Hawaii wasn’t the only place to get slammed by massive waves this past XXL swell. A majority of the swell’s energy was focused towards the West Coast. Perfect wind conditions and gigantic surf put up the green light to run The Nelscott Reef Big Wave Classic surf contest held off the coast of Oregon. It has been running for six years now, but this would be the first as a paddle in only event and stop number three on the Big Wave World Tour (BWWT).
The sun was out and the winds were calm allowing for surfers to push themselves to their limits and conquer some of the biggest waves ever surfed at Nelscott Reef. Some wave heights reached 50 feet on the face. Kohl Christensen, from Kailua, Oahu, garnished the win by making some bomb drops.
Christensen has grown out of his label as an ”underground charger” and stepped into the mainstream of big wave surfing. He made his appearance felt at The Eddie this past December and has since been a top contender on the Big Wave World Tour.
The BWWT has a unique judging criteria geared towards rewarding the surfer charging the biggest waves. The finalists of events held in bigger surf will receive more points and this win for Christensen bumped him up to second place in the standings. Other finalist in the Nelscott Reef Big Wave Classic are as follows in order of 2nd to 6th place, Chris Bertish, Jamie Sterling, Kealii Mamala, Rusty Long, and Peter Mel.
The event also included a women’s exhibition, in which three women surfers, Keala Kennelly, Savannah Shaughnessy, and Mercedes Maidana, showed they could handle big waves too.
Keala took the win and described her experience on theinertia.com, “Once the heat started, the first set came through and cleaned all three of us up. I was held under for a long time. I don’t know if it was the extra weight of the wetsuit or the fact that my body was just emotionally exhausted from crying all night [from the death of friend Andy Irons] , but I finally surfaced and was so happy to have a jet ski there to pick me up. I got dropped out the back right as another set approached. This time I was right in the spot. I turned and stroked into it with my teeth clenched, made the drop, and rode it out. Later, they told me I made history with that wave. I was confused. I had no idea that I was the first woman to surf Nelscott Reef.” The women’s exhibition opened up a new window of opportunity for the future of women’s surfing.
The next stop for the BWWT is Mavericks in California. Look for another gut wrenching, jaw dropping, adrenaline pumping contest to go down between December 1st and February 28th. The 10 time world champ, Kelly Slater, is amped and will be competing in “The Jay at Mavericks Big Wave International.” It’s going to be insane!
Pictures on http://www.alohaupdate.com/2010/11/11/hawaiis-kohl-christensen-charges-out-of-the-underground-at-nelscott-reef/
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