01.30.00
by: Jamie Brisick

The North Shore of Oahu has long been held as the great Mecca to surfers worldwide. From early-November to late-March, swells of all shapes and sizes come and wreak havoc across the reefs, lighting up spots such as Pipeline, Sunset, Waimea, and Rocky Point. It's common knowledge that if you want to make the big time, you have to be able to charge in Hawaii, and it's with this spirit that most foreign surfers do their thing. And though performance levels on the North Shore are pushed to maximum capacity, there's also a huge risk factor, which, unfortunately, some have to learn the hard way. Though the fatalities are every couple of years, the serious injuries are weekly, with Pipeline being a major contributor.

No one knows the inherent risks of surfing Pipe better than lifeguard Mark Cunningham does. A 20-year veteran and waterman of the First Order, Mark's thoughts come from an intimate relationship with the world's most famous wave--that of having watched it break more than anyone on the planet.

On the performance front, Christian Fletcher reigns as the first surfer ever to devote himself to perfecting aerials. This December in Hawaii he took out the final event of the Vans/Surfing magazine Airshow Series, an important event held in challenging conditions.

The greatest breakthrough in big wave riding over the last ten years has been tow surfing. When swells are so big and steep that you can no longer paddle down the face, an elite bunch have taken to jet ski assistance. What this means is that, almost like a water-skier, they're slingshotted into massive slopes of water without full knowledge of the actual height scale. Roundabout two years ago, Hawaii surfer Ken Bradshaw was being pulled into one of these swells by good friend and tow-partner Dan Moore. Before Ken had reached the bottom the wave face was more than ten times overhead. No one had seen anything like this before and the parameters of big wave riding were stretched higher than ever.

KEN BRADSHAW

With three decades of big wave experience in his back pocket, Ken Bradshaw stands at the forefront of big wave surfing. On January 28, 1998 he carved his name into the history books by riding possibly the biggest wave ever at Outside Log Cabins on the North Shore of Oahu. He was towed into it by a jetskithe latest revelation in ways to ride swells so big you couldn't possibly paddle into them.

What is the biggest risk in tow-in surfing?
Inexperience. The fact that this was the natural progression for a core-group of experienced big wave surfers to keep challenging themselves past what they could already accomplish by paddle surfing. Now what happens is people with lack of experience in big waves now have the accessibility to come out and experience these giant waves without having any foundation or base-experience, and that's our biggest concern--who comes out there. Another thing...and it's a big thing to me personally...is that surfers have the right of way. It9s a federal requirement that the skis stay 200 feet away from swimmers, divers, surfers, all watergoers like that. And that9s the one rule everyone seems to forget in his or her passion to do this. You need to train, but you need to train outside of the surfing areas.

Have we reached the ceiling in big waves or do you think we can keep going?
Fascinating question because up until January 28, 1998 that threshold had yet to be crossed. Nobody had ever had a surfboard on a wave bigger than thirty feet, you might call it 30-35 foot swell. On that day we were having swell sizes that we call in Hawaii 40 foot plus, so we were able to really ascertain that our equipment can handle waves with a face size in excess of 80 feet... It was almost like breaking the sound barrier.

Now correct me if I'm wrong but by towing into waves early, you don't always know what they're going to do...close out, jack up, whatever. That's where the experience of having surfed these areas first...I actually surfed these places prior to tow-surfing them, so I kind of knew the realm we were getting into. It's hard for anyone to truly understand what's happening out there because the immensity and the size of the wave. The distance in which you travel in each turn, is so far off the spectrum that a wave that you'd probably never even conceive of being able to make a section you can actually make. These are sections longer than the entire ride at Sunset Beach in a single bottom turn. It's pretty amazing when you go into them realizing your experience and judgement, of which your based, determines whether you're going to make it or not.

What is the most frightening big wave experience you've ever had?
That's a really hard one to answer because I don't measure my experiences in big waves as scary. What does scare you? Not being prepared. Not being prepared mentally and physically. As long as you're prepared for the inevitable outcome of wiping out or having to swim in, then I think your parameter of security goes up tremendously, and therefore you don't really worry too much about what's happening to you on that given day. Fear...It's funny, I've been beat up so badly and so many times that it becomes like normal behavior to be beat up. Whether it's Sunset or Backyard's or Waimea or Outside Backyard's, it's part of the equation of surfing big waves. If you're afraid to get heavy poundings than you really shouldn't be out there ... because you are going to take the poundings. There will be the best rides of your life, and there will be the worst wipeouts of your life.

