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One of my favorite shots from Teahupoo. Just the atmosphere. May 14th, 2013. Photo: Ben Thouard.
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Raimana speed blur at Teahupoo. Photo: Tim McKenna.
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Raimana speed blur at Teahupoo. Photo: Tim McKenna.
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A bird's eye view of Tumata Puhetini, setting up for a Teahupoo shack. Photo: Tim McKenna.
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Teahupoo mood. Photo: Tim McKenna.
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This is Teahupoo. Even small, it's one of the most beautiful waves that I have ever seen. Image: Blanco
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Teahupoo barrel. Not the thickest, but beautiful. Image: Blanco
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Lineup shot at Teahupoo during the Code Red swell in 2011. Photo: Ben Thouard.
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Inside the heaviest and most respected wave on earth: Teahupoo. Photo: Adam Duffy.
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Teahupoo on an O'Neill team trip a few years ago. Photo: Lars Jacobsen.
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At the time, this was the biggest wave ever surfed there, and it caused quite a stir in the magazines. What was really rad about this photo for me was that we were in a tiny little dinghy, five of us (four photog's and one driver). Our driver was a local surfer, very familiar with the reef at Teahupoo. He was very confident and would often have us sitting some 30 or 40 feet closer to the action than the other boats. This continually unnerved me. Then this thing came through, and I looked up at it thinking, "we are done. There is absolutely nothing that I can do, so I will simply shoot it," just on the off chance that we somehow make it out of this situation. It was that serious. Scared the crap out of me, but I did get the shot. Kissed the ground when I stepped off the boat that afternoon. Moral of this story was always shoot if you can, even if it means going down in a blaze of glory, which thankfully, we didn't on this occasion... Photo: Sean Davey
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Nathan Fletcher becoming the new Teahupoo hero. Photo: Tim McKenna.
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Can't write much about this image…if a picture says a thousand words, there isn't much left to say. Photo: Shelli Bankier
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What to say about this perfect wave? This empty wave was the wave of the day, jaw dropping and unridden. Photo: Shelli Bankier
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One of the best barrel riders on the planet and an amazingly nice guy….Anthony Walsh at Teahupoo. Image: Street
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Here's Everaldo from Brazil on a monster of a wave at Teahupoo in 2005. Image: Street
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Billy Kemper getting spat on half way through a big second reef, Teahupoo bender. This is nowhere near the exit and that means Billy is going to have to negotiate the warping west bowl blind. Photo: Seth de Roulet
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Teahupoo. Photo: Jeff Flindt
Teahupoo is a scary place. Scary beautiful, sure, but also scary because it’s one of the most dangerous places in the world to surf. And with a forecasted swell for the ASP’s Billabong Pro Tahiti looming ominously over the horizon, Chopes is looking like it’s setting up to be a banger. Some of the biggest swell in contest history, if some of the claims are correct. Thinking back to the 2011 Code Red swell, things were a little different. It was so giant that it clearly not going to be a paddle day. This swell, on the other hand, is shaping up to be right in that zone that’ll give organizers and competitors a hell of a scare. Which, of course, is what we like to see. And if things get big, put a few bucks on John John.
