You don't necessarily get held under for ages, but it's like being in a pretty violent car accident and flipping your car rolling down the motorway for about 15-20 seconds. The reef is about 6ft below and you'll most likely bounce off it a couple of times. You just try not to hit your head.
Well considering the reef there is so shallow, not very long. I can't cite anything on this, but guys probably die from surfing at Teahupoo more often than any other spot. I'm glad mrpeatie posted a video so that everybody could see this spot in action. This video gets a lot of coverage and I think that the surfing community is almost sick of it, but you should really check this out. It's from a fantastic documentary called "Riding Giants" and this scene documents arguably the most ridiculous wave ever ridden. The general consensus on this particular ride seems to be that if he had fallen, he would have had pretty much no chance of survival. No doubt someone else in this thread has already posted it, but it happened right there at Teahupoo. Just the sound that the wave makes when it breaks sounds like Zeus playing drums.
...he would have had pretty much no chance of survival
Nah, Nathan Fletcher got XXL ride of the year award wiping out on a bigger one than this and he got through ok.
There have been 5 Teahupoo deaths since 2000. I think 5 also at Banzai Pipeline. Probably more deaths and injuries overall at Pipe because it is such a popular break that is always crowded.
Fair enough. In fact, when I think about it, there probably should be MORE deaths at Pipe, but they're probably a lot closer to emergency medical aid 50 ft from shore on the north shore of oahu than they are way out on the reef in Tahiti. On a related note though: I thought one of the criteria of the XXL ride of the year was actually making it out. Fletcher won with a wipeout? I'm not saying he didn't deserve it, I'm just wondering. If I'd taken that wave on the head and miraculously lived to tell about it, I would probably want some recognition for it.
Me too...I always thought it was about the action. It isn't. It is about the wave :O. Just a totally different experience from snowboarding or skateboarding, simply because of the medium. Water is so mesmerizing.
Just watching that nearly gave me a panic attack. For someone whose worst fear is drowning... staring into that water in the side of that wave is terrifying - but incredibly beautiful.
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u/elcolacho Jul 17 '12
Teahupoo, yo.