A Mountain of Ocean

As an avid skier, I have long been fascinated by Hawaii's big wave surfers, who charge out when the conditions are extreme. Nothing is more extreme than the Eddie Aikau Big Wave Invitational, which has only been run ten times since its inception in 1984. It requires waves of at least forty feet high for contest organizers to give it the green light. On January 22nd, the contest ran and Eddie did go. Seen here, a surfer hits the bottom of one of these epic waves in Waimea Bay on Oahu's North Shore and begins the race against the mountain of ocean closing in behind him.