Photo: ©Ed Grant grantsgraphics.com
This is a story about the history of Maverick’s, and the surfers who ride the giant waves.  This special eight part series focuses on how the wave was discovered, and features contributions from some of the world’s greatest surfers sharing their experiences surfing Maverick’s and what they do when they’re not riding one of the world’s biggest waves.  Every Wednesday surfers including Kelly Slater, Greg Long, Jeff Clark, Tom Curren, Grant “Twiggy” Baker, Peter Mel, Matt Ambrose, Ryan Seelbach and Grant Washburn will provide detailed insights into one of the biggest waves in the world, and what these surfers do when they’re not busy chasing some of the ocean’s most powerful waves.

Click here for Maverick’s Untamed Part 1.

Click here for Maverick’s Untamed Part 2.

Click here for Maverick's Untamed Part 3.

Click here for Maverick's Untamed Part 4.

This isn’t to say that all the surfers who charge at Maverick’s have day jobs.  Kelly Slater, without question the greatest surfer ever, made an appearance at Maverick’s on March 3rd, 2000 to compete in Quiksilver’s Men Who Ride Mountains contest.  This was the second contest ever held at Maverick’s.

Slater has a hazy memory of the event due to ailing from an illness.  “I honestly don't remember because two days before the event, I was in bed for 24 hours. Couldn't eat. I had a 24-hour flu bug, it was really bad. So I couldn't eat, I was dehydrated, couldn't drink anything because I was throwing up. And so for 24 hours literally I stayed in bed, didn't leave,” said Slater, who proved to everyone that he can conquer the big beasts as well as he can surf smaller waves by finishing the contest in second place.  “I woke up the day prior to the event. I had a little toast and avocado and could drink some fruit juice. Then I flew in and got there late that night. Al Merrick and I flew up, got there late, got about four, maybe five hours of sleep. I was messed up. Then I get down to the beach and it was like 40-foot faces that morning. That was a big swell. Short interval, giant swell, and all I had was a couple of Odwalla drinks that morning.

“My first wave of the day was a 20-footer. I made the drop, got a late drop, came around and thought, ‘I got this thing.’ Straightened out, and then the wave just rolled me. I was under water for so long. I thought, ‘God, I'm going to drown right now.’ I was out of it. I really thought I was going down for the count that time. It felt like I took about 30 strokes to get to the surface. I finally came up, and I was like, ‘OK, I'm not falling again today.’ I didn't fall once more the whole day.”

Slater made it to the finals of the contest, and proceeded to accidentally ride an early wave all the way to the end with full intention of calling it a day when he was told that there was still 40 minutes left in the heat.

“I ride in to the beach, and I had a 5/4/3 wetsuit with a built-in hood,” said Slater.  “And I went in, I took the suit off, pulled it down to my waist, and maybe I even took it off. And then somebody goes, ‘You're in the final, the jet ski's waiting by the beach. You gotta go back out.’ And I was like, ‘Oh that sucks.’”

One of the very rare surfers that Slater considers an idol is Tom Curren, another legendary surfer whose day job is riding waves.  Curren surfed Maverick’s in 1993. “It wasn't a big day,” said Curren.  “Fun though. I wish I had a better quiver. I'm working on it though.  I hope to paddle out there again.”

Click here for Maverick's Untamed Part 6.