The Biggest Wave From Kelly Slater Pro Surfer

The Pacific Ocean spent the winter in Freddy P mode — throwing a huge tantrum.

Atmospheric rivers, swell bombs, endless flooding, and lots of wind — shouting and stomping, really.

The result was multiple generationally impactful big wave sessions between the shoals of Japan and San Diego. Namely, the 60-foot Cortes Bank session and Da Eddie.

Both Cortes the Killer and Eddie-worthy Waimea come alive intermittently, often with gaps of nearly a decade between swells. So, for German-cum-Portuguese playboy Nic Von Rupp to have surfed both within weeks it was…significant. The mondo-Jaws backside package was just a cherry on top, really.

“Cortes Bank was the dream,” Nic says. “I used to play Kelly Slater Pro Surfer on my Playstation, and that was the biggest wave in the whole game. It’s in the middle of the Pacific Ocean, I had to go on that trip. It was once in a lifetime.”

Click above to watch his entire run of (probably jet-lagged) wintertime paddle purism.