

0:52:39 > 0:52:42I know for sure in my personal experience, there are times

0:52:42 > 0:52:47when if I didn't have a leash, I'm not sure I would've lived.

0:52:47 > 0:52:52In May of 1992, two years after Clark shared his secret spot

0:52:52 > 0:52:55with Powers and Schmidt, Surfer Magazine took Mavericks public

0:52:55 > 0:52:57with a cover story titled "Cold Sweat".

0:52:57 > 0:53:01MUSIC: "Babylon's Burning" by The Ruts.

0:53:01 > 0:53:04As if to back up the front-page headline, in 1994,

0:53:04 > 0:53:07California was bombarded by a series of epic north swells

0:53:07 > 0:53:10announcing to surfing's big wave fraternity

0:53:10 > 0:53:12that Mavericks was the real deal.

0:53:12 > 0:53:16That's when the entire surf world kind of converged on Mavericks.

0:53:16 > 0:53:19It was like, "OK, this place is legitimate,

0:53:19 > 0:53:21"we'll see really what it's worth here."

0:53:24 > 0:53:28On December 23, the sudden arrival of three of Hawaii's most famous

0:53:28 > 0:53:32Waimea-based surfers - Ken Bradshaw, Brock Little and Mark Foo -

0:53:32 > 0:53:35created the biggest stir and gave the impression

0:53:35 > 0:53:37that something momentous was taking place.

0:53:37 > 0:53:40# Babylon's burning, baby Can't you see?

0:53:40 > 0:53:43# Babylon is burning with anxiety. #

0:53:43 > 0:53:45That day was amazing.

0:53:45 > 0:53:48To have the Hawaiians paddling out. Brock Little,

0:53:48 > 0:53:50Mark Foo, Ken Bradshaw.

0:53:50 > 0:53:54My gosh, I was like a proud parent or something like that.

0:53:54 > 0:53:58Because they gave a spot that I'd surfed for so many years

0:53:58 > 0:54:01the credibility to actually come and surf it.

0:54:01 > 0:54:05Helicopters were hovering and photographers from all the mags were there.

0:54:05 > 0:54:08It was just crazy, we knew it was, like, THE day.

0:54:08 > 0:54:10One of the best days of surfing I ever had out there.

0:54:15 > 0:54:18# Babylon's burning Babylon's burning

0:54:18 > 0:54:21# Babylon is burning. #

0:54:21 > 0:54:23Then at approximately 11:20 am,

0:54:23 > 0:54:27during a beautiful medium-sized set, Mark Foo paddled, popped to his feet

0:54:27 > 0:54:30and dropped into his second wave of the day.

0:54:30 > 0:54:31# Babylon's burning. #

0:54:51 > 0:54:54I went to lunch, I came back out to the point, I saw Brock

0:54:54 > 0:54:58in the parking lot. And there was this guy,

0:54:58 > 0:55:01"Have you seen Mark Foo?" And that was...

0:55:07 > 0:55:10We were headed back in a boat toward the harbour

0:55:10 > 0:55:15and I saw...it kinda looked like a big clump of something.

0:55:15 > 0:55:17You know, as we were passing it.

0:55:17 > 0:55:23I pointed it out and I said, "Hey, that looks like a body." You know?

0:55:23 > 0:55:26And, sure enough, we stopped the boat

0:55:26 > 0:55:31and just realised that it was...Mark Foo.

0:55:36 > 0:55:42I dove off and grabbed him and just rushed to the harbour and...

0:55:43 > 0:55:49It was a really eerie experience and just so chilling.

0:55:54 > 0:55:56It went from the most pleasant, beautiful,

0:55:56 > 0:56:01plate-glass sunshine day to...the clouds came in and it got dark,

0:56:01 > 0:56:05the wind came up and it was just...

0:56:05 > 0:56:07like we lost a great warrior.

0:56:07 > 0:56:11One of our surfers, one of our own, was gone.

0:56:14 > 0:56:16To have that winter when Mark Foo passed away,

0:56:16 > 0:56:18that was a heavy hit to everybody.

0:56:22 > 0:56:25What added to the shock of Foo's death were its circumstances -

0:56:25 > 0:56:28an innocuous wipe-out on a less than death-defying wave

0:56:28 > 0:56:30in the middle of a crowded line-up.

0:56:30 > 0:56:34I think that he fell on his stomach, knocked the wind out of himself

0:56:34 > 0:56:37and was fatigued from the flight the night before, you know?

0:56:37 > 0:56:40I think he got caught on the bottom.

0:56:40 > 0:56:43The reason I think his leg-rope got caught in the rocks is that

0:56:43 > 0:56:48on the next wave, Brock Little and Mike Parsons wiped out.

0:56:53 > 0:56:57Parsons comes up and Brock was behind him.

0:56:57 > 0:57:02In later interviews, Parson said, "I felt Brock trying to get

0:57:02 > 0:57:08"to the surface," but what he didn't realise at the time was Brock was up.

