The article appears a few days old since it was before they had the awards. Apparently they had the Big Wave 2025 awards two days ago, and declared that his wave was "only" 76 feet, but he did win the award for Biggest Wave for this year.
Source: (also the awards show is embedded here as a video)
It's so surprising that we don't use a precise method of gauging wave height for these records. AFAIK they still estimate the surfers height while riding, and then count those heights up the side of the wave in a photograph.
I'd imagine we would have a method closer to surveying techniques by now.
there is a new, exotic method for measuring gigantic waves, that uses atmospheric disturbances to gps signals and gravity waves that ocean waves generate. SWOT
I know nothing about surfing but I picked up Barbarian Days on Audible https://www.audible.com/pd/Barbarian-Days-Audiobook/B00YMMTO... and I was captivated. After I finished it I started looking for surf schools within driving distance of my home, still looking for something on the (New) Jersey Shore or Long Island. Anyone have any suggestions?
The underground rock formation that generates the Mavericks waves is actually pretty small. Photographers, rescue jetskis, and onlookers on small boats can be on very calm water, while surfers they're watching are riding a 100 ft wave just a few meters away.
It’s how the size of the waves is calculated. They talk about it in the first season of the 100 Foot Waves TV show mentioned in the article. Video from several angles is analyzed using the surfer or another known object for scale.
It’s not easy to measure ocean waves unless you have a jetski riding right on the crest or a LIDAR system on shore which is expensive.
I wonder if he would describe himself as a construction worker, or maybe he would say he's a surfer who does construction to make a living? Sometimes you can see a struggle to define a person independent of their jobs, why does it matter here?
I see the headline here changed, it used to be:
[Calif. construction worker unofficially broke a fabled world record]
I wonder if people who do things like this and free soloing "just" have some unique wiring in their brain where they don't care about instantaneously dying because of some small mistake they make. Or, is it just a matter of continually ratcheting up the difficulty - "I did a 1 foot wave, why not a 2 foot wave, why not a 3 foot wave, etc"?
Readit News
Source: (also the awards show is embedded here as a video)
https://www.coastsidenews.com/review/news/santa-cruz-surfer-...
I'd imagine we would have a method closer to surveying techniques by now.
https://www.nasa.gov/missions/swot/us-french-swot-satellite-...
just took lessons recently with Matt from Lucky Dog Surf School. super chill dude, lots of fun.
He rides BEHIND surfers in the barrel. Absolutely nuts.
It’s not easy to measure ocean waves unless you have a jetski riding right on the crest or a LIDAR system on shore which is expensive.
I see the headline here changed, it used to be: [Calif. construction worker unofficially broke a fabled world record]
That is rather wild.
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https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nazaré,_Portugal