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This photo shares a more realistic version of Wedge... Local big wave charger Spencer Pirdy warms up for Maverick's by taking beatings like this at home. Photo: Benjamin Ginsberg
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Anthony Tashnick proves local knowledge isn't always enough as he get sucked over the falls at the 2014 Maverick's Invitational in Half Moon Bay, California. Photo: Benjamin Ginsberg
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Kerby Brown. Ouch. Photo: Russell Ord
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Pedro Scooby wipeout. Photo: Joao Bracourt.
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Garrett McNamara, Shark Park 2006. Even at Mach 4, GMac gets overtaken by the doubleup and takes a beating. This wave won the 'Best Wipeout of The Year' award from both Billabong XXL and SURFER Mag. Photo: Greg Huglin.
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Over the falls on a winters morning. Photo: Dylan Robinson
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It’s not advisable to go right at the Wedge. Just ask Damien Fahrenfort. Photo: Benjamin Ginsberg
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Brent Dorrington preparing for a Pipeline enema. Photo: Bielmann
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Outrageous. Nathan Fletcher about to take a hell of a ride. Pipeline, December 2011. Photo: Dylan Gordon
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You've always got to be on the lookout for backwash at a shore breaking wave like the Wedge. Photo: Benjamin Ginsberg
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Wipeout. Photo: RyanStruck
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If Backdoor can make 11-time world champions look this ridiculous imagine what it will make you look like. Slater: direction-change, applying his usual brand of spontaneous unpredictability, however unintentionally. Photo: Jeff Byrnes
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If you can just see a wave breaking above the steep bank from across the beach, you can bet it's close to a stand-up barrel. As heavy but breaking closer to shore and in shallower water, sometimes those can be more treacherous than the 25-footers. Photo: Benjamin Ginsberg
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Jeff Brown putting on a show for the camera whilst going over the falls. Photo: Alex Frings
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This is not an example of how you want to go down here. Photo: Bielmann
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Unidentified wipeout. Photo: Mike Incitti
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Jake Trette, Mavericks: This is not a great shot at all, sitting in the channel at Mavericks on Ken Collins' ski and taking a few photos now and then, I was actually thinking of getting a few waves myself. It looked like the perfect day to sneak a few waves; a beginner's day, some might say. I am certainly glad I didn’t make that decision because out of nowhere these two absolute bombs came through and caught the pack completely out of place. For experienced Maverick's surfers, it's not so much of a problem, but for surfers that were inexperienced out there, it was life changing. 9-10 foot guns going over the falls only to get another bomb on the head; Jake Trette was an unlucky recipient of a two wave hold down. I was lucky enough to be in the right place at the right time and make the right decisions so Jake could see his son and family again. At the time it was just another day, just another photo. I wouldn’t have dreamed that a life long friendship with Jake and his family would have come from sitting on (what I discovered after the fact) an illegal jet ski at Mavericks. Photography for me is about the people I have met on the way. The circumstances that lead to that day were incredible. I am so bloody grateful for the relationships this image has created. Photo: Russell Ord
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Yadin Nicol commits the surfer’s version of seppuku after the horn upon falling to Fanning in their quarter final matchup. I can’t recall ever seeing someone intentionally obliterate themselves so severely on a wave, especially at a spot like Pipe. On the beach it went from cheers to groans of serious concern in a blink. The guy is a Spartan. He was fine. Photo: Jeff Byrnes
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Robert Patterson's fall from grace. Photo: Phil LeRoy
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My brother Alex hitting the eject button at a local yet fickle spot. Photo: Gregory Swanson
Wiping out is part of the game. There are roughly a million clichés around it, and they’re all true. We’ve all done it, so it’s no secret how frustrating and embarrassing yet completely fun it is. Plus, it’s inevitably going to happen again. Probably the next time you paddle out. That said, wiping out can also be worth a good laugh and a worthy form of entertainment for either or both the one wiping out and the situation’s onlookers. Face it, we’ve all had a chuckle at the expense of a friend and/or stranger watching them eat it. And how many times have you come up laughing after blowing a take-off, digging rail or pulling into a closeout? The flip side comes when you slam into the reef or nearly drown. Insert favorite wipeout cliché here.
For added effect, play The Safari’s “Wipeout” below while you flip through this gallery. It only makes it better.