0:57:08 > 0:57:11And it was Foo trying to get to the surface,

0:57:11 > 0:57:17which kind of confirms that he was being held down by something.

0:57:21 > 0:57:24I went and examined his body actually.

0:57:24 > 0:57:26There really wasn't any discernible injury.

0:57:26 > 0:57:29He had a slight scratch on his forehead.

0:57:31 > 0:57:37His countenance actually was not that of one who had struggled

0:57:37 > 0:57:39or who had been in anguish.

0:57:41 > 0:57:45I felt surfing at Mavericks the years prior to that

0:57:45 > 0:57:48that someone was going to die. I didn't think it would be Mark Foo.

0:57:48 > 0:57:51I thought it would be somebody who didn't know what they were in for.

0:57:51 > 0:57:55Mark Foo was this kind of guy who was larger than life to us,

0:57:55 > 0:58:00more invincible than any of us, with more experience than any of us.

0:58:00 > 0:58:03He's the guy that said, "To catch the ultimate thrill,

0:58:03 > 0:58:05"you have to be willing to pay the ultimate price."

0:58:05 > 0:58:08Everyone wanted to understand what killed him.

0:58:08 > 0:58:11That was important because they were trying to assess

0:58:11 > 0:58:14the risk in the face of their sudden mortality.

0:58:14 > 0:58:17As it sunk in, I didn't think that could happen.

0:58:17 > 0:58:19I literally didn't think it could.

0:58:19 > 0:58:21I thought I was invincible.

0:58:21 > 0:58:25I thought I could just huck myself over any ledge

0:58:25 > 0:58:27and pop back up laughing, you know?

0:58:27 > 0:58:31And I think a lot of big wave riders have that belief.

0:58:31 > 0:58:34When it comes down to it, it's up to me whether I live or die.

0:58:34 > 0:58:37It's up to me whether I go on a wave or not.

0:58:38 > 0:58:41While an extravagant funeral was planned for Foo in Hawaii,

0:58:41 > 0:58:44surfers from up and down the California coast

0:58:44 > 0:58:47gathered at Mavericks for a quiet tribute to their fallen comrade.

0:58:57 > 0:59:00It turned the clocks back to ten years before when I'm sitting

0:59:00 > 0:59:06out there at the peak, by myself, with my own thoughts.

0:59:10 > 0:59:13I wasn't sure I wanted to surf Mavericks after that

0:59:13 > 0:59:16so when I went back out there, I wasn't sure if I'd be spooked or not

0:59:16 > 0:59:18and I ended up, the wave came to me, and I was like, "Yes."

0:59:18 > 0:59:22Mavericks said to me, "You want to be here. Here's your wave."

0:59:22 > 0:59:24I caught a great one, everything was good.

0:59:24 > 0:59:28It's the way I thought it was but I always knew it could kill me. It could kill anyone.

0:59:40 > 0:59:42A year to the day after Foo's death

0:59:42 > 0:59:46and during a memorial session held in Foo's honour at Waimea Bay,

0:59:46 > 0:59:50California surfer Donnie Solomon was caught by a close-out set

0:59:50 > 0:59:51and drowned.

0:59:53 > 0:59:58Then in February of 1997, well-known big wave rider Todd Chesser

0:59:58 > 1:00:02perished in 30-foot surf at a remote off-shore outer-reef break.

1:00:15 > 1:00:18In 1968, in the thick of that era's short board revolution,

1:00:18 > 1:00:22a fatherless 4-year-old boy named Laird Zerfas

1:00:22 > 1:00:27accompanied his mother Joann on a chance visit to Hawaii's North Shore.

1:00:29 > 1:00:32He couldn't have known it at the time but he would grow up to be

1:00:32 > 1:00:35the greatest big-wave rider of his generation.

1:00:35 > 1:00:37Perhaps the greatest the world has ever known.

1:00:39 > 1:00:43After my dad left my mom, before I could even remember,

1:00:43 > 1:00:47I was in search for a man, a masculine figure in my life

1:00:47 > 1:00:52and my mom needed a husband but I needed a dad.

1:00:52 > 1:00:55My friend Greg MacGillivray, who was like the father of the IMAX films,

1:00:55 > 1:00:59was making a surfing movie at the time and I was helping him

1:00:59 > 1:01:02make movies, so I was walking down the beach to see him

1:01:02 > 1:01:06and here's this little kid playing around in the ocean.

1:01:06 > 1:01:10I dove in, I said, "What's your name?" He said, "My name's Laird."

1:01:10 > 1:01:13I said, "What are you doing?" He said, "I'm body surfing.

1:01:13 > 1:01:16"You want to body surf?" I said, "Sure."

1:01:16 > 1:01:20I said, "Why don't you hold onto my neck, we'll body surf."

1:01:20 > 1:01:24It was love at first sight with him and I. We had this physical connection, instantly.

