Crème De La Crème: Shane Dorian and Anthony Walsh’s Epic Desert Adventure

Two teams, four of the best tuberiders of the past decade, a favourable swell, GoPro HERO7s, a wave-rich stretch of coast, best P.O.V footage wins.

The first team consisted of the original hi-fi performer turned big wave lunatic Mr. Shane Dorian, and a GoPro aficionado with an almost unparalleled appetite for dense waves, Mr. Anthony Walsh. Shane had never been to the area, but was up at first light and straight out into a folding monster, despite being terrified of the prehensile beasts that lurk below in the area. Shane’s fears were justified later in the trip, when after the duo upped anchor and jetted off from one of the reefs, a bloody great white breached right in the middle of the take-off zone, scaring the bejeezus out of the crew of bodyboarders who rule some of the heaviest waves in the area. 

Anthony Walsh is a man who we’ve seen endless amounts of surf footage of, but the man behind the ludicrous tuberiding remains more or less a mystery. Until now. We can confirm that A. Walsh is a teetotaler, pounds the java, was the first up every morning making the rest of the crew breakfast and checking the surf, can’t sit still for five minutes – after a whole day in wetsuits when everyone else drank two beers and passed out, Walshy went squidding in the dark, and, most importantly, the guy will not stop surfing. All traits that are very hard to knock.

As an aside, as you marvel at the inner-most workings of some of the world’s heaviest waves, just consider how far technology’s come since we were first gifted visions from inside the green cathedral care of such pioneers as George Greenough. Dear George had a camera the size and weight of a microwave balanced on the front of his spoon, now, Dorian and the gang are lucky enough to be able to pull into tubes with cameras the smaller than the palm of your hand, then have them wonderfully stitched together by Robbie Crawford. Certified progress.

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