Press Release:
Click HERE to see all the nominated entries on the BillabongXXL.com website
Click here to join in and “Like” the XXL at www.facebook.com/BillabongXXL
NEWPORT BEACH, CA – (April 30, 2012) – The 2012 Billabong XXL Global Big Wave Awards presented by Monster Energy will reach its peak moment as the winners are announced at the Grove Theater in Anaheim, California this Friday, May 4.
After a full year of action featuring many of the most spectacular waves ever documented, it all comes down to the final votes of the judges, and the big party to celebrate an epic year in surfing.
Five nominees were named last month in each of the event’s seven categories including Monster Tube, Monster Paddle, XXL Biggest Wave, Verizon Wipeout of the Year, Surfline Overall Performance, Billabong Girls Performance and the ultimate Ride of the Year Award.
A handful of surfers are nominated in multiple categories including Hawaiians Garrett McNamara and Kohl Christensen and California surfers Greg Long and Nathan Fletcher. To view the video and photos of all the amazing nominated rides, see the BillabongXXL.com website.
Garrett McNamara (Haleiwa, Hawaii) is nominated in both Ride of the Year and XXL Biggest Wave categories for a huge peak challenged off the coast of Portugal in November which made worldwide headlines as surfers and non-surfers debated whether it was the biggest wave ever ridden.
“Three huge lumps appeared on the horizon, we picked the biggest one and Andrew Cotton towed me in,” recalls McNamara of his monster wave off the town of Nazaré.
“I remember dropping and dropping, then punching it off the bottom and wanting to get up into the tube, but it just exploded and landed right on my shoulder and felt like a ton of bricks. I just focused on making it and somehow cruised out to the end. At that moment I didn’t have any idea that ride was going to get so much attention, all I was thinking was ‘put me deeper on the next one.'”
The determination as to the height of all five of this year’s Biggest Wave nominees — and whether any of them may usurp the current world record — will be decided this week by a panel of big wave surfing and photography experts who will precisely examine and measure the existing still and video images of each ride.
The current Guinness World Record is held by Mike Parsons who rode a 77-foot wave at the Cortes Bank off California in 2008. Also in contention for the XXL Biggest Wave prize are Andrew Cotton (England), Ollie O’Flaherty (Ireland), Axi Muniain (Basque Country, Spain) and Damien Warr (Australia).
While McNamara’s feat has made him a global mainstream celebrity, at the opposite side of the spectrum is one of surfing’s most low-key yet universally respected big wave chargers, Nathan Fletcher (San Juan Capistrano, California).
Fletcher is nominated for the Surfline Best Overall Performance Award, along with Monster Tube and Ride of the Year nods for a cartoonish cavern of a wave ridden at Teahupoo, Tahiti last August.
Click here to view the Billabong XXL Big Wave Awards Nominees Highlights Clip
“I hadn’t been to Tahiti since 1998, when I got two perfect 10s in the Teahupoo contest which turned me into a pro surfer and changed my life forever,” said Fletcher of his history with the iconic wave in French Polynesia.
“We saw this massive swell headed there and went for it, totally unprepared but stoked to go back. When I got that wave and it walled in front of me, it seemed like a giant skateboard half-pipe. I was looking UP at the boats in the channel and just thought, ‘I have got to make this wave, it’s not something a human could survive.’ Then the foam hit me, it was incredibly violent and I just went, ‘OK, it’s been great, I’ve had a great life but this is it.’ But just as violently I suddenly came to the surface, in one piece. I couldn’t believe I was still alive. Tahiti just changed my life again for the second time.”
Other top surfers with multiple nominations include Kohl Christensen (Haleiwa, Hawaii) who distinguished himself with numerous outstanding sessions from Fiji to Chile to Hawaii and Greg Long (San Clemente, California) who is nominated in the Ride of the Year category for a spectacular paddle-in barrel at Puerto Escondido, Mexico. Long, who has won a total of five XXL titles in his career, is contending for the Surfline Best Overall Performance crown as well.
And while the ceremony at the Grove is open to just 2,000 invited VIP guests, there are a pair of incredible giveaways that are available to the general public this week. These include two free tickets to Tahiti on Air Tahiti Nui and a state of the art waterproof backpack from Pelican Products. Both will be given away to lucky surfing fans in a matter of days – get all the details and sign up to win on the XXL Facebook page at https://www.Facebook.com/BillabongXXL.
The 12th Annual Billabong XXL Global Big Wave Awards show will be webcast this Friday evening on YouTube’s Network A, and will be broadcast as a one-hour program on FUEL TV on Sunday, May 20 at 3 P.M. PT.
The Billabong XXL Global Big Wave Awards are fueled by Monster Energy. Verizon Wireless is the official communications provider and XPERIA Sony Smartphone is the official cell phone supporter. Surfline.com is the exclusive surf forecast of the XXL and Contour the exclusive provider of point of view cameras. The event is sponsored by Air Tahiti Nui airlines, Surfing Magazine and Pelican Products.