1:01:24 > 1:01:31It was a physical, spiritual, mental, like, "I love this child."

1:01:31 > 1:01:35It was just, "I love this child." And we were just like partners.

1:01:36 > 1:01:39When we finished, he grabbed my hand and said,

1:01:39 > 1:01:41"I want you to come up and meet my mom."

1:01:41 > 1:01:44I don't know if he had a choice. I was like, "You're coming with me."

1:01:44 > 1:01:47And there was his mother, beautiful brown-haird, brown-eyed gal,

1:01:47 > 1:01:51and I went, "Oh, my God..."

1:01:51 > 1:01:54Mom was like, who's this. I'm like, "This is Bill."

1:01:54 > 1:01:56And I like give him the nudge, you know?

1:01:56 > 1:01:59Shortly thereafter, Billy Hamilton, who was known

1:01:59 > 1:02:03as one of the sport's most popular and stylish surfers, married Joann,

1:02:03 > 1:02:07becoming Laird's adopted father and giving him his name.

1:02:08 > 1:02:12I was known for being the kid who ran around saying,

1:02:12 > 1:02:15"Hey, my dad's Bill Hamilton, you know who he is?"

1:02:15 > 1:02:18And they'd be like, guys like Gerry Lopez, were like,

1:02:18 > 1:02:19"Yeah, I see him every day!"

1:02:19 > 1:02:21No, but do you know now it's MY dad?

1:02:21 > 1:02:27They knew who he was but I wanted them to know, like, he was connected to me.

1:02:27 > 1:02:29This is my dad. Because if you don't,

1:02:29 > 1:02:32you might get like a soda can full of sand inside your head or...

1:02:34 > 1:02:36The young Hamilton family set about making

1:02:36 > 1:02:40a life for themselves in Hawaii where, despite the paradisiacal island setting,

1:02:40 > 1:02:44the initial years took on a rough edge.

1:02:44 > 1:02:50Being a blonde Caucasian, I kind of represented the stereotypical

1:02:50 > 1:02:53person that destroyed the culture of Hawaii, so a lot of people

1:02:53 > 1:02:56hated me, wanted to fight with me, just because of my skin colour.

1:02:56 > 1:03:01The way he learned to fight, because he was so big and powerful,

1:03:01 > 1:03:05was he'd slap an opponent so hard that it would shock them and embarrass them.

1:03:05 > 1:03:08It wouldn't injure them but it would hurt them so bad mentally

1:03:08 > 1:03:11and physically that he just won the fight right at that minute.

1:03:11 > 1:03:14After a while, the reputation was there that

1:03:14 > 1:03:16you don't muck around with Laird.

1:03:16 > 1:03:18- He looked after you as well? - Of course. I was his brother.

1:03:18 > 1:03:22He took care of me. I mean, he was the only one giving me beatings!

1:03:22 > 1:03:26Let's put it that way. It was a privilege deal.

1:03:29 > 1:03:31He wanted to be Hawaiian.

1:03:31 > 1:03:36He used to dream, he said, of wishing he had brown skin, to be Hawaiian.

1:03:36 > 1:03:40Because, for him, that was what was sort of beautiful and strong,

1:03:40 > 1:03:42because that's what was around him.

1:03:45 > 1:03:50Couldn't get girlfriends, didn't have a lot of friends. What did he do?

1:03:50 > 1:03:54He spent and put all that energy into the water.

1:03:56 > 1:03:59In the face of this youthful alienation, Laird precociously

1:03:59 > 1:04:03turned to an older generation for inspiration and camaraderie.

1:04:03 > 1:04:06Laird Hamilton was around the legendary big-wave riders

1:04:06 > 1:04:10of the '60s, who were moving through into the '70s,

1:04:10 > 1:04:11his dad being one of them.

1:04:11 > 1:04:14During that time, Pipeline Beach was the Mecca of surfing

1:04:14 > 1:04:19and anybody who was anybody in surfing came to Pipeline and surfed Pipeline.

1:04:19 > 1:04:21So I got to see all the guys.

1:04:21 > 1:04:24His dad was making boards for Peter Cole,

1:04:24 > 1:04:29Warren Harlow, Jose Angel, the pioneers of big-wave surfing,

1:04:29 > 1:04:34and Laird was just this little sponge soaking all this stuff up.

1:04:34 > 1:04:38I aspired to be like these pioneers of big-wave riding

1:04:38 > 1:04:41because they were going out on days when people were evacuating.

1:04:41 > 1:04:44Considering his pedigree, a traditional pro-surfing career

1:04:44 > 1:04:47was Laird's for the taking but from a young age

1:04:47 > 1:04:52his imagination was captured by the mythic canvas of riding giant waves.

1:04:52 > 1:04:55I was young and impressionable in 1969

1:04:55 > 1:04:58so I understood the volume of what was possible.

