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The biggest wave I've ever ridden. It's amazing to me that all the training, all the preparation, and all the hard work is for these few seconds where you really take the leap of faith. Photo: @frankiebees
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In the summer of 2011 I saw a YouTube video of a guy buzzing this road, flying like a eagle along a ridgeline. I was so inspired! I'd never skydived or flown a wingsuit before, but I made it my goal to someday fly like that. I committed myself to realizing this dream. Four years later and here I am, buzzing the EXACT same place with the man that inspired me: Jokke Sommer while filming for @liftoff. It's very hard to describe the feeling you get from this, but I'm sure you can get the idea.
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This wave and place is so special and so unique that you really feel lucky when you're out there. This wave changes lives. I got blessed with seven waves out there—this is one of them. This wave brought my big-wave surfing passion to a whole new level. Photo: @raihei_tapeta
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Waehu, Maui. This move started pretty much in 2005 when I started riding surfboard strapless kiting in Maui and really wanted it to look like surfing if you would photoshop the bar out. So since then I've been perfecting it and making it a point to tweaking it out as flexible as I can get it. Photo: Quincy dein
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I love this. Mind, body, and spirit. The rush you get out of it, over coming doubts and fears. Knowing you can do it, you commit and execute your dive. The feeling of over coming of being aligned and so alive is intensely gratifying yet humbling. Photo: Nicola Belillo
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Pe'ahi/Jaws, October 2015. The ultimate meditation. This wave is the first wave I've paddled into this winter season. And with sticking the steepest drop, I made it to the bottom before it gobbled me up. Coming up in good shape after knowing you got rattled pretty hard, you get filled with gratitude and stoke, as it's a pretty awesome feeling. Photo: Driftwood Photography Studios
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I think being born on Maui and raised between Italy, New York, and Hawai'i created my love for traveling around the world at a young age. It has definitely shaped and guided me into so many different sports. I fully indulge my life in the water, kiteboarding, and surfing big waves, as well as up in the mountains cliff diving and wingsuit flying. I've learned from these sports to connect and align myself with Mother Nature and create unique lifetime bonds with friends from all corners of the globe.
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I love this. Mind, body, and spirit. The rush you get out of it, over coming doubts and fears. Knowing you can do it, you commit and execute your dive. The feeling of over coming of being aligned and so alive is intensely gratifying yet humbling. Photo: Nicola Belillo
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For me, training and being fit is such an important and crucial part or my life.If I didn't have it, I wouldn't be able to jump from one sport to the other. Acrobatics gives me the best body awareness and keeps me confident and ready to charge at any time. Photo: Quincy Dein
Editor’s Note: #HeavyMissions is a brand new series featuring surfing’s big-wave elite members. These are the stories told by the watermen and women from the heaviest waves around the world. The third in the series is big-wave hellman and wingsuit flyer, Niccolo Porcella
When it comes to extreme sports, the people you surround yourself with is so important. We trust and look out for each other. Vibes and knowledge we share can change critical situations in a heart beat. I’m so blessed to have formed such a great group of friends. They have taught me to overcome doubts and fears, and to live with gratitude, integrity, and faith.
My goal as an athlete is to inspire everyone to follow their dreams and know that we can accomplish whatever we desire. If there’s one thing I’ve learned to understand from this beautiful world, it’s that we can truly do anything if we believe in ourselves.
Follow Niccolo’s crazy adventures on his website and Instagram.
