The Most Spectacular Waves Of 2022 - Stab Mag

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The Most Spectacular Waves Of 2022

A collection of the most memorable, unique, and perspective shattering surfing we saw this year.

premium // Dec 31, 2022
Words by Holden Trnka
Reading Time: < 1 minute

Surfing is beautifully, painstakingly subjective.

To say so is almost a waste of words, but it’s needed in the context of this video.

As 2022 comes to a close, we decided to piece together an edit that highlights some of the most spectacular, memorable, uniquely ridden waves of the year. Because we’re surf masochists, we also decided to attempt putting them in order

We quickly realized, unless you’re a WSL judge, there’s little hope of quantifying or comparing the difference between Kai Paula’s boogie-tunnel, Bethany’s Pipeline bomb, and Italo Ferreira’s triple-air-combo at Uluwatu.

Which is most spectacular? Is it the one that got more social media views? Is it the one that had a greater effect on the landscape of its respective discipline? Or is it just the one that we can remember most clearly in our oh-so-unreliable mind’s eye?

We used a variety of metrics to come to our conclusion, but by no means are we certain this is the absolute order. If you think we missed something, or that the order is completely fucked, we’d love to hear your thoughts (though, we were anticipating them either way.)

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