1:04:58 > 1:05:01It was like, I understood that there was stuff out there

1:05:01 > 1:05:04that hadn't been tapped and that the ocean was capable of producing places

1:05:04 > 1:05:07and things that no-one had really done.

1:05:07 > 1:05:11What Laird, and the other big-wave riders from as far back

1:05:11 > 1:05:14as the '50s knew is that lying far beyond the traditional breaks

1:05:14 > 1:05:18like Waimea were another set of remote off-shore reefs

1:05:18 > 1:05:22capable of producing waves of unimaginable size.

1:05:24 > 1:05:28Even before 1969, the amazing Third Reef Pipeline broke once

1:05:28 > 1:05:33in 1963 as a result of a freak storm that awoke the sleeping giant.

1:05:35 > 1:05:39It took Greg Noll and Mike Stang two hours to make the long paddle out.

1:05:39 > 1:05:43They waited another two hours until Greg finally caught

1:05:43 > 1:05:45one of the most epic rides in North Shore history.

1:06:04 > 1:06:08Another ambitious attempt occurred 30 years later in 1993,

1:06:08 > 1:06:13when North Shore surfer Alec Cooke, armed with an 11-foot board,

1:06:13 > 1:06:16an emergency scuba tank and a helicopter, had himself

1:06:16 > 1:06:20dropped in the path of a six-storey swell off Oahu's Kaena Point.

1:06:21 > 1:06:26He made a valiant effort, actually making the drop on one massive wall before being swallowed.

1:06:27 > 1:06:32Episodes like this made it clear that when it came to riding giant, outer-reef waves,

1:06:32 > 1:06:35traditional paddle-in surfing had its limits.

1:06:35 > 1:06:38When they talked about the limitations of big wave riding,

1:06:38 > 1:06:40it wasn't riding the wave, it was catching the wave.

1:06:40 > 1:06:46Because, as waves increase in size, they also increase in speed,

1:06:46 > 1:06:48so the bigger the wave, the faster it's moving,

1:06:48 > 1:06:51the faster you need to go in order to catch it.

1:06:51 > 1:06:54Having already established himself as a dominant force in traditional

1:06:54 > 1:06:57Hawaiian breaks, Laird Hamilton continued to explore the boundaries

1:06:57 > 1:07:02of extreme ocean sports, developing into a world-class windsurfer.

1:07:02 > 1:07:06Powered by the wind, Laird and his fellow sail-boarders discovered

1:07:06 > 1:07:11the speed and mobility necessary to access the outer reefs and sailed

1:07:11 > 1:07:13into waves previously impossible to catch by hand.

1:07:13 > 1:07:16But then you had this sail and you weren't really surfing,

1:07:16 > 1:07:17you were wind-surfing,

1:07:17 > 1:07:21and it was so restrictive that you lost the freedom that surfing had.

1:07:30 > 1:07:33I had just done a GQ shoot with Laird

1:07:33 > 1:07:37and we both liked wind-surfing and surfing so we started hanging out.

1:07:39 > 1:07:42Buzzy and I had been playing around in the Zodiac all summer

1:07:42 > 1:07:45doing flat-water freeboarding and we were freeboarding in the summer

1:07:45 > 1:07:49and there was a little swell and we were using swells for ramps

1:07:49 > 1:07:52and all of a sudden we started like taking speed and catching waves

1:07:52 > 1:07:56and that's when the light went off, one summer day, and we're like, "Oh, wow, we can catch waves."

1:07:56 > 1:07:59"We might be able to ride bigger waves."

1:08:21 > 1:08:27In December of 1992, Laird Hamilton, along with pro-surfer Buzzy Kerbox,

1:08:27 > 1:08:31and legendary North Shore lifeguard and Waimea Bay rider Darrick Doerner

1:08:31 > 1:08:36launched into the surf at Sunset Beach in a 16-foot inflatable Zodiac.

1:08:36 > 1:08:38Neither of the three could have imagined that by the time

1:08:38 > 1:08:41they got back to the beach that afternoon,

1:08:41 > 1:08:43big wave surfing would be changed forever.

1:09:15 > 1:09:19They weren't riding waves that were significantly bigger than guys had ridden.

1:09:19 > 1:09:21It was how they were surfing the wave.

1:09:21 > 1:09:24This radical new approach of being whipped into a wave

1:09:24 > 1:09:26came to be called tow-in surfing.

1:09:26 > 1:09:29You get the sling-shot from the tow rope, you let go of the rope

1:09:29 > 1:09:33and there you are on this beautiful, giant wave with no-one near you,

1:09:33 > 1:09:35on this big giant board,

1:09:35 > 1:09:36there's no crowd there.

1:09:37 > 1:09:38Bingo.

1:09:41 > 1:09:44Progress came quick as the trio swapped the clumsy inflatable

1:09:44 > 1:09:47for the faster and more agile jetski.

