Biggest Wave Ever Surfed

He’s regarded as the most likely tip for the top, so here’s a look at the life of Lukas Skinner.

Big wave surfer and 2024 Pipe Masters winner Nathan Florence dives into the mindset required to tackle big waves and the unique perspective that sets fearless surfers apart. Nathan shares how he leaned into his natural strengths, the instinctual reactions that push him to excel, and the emotional considerations that come with being married while chasing such a high-stakes passion. He reflects on his most dangerous sessions and the profound impact of responsibility on his decisions.

justin_jay (00:00)
even an incredibly gifted and talented surfer like Felipe Toledo, for instance, has been criticized in the past for just not having it in his constitution to throw himself over ledges and surf waves of consequence like what you do all the time. And I’m curious, where does that desire come from for you? Is it as simple as the reward from…

a big wave when everything goes right is worth the risk and the consequence of when it doesn’t? I mean, is it that simple or is it something deeper?

nathan_florence (00:32)
It is that simple for one level. It’s also, you gotta think about it into, like for me, I leaned into that because that to me was a strength and something I showed promise in versus like.

small wave technical surfing. Like I just, it was just so, such a struggle and uphill battle and I just didn’t put the time in but I knew like as soon as I did something in higher consequence, my body reacted in a way my instincts were faster. I made things I didn’t think I could make and to me that was a strength and I was like, I’m gonna lean hard into a strength. Because like, it’s that age old thing like talent and hard work.

And then you combine the two, like I was like, okay, this is what I’m good at. And if I lean into this and work really hard at being good at what I already have a little advantage in, then I might be able to come become elite in it. And so that was part of like the decision of being a big wave guy. And as far as going back to your question of like, is it, it is a different mindset? It really is. It is a different thing. You have to enjoy it. You know, like you see.

I look at it now as like the younger generation. I see it happening. Say 10 of them come up as surfers. One or two are gonna be going out on the big days. You’ll see them all of a sudden start surfing. Why may I? They’re ordering guns. They want it. And you’ll see eight or nine, they’re over it. And they go head in into competition. It’s just like, maybe you’re just built that way. To me, it’s like some are just built in that they react to fear differently.

nathan_florence (02:15)
and they react in an on way versus a turned off way.

justin_jay (02:20)
Have you had a change in perspective being married in terms of facing consequence and the notion of danger?

nathan_florence (02:30)
I have not. I’ve been with my wife for 10 years, maybe going on 11 now. And so we’ve only been married two or three years now. But so I feel like I’ve been married a lot longer. We’ve been married for like 10 years, but she… Yeah, I feel like that’ll happen with kids. And I feel like I’ve seen that happen with other big wave surfers when they’ve had a child come into the mix. But no, like my wife is as motivated as I am.

and she’s so into her career as well. And we’re both like, and we both understand like what needs to be done. That no change, no holding back as far as that. The only times I felt something like that was this year, we did a lot of solo traveling. Not solo time, it was just me and my wife, but I had some sessions where I was usually, you know, I’m out there, it’s my life is in my friend’s hands. And when something goes wrong, like I’m gonna be able to.

go in and get them or they’re gonna come get me. But all of a sudden when I was serving some of these dangerous slabs in Northern Europe and the only person on the beach was my wife and it’s freezing water, that was when I thought about it and I was like, you know what, if something goes bad right now, I get knocked unconscious. She’s on the beach with a handy cam. She don’t have a wetsuit, nothing. This is gonna traumatize her and be so bad for her. I cut those sessions out.

nathan_florence (03:58)
just because in case anything went wrong, I did not want her to have to live with the trauma of having to try to do something and fail because it’s just too fucking gnarly of a situation. The water’s too cold and she don’t have a wetsuit and the waves are too big and then her maybe perish because she’s trying, I was like, I cannot put her in that situation ever again. So like there was that, but as far as pushing in those sessions when there is the safety teams and everything like that, it’s full steam ahead.

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After chasing some Jaws swells and filming the Eddie. I found myself on a redeye to San Fransisco to chase the same swell that just hit Hawaii. Seeing this storm develop was unreal. Satellite showed giant seas in the middle of the pacific. This was a day I could not miss. The anticipation built the closer I got to arrival. I got there took a few hour nap as I was up for around 30 hours and headed to Mavericks. I knew it was going to start pumping around noon. The buoy readings were off the charts.

The fog had cleared as soon as I pulled into Half Moon Bay. Walked over to the cliff and began filming.

It was one of the more special days i’ve been apart of.

Talking with the guys after it was pretty clear that we had been apart of Mavericks history. With the consensus claiming “biggest ever”

Now that claim can get thrown around often while chasing swells. But this was legit.

Hope you enjoy ‘Mavs and the Devil’ as much as I enjoyed filming it.

Filmed by
Curt Myers @PowerlinesProductions
Pablo Garcia @ALOHA_PABLO
Kyle Hulse
Jamy Donaldson
Sachi Cunningham
Blakeney Sanford
Bennett Williams
Tucker Wooding
and Jack Sandler

Thank you to the Mavericks Rescue Team for all the hard work as well.
Photos by Frank Quirarte.

This is my video edit from the footage I captured at the 2024 Eddie Aikau Big Wave Invitational.

Music by Pride Of Lionz.
I also recorded the horn and keyboard tracks on this song.

A Santa Cruz man may ride into the history books for taking on what could be the world’s largest wave ever surfed. Marianne Favro reports.

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