CHRISTIAN FLETCHER

Christian Fletcher began shocking the surfing world in the early '80s with his unconventional waveriding approach and rebellious attitude. Over the course of the last decade his energy's been put into experimenting with new sports, raising his boy Grayson, and validating aerial surfing.

Where and when did aerial surfing begin?

Probably in the mid-70s on skateboards.

So aerial surfing owes a lot of itself to skateboarding?
I think so because if people weren't doing aerials on land I don't think they really would've started doing them in the water, because it's probably easier on the land, without a moving surface.

When did you do your first air? I started trying aerials right around 1982 on a pink and purple twin fin...It was pretty cool. At that time, were airs accepted as a functional maneuver? No. I don't think the surfing world was too stoked on aerials, I think they wanted more of the conventional type stuff. I still think, as far as the judges and stuff go, I still think they're more looking for the "four (waves) to the shore" type surfing.

Do you think it's been embraced by the surfing world? Not in the 80's but now I do. I see it a lot of experimenting going on right now. Oh yeah, you go the beach and you see every kid trying them. But as far as surfing in the contests, there's not a whole lot.

What kind of stuff do you see happening in the future?

The air contests are cool and stuff but they judge each air separately, and none of the other maneuvers really count. I think it should all be judged as one wave. If you do aerials, floaters, off the lips, and get barreled, you ought to get a really good score on how you connect all the maneuvers, and how the aerial was made into a functional maneuver instead of a one-time thing where you don't link the wave.

Do you look to the skateboard world to inspire different ways to do airs?
Yeah, I look to the skateboard world, definitely. I've always rode a skateboard and hung out with skateboarders, I had a lot more in common with those guys than the surfers. The airs in skating and surfing are basically the same thing, you just have to adjust to the terrain.

Is Pipeline a good place to do airs? I think it is. On a daily basis it9s usually really good for launching airs. This year it hasn't been so good though.

What about airs in big waves? It's possible, I've done airs in pretty big waves. Pipeline is a big wave that turns into a small wave. This is nice because you can get going so fast and you're on a big board and you can fly really high and then land and it's not some huge ordeal, you9re not trying to land on a ten-foot wave. You9re landing on a three-foot wave or a four-foot wave, which is nice.

You've been doing some street luges, yeah?
Yeah. I9m racing street luge, the season's coming up pretty soon here. I've got my board, my leathers, my helmet, everything all ready to go. Just waiting for the season to start. I'm going to do the boardercross and I'm also doing the Swatch wave tour, so that's coming to Long Beach during the trade show and I think the next stop is the Olympics in Sydney.

How do you like the Flowrider?
It brings snowboarders, skateboarders, surfers, windsurfers, skimboarders...it brings them all back to beginner level. It9s not like...say you go snowboarding with Terje Haakonsen, he's just light years beyond you...but this way it brings all the top guys from all these sports together on an even level. And it gets people that aren't surfers, they get the feeling of being in the tube that they don't get in those other sports.

What are your plans for Year 2000?
Just to surf, skate, snowboard, wakeboard, race street luge.

MARK CUNNINGHAM

Nobodys spent more hours watching Pipeline--renown as the most dangerous surf spot in the world--than Mark Cunningham. Famous for his bodysurfing skills and incredible ocean instincts, Mark's current title is Lieutenant of the Training Dept. with the City and County of Honolulu Ocean Safety and Lifeguard Services. The following interview was done during the treacherous second to the last day of this year's Mountain Dew Gerry Lopez Pipeline Masters.

How long have you been lifeguarding Pipeline?
Oh boy, close to 20 years as a lifeguard and just a little bit less than that as water patrol for the Pipeline Masters.

And what is the biggest danger out here on a day like today?
Just the radical bottom. Y'know it's eight to ten feet but you're going to go there so fast with the amount of energy that these waves are throwing down on you. Y'know when you get pitched over a four-story building you're going to hit bottom really fast.

How has the surfing out at Pipeline improved over the last ten years?
Oh, it's just phenomenal the leaps and bounds... I remember early on doing water patrol in waves this size and the promoters would be thinking about not holding the competition. But, these guys are just so strong and so good and so competent in their skills that they're going for it and they're ripping, they're not just surviving, they're just doing incredible performance surfing and these are radical waves.

What do you see happening out in here in ten years?
I want to see the finals tomorrow first, then I'll worry about the future (laughs). If it's anything like what's happened in the last ten years it's going to be phenomenal, guys will just be going koo-koo.

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