This Is What Taking A Chopes Bomb On The Head Looks Like
“You need to tell yourself that you’re not human — you’re a fish.”
A friend of mine who lives in Tahiti recently told me that he doesn’t paddle out at Teahupo’o unless he’s ready to take the biggest set of the day on the head.
Courtesy of Tereva David and his GoPro, here’s what that looks like.
As for what it feels like?
“It’s a unique moment when you’re facing that much power — that much ocean,” Tereva says. “It’s going so fast but time completely stops. Seeing a big wave like that is the most beautiful thing in the world.
When it’s going to land on you though, you need to tell yourself that you’re not a human anymore. You’re a fish, or aquaman. You need to act like it’s normal, even though it’s not. It’s pretty scary, it wasn’t even 6 AM when this wave came, the sun was hardly out,” he continues. “It was a good wakeup — better than any coffee in the world. After that, you feel more humble and more alive.
These are good experiences in our surfing life, for sure.”
Personally? I’ll pass.
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