This is a video that was filmed and edited by Sean Wood this April in Tahiti.
Local Tahoe ripper Sean Wood just got back from a 30 day surf trip to Teahupoo, Tahiti. Teahupoo is arguable the heaviest, most powerful wave on Earth. Here’s what Laird Hamilton, one of Ocean Earth’s best big wave surfers, said about one frightening wave he caught there:
“It softened some hard corners in my life…I felt honored to be awarded with something so magnificent. It made me appreciate what I’ve been able to have, experience, do.”
Here is what our boy Sean said about it:
“Tahiti makes Hawaii a joke, not to give away the secret but the locals are the best part, friendliest people on the planet. More people visit hawaii in a week then Tahiti in a year. This was my 8th trip there since 2000. I get more barrells in a month at teahupoo then I would a lifetime trying to paddle battle at pipe. I am usually the worst surfer in the water and the locals tell/make me go on the bombs. My last visit in 2008 I left in an ambulance with a dislocated shoulder they couldnt put back in till the 3rd hospital 2 hours away. Needed surgery and rehab and still clicks every paddle. My best waves on this trip I didnt come out of, just some bruised ribs and cuts on my wrists and feet… well worth it.”
Sean is a Tahoe local who has done 7 years in Tahoe and 7 years in Santa Cruz. Not a bad mixture. Sean surfs all over the world and this most recent trip to Tahiti was his 8th trip there since 2000. Badass. Sean also brought Unofficial a couple of great videos this winter including the best Fingers Race of the year video.
This video is of Laird Hamilton getting a wave so big, massive, heavy, and death-defying at Teahupoo, Tahiti that it makes him cry.
One of the most incredible things about California is that we have fantastic skiing and fantastic surfing. Which produces fantastic skiers and fantastic surfers. Some super freaks become fantastic at both. See Chuck Patterson – professional skier, professional snowboarder, professional surfer, professional wave skier, professional kit boarder, & professional paddle boarder:
If you watch closely, you’ll see chuck ripping a wave at Teahupoo not much smaller than the one Laird surfs. Chuck does not cry afterwards.