1:09:49 > 1:09:53With the jetski, you can catch waves all day long and not even get your hair wet.

1:09:53 > 1:09:56Back in 1987, North Shore veteran Herbie Fletcher,

1:09:56 > 1:09:59who for years had been exploring the outer reefs on a jetski,

1:09:59 > 1:10:03towed pro-surfer Martin Potter into a wave at Second Reef Pipeline.

1:10:05 > 1:10:08An innovative idea that surprisingly failed to inspire others

1:10:08 > 1:10:11until five years later, when Hamilton, Kerbox

1:10:11 > 1:10:15and Doerner revealed tow-in surfing's true potential.

1:10:16 > 1:10:20In traditional big wave surfing, the boards were very large

1:10:20 > 1:10:24and the reason for the size of the board was to catch the wave.

1:10:24 > 1:10:27Once you were in, you didn't need a big board. You were fine.

1:10:27 > 1:10:31We didn't visualise what actually was going to take place

1:10:31 > 1:10:33until we went snowboarding.

1:10:34 > 1:10:35Bing!

1:10:35 > 1:10:40And if we could ride these giant mountains on this tiny little board,

1:10:40 > 1:10:43well, why couldn't we do that surfing?

1:10:44 > 1:10:48Aided by renowned board builders Dick Brewer, Billy Hamilton

1:10:48 > 1:10:52and Jerry Lopez, the trio chopped their boards by three feet,

1:10:52 > 1:10:55then, drawing inspiration from windsurfing and snowboarding,

1:10:55 > 1:10:57they strapped themselves to their boards, providing control

1:10:57 > 1:11:01in the heightened speed and turbulence of riding waves over 30 feet.

1:11:04 > 1:11:07The small board was really the big breakthrough.

1:11:07 > 1:11:09That was where we really shifted gears.

1:11:09 > 1:11:11All of a sudden, we had the speed.

1:11:11 > 1:11:14The liberation of paddling by motor suddenly opened up

1:11:14 > 1:11:16big wave surfing's next frontier.

1:11:16 > 1:11:20Now it seemed that riding any wave, breaking anywhere,

1:11:20 > 1:11:23at any size was possible.

1:11:23 > 1:11:28Then came the idea of this thing on Maui, where Gerry sat down

1:11:28 > 1:11:32with Laird and said, "I got something you might want to see."

1:11:32 > 1:11:37When he understood what we had going, he was like, "Hey, young man.

1:11:37 > 1:11:40"Come over here. I got something to show you."

1:11:40 > 1:11:43MUSIC: "Jaws Main Theme" by John Williams

1:12:23 > 1:12:28We knew that we had discovered the real unridden realm.

1:12:40 > 1:12:44Located on Maui's remote north coast, and requiring a long,

1:12:44 > 1:12:49dangerous approach by sea, is Peahi, also known as Jaws.

1:12:52 > 1:12:55Peahi revealed itself as the big wave of the future

1:12:55 > 1:13:00and within its awesome size and power, tow-in surfing came of age.

1:13:13 > 1:13:15The biggest difference between this wave

1:13:15 > 1:13:18and Waimea is that this was about five Waimeas.

1:13:18 > 1:13:22You pick Makaha, Waimea, Sunset, Pipeline, Kaena Point, Mavericks,

1:13:22 > 1:13:24put them all in a pot and mix them all together

1:13:24 > 1:13:27and that's what you get, and more.

1:13:28 > 1:13:31Like Waimea and Mavericks, Peahi featured its own crew

1:13:31 > 1:13:34of ground-breaking pioneers.

1:13:34 > 1:13:38In addition to Hamilton, Doerner and Kerbox were windsurfing champion Dave Kalama...

1:13:41 > 1:13:44..then Mike Waltz, Pete Cabrinha, Mark Angulo,

1:13:44 > 1:13:47Rush Randle and Brett Lickle.

1:13:47 > 1:13:48Known as the Strap Crew,

1:13:48 > 1:13:51these boys rewrote the rules of big wave surfing by riding

1:13:51 > 1:13:54giant waves in a manner that was once the realm of sheer fantasy.

1:14:03 > 1:14:06Things that previously we only dreamed of doing, things we

1:14:06 > 1:14:09only saw in animation, suddenly, these surfers were doing it.

1:14:09 > 1:14:13Now, you're riding waves with greater speed than you ever dreamed of.

1:14:13 > 1:14:15I mean, it's like a dream.

1:14:15 > 1:14:18"Oh, my God, I'm on a perfect wave, going 35 miles an hour",

1:14:18 > 1:14:20it's just so fun.

1:14:22 > 1:14:25Like, I better shut up.

1:14:29 > 1:14:31Coming up on the ski and seeing plumes of water

1:14:31 > 1:14:34going 100 feet in the air, and you can kind of hear the drone

1:14:34 > 1:14:37of the skis in the distance and stuff and it looks like Waterworld

1:14:37 > 1:14:40and you have things in your head, "What's going on?

