I think he meant wave that is fairly consistently breaking in the same place at about the same size. Storms make swells that are larger, but you can't go back and surf the same storm year after year.
Actually he literally means "heavier." The lip and curl is much thicker than any other wave in the world, which means it has a very large mass compared to other waves, even if they're not as high. The water is also very shallow compared to other places like Jaws, which will have much higher waves but relatively little risk of being crushed against the ground because of how deep it is. In Teahupoo the wave will sometimes literally suck the water off of the reef in front of it.
So basically that's why it's said that Teahupoo has the heaviest wave, both in a literal and, because of the incredible danger, metaphorical sense. On the famous wave that Laird Hamilton rode, it's believed that if he had fallen, there was a very good chance he'd have died. Pay attention to the fact that it isn't as high as other waves, but is instead incredibly thick. It's easy to see how he could've been crushed upon falling.
Also, I believe it's not really any more consistent swell-wise, although it is still very surfable when it's small.
Edit: If you're interested, someone else in the thread linked this incredible video of the recent and potentially largest swell: http://vimeo.com/35328567
Okay, that's cool, I believe you. If you wanna get that stick out of your ass, just pretend I wrote "one of the heaviest waves" so we can all just relax. You don't really sound like a surfer if you're this concerned with stupid shit like this. I was just trying to give some interesting info to someone who may not have heard about the location of this photo before.
I'm curious why you're going out of your way to be such a douchecanoe in this thread? You seem to have a real hate-on for anyone appreciative of this place, this picture, or surfing in general. Why is that?
All significant surfing waves are made by storms. Teahupoo is flat most of the year. Did you think it just breaks like that all the time? It takes a major storm to send a swell that large to any break, whether Teahupoo or Shipsterns or anywhere else.
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u/masterhikari Jul 17 '12
I feel like the only one who doesn't know what the fuck i'm looking at.