Press release:
NEWPORT BEACH, CA – (June 6, 2013) — The world’s biggest waves and greatest rides are coming to national television this weekend as the 2013 Billabong XXL Global Big Wave Awards presented by Pacifico appears on ESPN2. The hour-long documentary will air this Sunday, June 9th at 3:30 PM on the East Coast, at 12:30 PM Pacific Time and at 9:30 AM in Hawaii.
The show features all the highlights of one of the most spectacular years of action the sport of surfing has ever seen. In addition to the glitz and glamour of the recent Billabong XXL Awards night ceremony, the program takes an in-depth documentary look at the human dramas that unfolded in and around an assortment of epic swell events that supercharged the season.
Unlike most scheduled sporting events seen live on the ESPN Networks, big wave surfing requires its top-rung athletes to be on standby all year, ready to race to any corner of the globe on a moment’s notice to intercept the greatest seas Mother Nature can produce. Any ride at any spot on the planet is in play for the seven categories of competition that make up the Billabong XXL Big Wave Awards, just so long as the ride is captured by photos or video.
This year’s slate of nominees was truly global in nature, kicking off with an historic day along the coral reefs of Fiji, where Hawaiians Dave Wassel and Reef McIntosh scored amazing tubes and nominations in the Ride of the Year and Pacifico Tube divisions. A huge October swell at Jaws on the Hawaiian island of Maui produced unprecedented paddle-in moments including a monumental truck-sized barrel that earned Big Island surfer Shane Dorian a record five nominations for a single wave.
The show also brings into focus a harrowing mission to the Cortes Bank, located in the open ocean 100 miles off the California coast, where Santa Cruz’s Shawn Dollar paddled into a world record 61-foot Pacifico Paddle Award contender just before XXL legend Greg Long (San Clemente, CA) suffered a nearly-lethal wipeout requiring a risky night-time helicopter evacuation by the US Coast Guard. Over in the Atlantic, a massive swell slammed Europe, providing nominations for an assortment of tow-in surfers at Ireland’s Mullaghmore Head and the now famous shoreline of Praia do Norte, in Nazaré, Portugal.
Click here for a video preview of the Billabong XXL Big Wave Awards TV show.
Set your DVR now, and plan to tune in on Sunday to ESPN2 to spend an hour with the heaviest waves in the world and the amazing men and women who take them on — an electric combination that makes the Billabong XXL Big Wave Awards the ultimate in adventure sports.
The Billabong XXL Big Wave Awards show for ESPN was created by FRIDAY, one of action sports’ leading production companies, know for the surfing documentary series “21 Days” and the forthcoming high-end snowboard movie, “Naturally” with Jake Blauvelt. The show was produced and directed by FRIDAY’s Sandy Stevenson.
Click HERE to see all the winners on the BillabongXXL.com website
Click here to join in and “Like” the XXL at www.facebook.com/BillabongXXL