1:14:40 > 1:14:42"What waves are guys riding? How bad have wipe-outs been today?

1:14:42 > 1:14:44"Like, is anyone dead yet?"

1:14:44 > 1:14:49The first time I surfed at Peahi, I remember getting

1:14:49 > 1:14:52so uptight on the way out, just going, "Oh, man," you know?

1:14:52 > 1:14:57So much anxiety, that I was thinking,

1:14:57 > 1:15:00"Jesus, I'm not going to be able to surf."

1:15:00 > 1:15:03And I remember finally having to go,

1:15:03 > 1:15:05"OK...

1:15:05 > 1:15:07"Shit.

1:15:07 > 1:15:09"I guess this is a good day to die."

1:15:11 > 1:15:15Challenging waves in the 50 and 60 foot range obliterated the concept

1:15:15 > 1:15:18of surfing as a solitary pursuit and rewired the rules of engagement.

1:15:18 > 1:15:22You've got to have eyes in the back of your head and I've got eyes - Dave and Derrick.

1:15:22 > 1:15:24They see what I need to see.

1:15:24 > 1:15:27I'll just kind of balance right on the crest of the shoulder

1:15:27 > 1:15:31so that I can see what Laird's doing and I can also see what's behind us.

1:15:32 > 1:15:36It's a three-man operation - Laird and Kalama will be paired up,

1:15:36 > 1:15:38I'll be in the channel for safety.

1:15:39 > 1:15:42Performing as a team is the key to survival in 50-foot plus waves

1:15:42 > 1:15:46where every wipeout becomes life-threatening.

1:15:50 > 1:15:53When things go wrong, they go wrong real quick.

1:15:55 > 1:15:57They're getting brutalised so severely.

1:15:57 > 1:15:59You just don't know when it's going to end.

1:15:59 > 1:16:02You're an insignificant little rag doll,

1:16:02 > 1:16:06trying to keep your limbs in, so that nothing gets ripped off.

1:16:06 > 1:16:10I mean, God almighty, anybody looks at that shit and says,

1:16:10 > 1:16:12"How can that guy live through that?"

1:16:18 > 1:16:22The single greatest threat is getting trapped in the impact zone

1:16:22 > 1:16:26and held under water, as successive ten-storey waves explode overhead.

1:16:28 > 1:16:30Out of sheer neccessity of survival, tow-in surfing

1:16:30 > 1:16:34introduced the big wave rescue, with the ski driver ready and willing

1:16:34 > 1:16:38to put himself in harm's way to come to the aid of his fallen partner.

1:16:40 > 1:16:44I'm thinking about one thing - the next wave that's going to hit him

1:16:44 > 1:16:49and how much time I have from where I am to get to him, get him on the ski and get out of there.

1:16:49 > 1:16:52Sometimes you're not going to be able to come in and get him

1:16:52 > 1:16:56immediately, and he might have to take two or three on the head.

1:17:01 > 1:17:02You've got to dash in there

1:17:02 > 1:17:06and hopefully the timing's right that the guy's going to pop up

1:17:06 > 1:17:09just as you're coming by and you get him, otherwise you got to get

1:17:09 > 1:17:13out of there and the guy's got to take another one on the head.

1:17:16 > 1:17:19Because, you know, if you lose the ski then both of you are screwed.

1:17:19 > 1:17:22You can rush into a situation where a person is drowning

1:17:22 > 1:17:24and now there's two persons drowning.

1:17:35 > 1:17:39In a rescue situation where you're really in peril and it's for real

1:17:39 > 1:17:40and it's a real situation,

1:17:40 > 1:17:42there's that connection

1:17:42 > 1:17:44and you can see it in the eyes where,

1:17:44 > 1:17:46"We need to do this and we need to do it right now.

1:17:46 > 1:17:48"Nothing else matters."

1:18:01 > 1:18:07But as soon as that moment passes, it's pure love. "Thank you, buddy.

1:18:07 > 1:18:10"I love you. Thank you for getting me out of here."

1:18:11 > 1:18:17If one of those guys go down, I will put myself on the line every time.

1:18:17 > 1:18:19And each one of those guys,

1:18:19 > 1:18:22they'll put themselves on the line for guys they don't even know,

1:18:22 > 1:18:26or guys they might not even like, but it's part of their personality.

1:18:26 > 1:18:28It's part of their nature, so when they go home at night,

1:18:28 > 1:18:31they sleep well, because they don't think,

1:18:31 > 1:18:33"I should have, I could have, why didn't I?" They do it.

1:18:44 > 1:18:48When you're underwater and you know, "OK, I'm here by myself right now

1:18:48 > 1:18:51"underwater but I know there's somebody up there

1:18:51 > 1:18:54"who's doing everything they can to help me right now."

1:18:54 > 1:18:58Even if he can't help you, the confidence that's instilled

1:18:58 > 1:19:02by believing in that person buys you time.

