Mark Mathews In 3D, The Right, WA

Sure, your computer screen won’t do this justice – nor will ours – but if you were to watch the footage of Mark Mathews burning through this cave at The Right in WA, on a 3D TV with 3D glasses… well, it’d be three-dimensional. Imagine it: The depth, the spray nearly brushing your cheek, the lip’s explosion making you jump, Mark’s shimmering hair seemingly tangible. You’d be in there with him. Ross Clarke Jones and Tom Carroll’s show, Storm Surfers (as seen on the discovery channel), has been green-lit for a feature-length 3D big-wave film and Mark’s been asked to help ’em out with it. Hence why he’s flying through this tunnel, gripping one of the new 3D GoPro’s.

Mark had been in LA with Dean Morrison, hoping to score a swell in Mexico. Mex, however, started looking bad, but they spotted another swell headed for WA. They flew back to Oz, then drove six hours to the spot. “The place is mental when it gets over 10 feet,” says Mark. “Absolutely mental. It needs that much swell just to even break. But when we got there, it was only just pushing eight to 10 feet.” It’s hard to tell from the inside looking out, but this barrel’s actually around nine foot.

Mark’s excited about a screw-in he’ll be receiving in the back of his board soon, which’ll hold the GoPro at knee-height. It’ll sure as hell beat his usual trick, which involves paddling into the wave with the GoPro’s strap clenched in his teeth, then grabbing it once he’s up and riding. Try doing that on a 12-foot wave. Doesn’t it make it harder to concentrate? “When you’re holding it, you don’t pay as much attention to what the wave’s doing,” says Mark. “I got swallowed whole by this barrel.”

Y’can go check out Mark’s blog with all his awesome adventures, here.