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One for the Record Books?
Mason Barnes makes the case for his 2020 Nazare bomb
Photo: Hugo Silva
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Editor’s Note: In October of 2020, a massive swell descended upon Nazaré, Portugal. (Full Swell Story here.) An all-star cast of big-wave elite showed up for the event (not to mention a few lesser-known XXL chargers like World Champ, Italo Ferreira). But one standout during the sessions was East Coaster Mason Barnes who, below, recounts the swell and one wave in particular which is currently being looked at by the Guinness Book of World Records as a potential challenger to Rodrigo Koxa’s 2017 Largest Wave Surfed title.
Watch: John John Florence’s Outer Reef Behemoth
JJF packs one of the biggest caverns from Super Swell Saturday and not where you d suspect
Frame grab: Brent Bielmann
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The first thing we thought when we saw this was, “Wait, is there any rule that states that the Wave of the Winter must go down at Pipeline, Backdoor or Off-the-Wall?” Because this weekend, John John Florence threw a completely different wrench in the works at an Oahu outer reef.
And wouldn’t that just be the perfect ending to what’s looking more and more like a perfect winter for the two-time World Champ? Over the past couple months John’s spent his time freesurfing with his brothers and closest friends all over the North Shore, throwing his hat in the ring early at Pipe for the 2020-21 O’Neill Wave of the Winter, dropping bangers in the (virtual) Vans Triple Crown of Surfing, and… oh yeah, winning his first-ever Billabong Pipe Masters.
Pre-Game Swell Hits Hawaii; “Preheats Oven” for Saturday’s Super Swell
Nathan Florence, Jaws, 01/14. “It was a good day based one what we came for warming up for Saturday and Sunday,” Florence said. “Get on your board and get the feet in the grip. Had some fun, big, tall north ones. Almost got a really good wave but the wind was pushing lips down and I got worked. All in all, ready for the next few days!” Photo: Aaron Lynton
The thing about most sports is that you can practice as much as you want. The thing about big-wave surfing is that most years! there are only a handful of XXL swells. And even within those swells, only a handful of actual opportunities. And while working out, breath-holding and surfing regular sizes waves are all kinda practicing for big-wave surfing, there’s nothing that really replicates hucking oneself over a 50-foot saltwatery cliff. This year has clearly been a bit different, with weeks of non-stop North Pacific swell allowing the
About That Nor’easter…
New York. Photo: Mike Nelson
Matt Pruett
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The thing about nor’easters is they don’t happen all the time. The real-deal ones are rarer than you might think. Especially when compared to 2020’s record number of hurricanes, and particularly during a La Nina.
(This isn’t exactly breaking news: We did happen to cover last week’s swell in realtime right here. And published Balaram Stack’s Wave of the Day. And posted Ryan Mack’s video from New York.)
“We got really excited seeing how fun the Eastern U.S. Seaboard looked,” says Nova Scotia photographer Scotty Sherin. “We’re typically a day behind. The swell ended up being really fun, but the snow made it epic.” Photo: Scotty Sherin