1:19:02 > 1:19:05It gives you confidence to just make it to the surface.

1:19:05 > 1:19:11It really makes survival a whole different story than if you were

1:19:11 > 1:19:15out there on your own, swimming around in the water, you know?

1:19:15 > 1:19:16With no-one but yourself.

1:19:25 > 1:19:28The experiences that you have there,

1:19:28 > 1:19:32the friendships that are formed, going through those

1:19:32 > 1:19:38experiences are ones that are very deep, cos there's times where

1:19:38 > 1:19:44you call upon or experience the most deepest sense of who you are.

1:19:44 > 1:19:48MUSIC: "Trois Gymnopedies" by Austin Peralta

1:20:10 > 1:20:14There's something about riding a 60, 80 foot face wave,

1:20:14 > 1:20:17that draws something out of you.

1:20:17 > 1:20:20The wave commands so much focus and so much attention

1:20:20 > 1:20:23that it's the only thing that matters for a few seconds,

1:20:23 > 1:20:26and it's very purifying, because as far as you're concerned,

1:20:26 > 1:20:29nothing else exists.

1:20:40 > 1:20:43You're not doing this for your own glory, you're doing this

1:20:43 > 1:20:47because you're caught up in this great act of nature, you know.

1:20:58 > 1:21:00Ironically, the biggest challenge

1:21:00 > 1:21:04facing these professional big wave riders is not the wave itself.

1:21:09 > 1:21:12You can't just go get it on Sunday at 12 o'clock,

1:21:12 > 1:21:15like you can most anything else.

1:21:15 > 1:21:16When the ocean is not making

1:21:16 > 1:21:20some of the waves available, Laird suffers.

1:21:20 > 1:21:22Like a lot of the other guys do.

1:21:22 > 1:21:24Oh, I get so depressed, it's like...

1:21:24 > 1:21:26HE SIGHS DEEPLY

1:21:28 > 1:21:34We get frustrated and depressed, and bitchy and grouchy, you know.

1:21:34 > 1:21:37You really don't want to be around us when it's like that.

1:21:37 > 1:21:41Laird was trying to explain to me what it was like

1:21:41 > 1:21:44when there was no waves, and he said, "It would sort of be like,

1:21:44 > 1:21:47"if you were a dragon slayer and there just were no more dragons.

1:21:47 > 1:21:50"And then you wonder, who am I and what am I doing here?"

1:21:50 > 1:21:55And I question that all year long, except when I'm out surfing.

1:22:26 > 1:22:27Laird's the king out there.

1:22:27 > 1:22:31I mean, he was the one that, like Greg at Waimea,

1:22:31 > 1:22:33dragged the guys out there.

1:22:46 > 1:22:48You just watch him surf,

1:22:48 > 1:22:51there's no-one that comes close to his abilities.

1:22:55 > 1:22:58He has the ability to actually slow himself down,

1:22:58 > 1:23:00where everybody else just wants to run like hell.

1:23:11 > 1:23:14The reason why I'm able to ride waves the way I do is because

1:23:14 > 1:23:16I have partners like Dave and Eric.

1:23:16 > 1:23:18I'm only arriving at this level

1:23:18 > 1:23:21because I'm being driven by these guys to this level.

1:23:27 > 1:23:30There's just no question that this guy

1:23:30 > 1:23:32is the best big wave rider the world's ever seen.

1:23:38 > 1:23:40In August of 2000,

1:23:40 > 1:23:44Hamilton took another giant leap by riding a wave so treacherous

1:23:44 > 1:23:47and so outrageous, that it affected the course

1:23:47 > 1:23:50of big wave surfing history.

1:23:50 > 1:23:52The wave broke 3,000 miles south of Maui

1:23:52 > 1:23:56on the French Polynesian island of Tahiti.

1:23:56 > 1:23:59At a reef pass known simply as Teahupo'o.

1:24:10 > 1:24:13Who ever thought that a wave could suck so much water off the reef,

1:24:13 > 1:24:16that a wave could be so powerful and cylindrical?

1:24:18 > 1:24:20The wave Laird encountered at Teahupo'o

1:24:20 > 1:24:23is a freak of hydrodynamics.

1:24:23 > 1:24:27Unlike the deep water, big wave breaks of Waimea, Mavericks and Peahi,

1:24:27 > 1:24:32Teahupo'o explodes laterally onto an extremely shallow, razor-sharp reef.

1:24:36 > 1:24:40The result is an extraordinary wave, that while not as high as Peahi,

1:24:40 > 1:24:46is almost unfathomable in its mass, power and ferocity.

1:24:56 > 1:24:59Teahupo'o's reputation was already fearsome,

1:24:59 > 1:25:04but neither Laird nor Derek could have imagined the once-in-a-lifetime wave

1:25:04 > 1:25:06that eventually appeared on the horizon.

