The wave in question. (Frank Quirarte)
On Christmas Eve, American surfer Alessandro Slebir rode a wave at Mavericks Beach in Half Moon Bay, California, that was estimated to be 108 feet tall, which would be a world record.
Biggest wave ever? If confirmed, Slebir would break the current Guinness World Record of 86 feet, set by German surfer Sebastian Steudtner in Nazar, Portugal, in 2020. But officially verifying the wave's height is no easy task.
From the Los Angeles Times:
For all of their ferocity, big waves are among the most ephemeral phenomena in all of sports they're almost impossible to precisely rank. Once a year, a "conclave of [experts]" get together in a closed room and study photos and videos submitted by surfers from around the world in an effort to determine who rode the biggest wave captured on film.
Submissions can come from anywhere, but the most common spots are Half Moon Bay, home to the mighty break known as Mavericks; the North Shore of Maui, home to a crushing wave known as Jaws; and Nazare, where an underwater canyon funnels huge winter swells directly onto shore in an otherwise nondescript fishing village.
How do you reliably measure a wave? It took 18 months to finalize Steudtner's wave height, and Slebir's ride will undergo a similarly meticulous process that includes a detailed measurement of both Slebir (height when crouched down, etc) and the wave itself. Where, exactly, does the flat water in front of the wave end and the upward slope begin?
The last word: Slebir doesn't seem too concerned with records or fame. "For me, I'm happy to have ridden the biggest wave of my life," said the 23-year-old, who grew up about an hour south of Mavericks. "I'll let other people decide what size it was."
-Axios
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