Daredevil Surfer Rides 30ft. 'Jaws' Waves . . . . At Night!

By - 314 words

Language

Reading Level

Listen to Article

For most surfers, riding big waves even during the day, can be a little intimidating. Therefore, one can only imagine what it must have felt like for Australian big wave surfer Mark Visser, who made history on January 21st, when he surfed a 30ft. monster off the shores of Maui, Hawaii, in the wee hours of the morning.

And, we are not talking just any waves, but those that come off a deep reef break which has been nicknamed 'Jaws', thanks to the ferocity of the swells, which can get as high as, 120ft. and move as fast as, 30mph.

Mark Visser's night surf was not an impromptu event, but one that has been in the works for two years. In order to pull off this incredible stunt, he trained by spending time blindfolded inside underwater caves, swimming for miles in the ocean at night, and freediving from distances, as high as,100ft.

On the night of the event, as is custom during the high-swell season when waves travel too quickly to be caught by paddling, Mark was towed in by a jet-powered watercraft. To ensure that his ride could be caught clearly on tape, his buoyancy jacket and surfboard were fitted with LED lights. The area around was also illuminated with light from a helicopter hovering above.

What followed next can only be described as magical - A scene that even mesmerized Mark, who said that it was the scariest, but most exciting thing he had ever done, especially given the fact that he could not see a thing and had to depend completely on his instincts and years of surfing experience.

Dubbed 'Night Rider', this is the first in a series of nine extreme, first-time adventures that will be undertaken by Mark - If successful, they will be compiled into a documentary entitled '9 lives' - So, stay tuned for more exciting stunts.

Sources: grindtv.com, extremehorizon.com

Cite Article
Geography
Learn Keywords in this Article
538 Comments
  • Liamabout 10 years
    Oh my gosh this is totally creepy
    • candylover123
      candylover123about 10 years
      i love the pictures creepy
      • zacharyabout 10 years
        killer man
        • zachary over 10 years
          killer man
          • mr.eover 10 years
            i live on maui otherwise know to be where JAWS is at!!!
            • nicrgover 10 years
              dang that is cool
              • alexover 10 years
                cool
                • monkeyss
                  monkeyssalmost 11 years
                  oh my god!!
                  • joseph200
                    joseph200almost 11 years
                    Cool
                    • briannaover 11 years
                      thta is so cool because if i was going to do that i would be a chicken to do that because that is 30ft high up in the air and that is super duper xpaladoshice he must be really brave like he would be saying o i am really brave so i am going to be the bravest man on earth next stunt i am going to do is jump on a skateboard and ride down the grandcanyon i mean peaple can`t do that kind of stuff i mean like that no one would be brave enough to do that it is really dangeres i mean you could die doing that because the water could come over you and it could like suck you down underwater just like the titanic the titanic sank you down just like a shark man you know what i mean ok thanks for listening to this peace!!!!!!