1:25:06 > 1:25:10I towed him onto this wave,

1:25:10 > 1:25:13and it was to the point where I almost said,

1:25:13 > 1:25:16"Don't let go of the rope". When I looked back, he was gone.

1:25:39 > 1:25:44I think it's the single heaviest thing I've ever seen in surfing.

1:25:44 > 1:25:45What could be heavier than that?

1:25:47 > 1:25:53Laird's wave at Teahupo'o was the single most significant ride in surfing history,

1:25:53 > 1:25:57more than any other ride, because what it did is it completely restructured,

1:25:57 > 1:26:01collectively, our entire perception of what was possible.

1:26:01 > 1:26:05You go through a surf magazine, you've seen Waimea,

1:26:05 > 1:26:08you've seen everything, and none of it has any impact.

1:26:08 > 1:26:12But when that photo came out, it stopped everyone's heart,

1:26:12 > 1:26:15and they went, "Where and what is that?!"

1:26:15 > 1:26:19I remember picking up that magazine, looking at that magazine

1:26:19 > 1:26:25and just going, "Man, that shit's impossible! You don't do that."

1:26:25 > 1:26:30In my absolute prime, there is no way I could ride a wave like that.

1:26:30 > 1:26:33Normally surfers are dragging this hand along the face.

1:26:33 > 1:26:38Laird had to drag his back hand on the opposite side of his board,

1:26:38 > 1:26:43to keep himself from getting sucked up in that hydraulic.

1:26:43 > 1:26:46In the middle of that maelstrom, how did his mind say,

1:26:46 > 1:26:48"This is what I have to do."

1:26:48 > 1:26:51No-one had ever ridden as Laird rode on that wave before,

1:26:51 > 1:26:55so it was the imagination of dealing with that unimaginable energy,

1:26:55 > 1:26:59and coming up with the plan spontaneously. He couldn't practice!

1:27:04 > 1:27:08I asked Laird, "Why do you ride waves like this?

1:27:08 > 1:27:11"Why do you risk your life riding waves like this?"

1:27:11 > 1:27:12And he looked at me.

1:27:12 > 1:27:16This was a week after he did this, and he was kind of drained from the experience,

1:27:16 > 1:27:20he was very mellow, and I think he was humbled by the experience.

1:27:20 > 1:27:23And he goes, "Dad, I've trained my whole life for this.

1:27:23 > 1:27:26"I don't want to miss an opportunity like that."

1:27:38 > 1:27:42I don't want to not live because of my fear of what COULD happen.

1:27:51 > 1:27:54It softened some hard corners in my life, I would say.

1:27:54 > 1:28:00And I felt honoured to be awarded with something so...

1:28:02 > 1:28:05..magnificent, that it just made me appreciate

1:28:05 > 1:28:08what I've been able to have, experience, do.

1:28:20 > 1:28:23MUSIC: "Ka Pua U'l" by Kahauana Lake Trio

1:28:49 > 1:28:53One of the things I love about my work as a physician,

1:28:53 > 1:28:58I work with cancer patients, and people with life-threatening illnesses,

1:28:58 > 1:29:03is to see what often takes place, which is transformation, literally,

1:29:03 > 1:29:05where they just begin to eliminate the bullshit.

1:29:07 > 1:29:11And they begin to actually live, truly live, almost for the first time.

1:29:11 > 1:29:17And those kind of life-changing events can come from illness,

1:29:17 > 1:29:19they can come from revelation,

1:29:19 > 1:29:24they can actually come, for me anyway, from big wave surfing.

1:29:24 > 1:29:28That's the thing about that, it's that ultimate big wave that you ride,

1:29:28 > 1:29:31that you remember for the rest of your time.

1:29:31 > 1:29:35They're ingrained in your brain, just like your child being born.

1:29:42 > 1:29:45I haven't missed a swell in 55 years,

1:29:45 > 1:29:48I'm still as excited about surfing as I've ever been.

1:29:48 > 1:29:53I mean, I literally run to the water with my board, hooting and laughing and giggling.

1:29:58 > 1:30:01Centuries ago, a young Hawaiian stood up on his surfboard,

1:30:01 > 1:30:04and slid gently across the face of a breaking wave.

1:30:05 > 1:30:10That same wave has rolled through time, crossing many oceans,

1:30:10 > 1:30:12bearing the giants of surfing.

1:30:12 > 1:30:15From King Kamehameha to Duke Kahanamoku,

1:30:15 > 1:30:18from George Downing to Greg Noll,

1:30:18 > 1:30:22from Jeff Clark to Laird Hamilton,

1:30:22 > 1:30:25sweeping them all toward that most supreme pleasure,

1:30:25 > 1:30:29driven on so fast and smoothly by the sea.

1:30:59 > 1:31:02Subtitles by Red Bee Media Ltd

1:31:02 > 1:31:06E-mail subtitling@bbc.co.uk