Surfing the 100ft swell at Nazare | 60 Minutes Australia

It may not be important for everything, but when it comes to

surfing

big waves, size definitely matters and at up to 100 feet or over 30 meters high, the world's biggest and worst waves hit on a headland in Portugal called Nazare , like this monster. Break It often breaks the brave or crazy surfers who try to tackle it, but the precarious divide between disaster and glory is precisely why Aussies like Ross Clarke-jones and Mick Corbett can't stay away from Nazeri Mesirow Portugal against spectators and surfers. equally it is becoming famous as the eighth wonder of the world home to the biggest waves on the planet this is the final frontier there are the hundred feet of the possible or a myth I don't know I think if somewhere it will be here surfers Come to ness ray with two goals in mind: ride the biggest wave of your life and stay alive as that wave can kill you for sure, it is the most dangerous wave in the world and if you don't have the right equipment and the right experience in your team, you can easily die there ten years ago, this ancient clifftop Nazaré fort wasn't even a surf map, but the size and power of the monstrous Atlantic waves moving here have earned it a reputation of fear and danger that has turned this place into the new Coliseum of big wave

surfing

and when you see what these board riding gladiators face you realize how truly epic this stadium is, it caught my attention that all those people watching you doing you know there's an almost bloodthirsty element, yes it goes back to gladiator times.

I guess people want to see the lions eat the gladiators, you know, they want to see them die, blood, they want to see blood, there's a little bit of that, right? an attack I guess it's human nature it's like carnage everyone loves to see carnage you know that's why preparing to surf in Nazaré is like preparing for battle for the great Australian legend Ross Clarke-Jones, every little detail It's vital, like securing your surfboard fins. they're tight once you're doing the right ATKs, now you think you don't want it, like it ends, the smallest little cut in the fin can really vibrate and cavitate and you know, oh, this is not good, this is not well, another crucial part of the equipment are these safety vests equipped with CO2 cartridges and for inflating pool taps, a real lifesaver that really works on your nether regions, would you like, okay, time to throw it away, just is inflating, you go straight to the ceiling.

I'm glad you trust me with this, but I'll find out now than you. I hope you don't use them. The Western Australia meeting. Corbett has already earned a reputation for being fearless when it comes to big surfing that we didn't have and stuff, hasn't he. Okay, so you better stay calm and everything goes as usual. You know, and with that we can leave. Ross sets off. It's a beautiful morning here in Nazareth, which is about an hour and a half north of Lisbon, Portugal's capital, in this early-season arctic

swell

. He has been trapped for weeks and has now come crashing into the Nazare promontory.

These waves are so powerful and fast. Rowing on them is impossible. The only way to catch them is to be towed by a jet ski and Wasps. Clarke-Jones receives the first wave. The day I saw it from the shore it's shocking to the point of blasphemy, oh look at the size of the tiger, look at that, the first wave you got me and I was like, yeah, you know, it's like the euphoria of Oh, right? I'm afraid of hot sauce, in fact, even I am, but you're okay, you're okay on top of this stuff oh yeah, it's contaminated water, no, no, but Ness Rey is the heaviest water in the world thanks to its unique topography that channels the waves. entering the promontory being trapped inside can be disastrous for man and machine this is like repudiation thank you for inviting me know when it's big we don't want to be here at all if you come here it's safe and well it's not certain death was most likely Last week Ross died on the road and for almost ten

minutes

he was trapped in the Death Zone, only an experience of a lifetime and his inflated vest saved him from serious injury.

You become arrogant, you become too complacent, you keep going, you keep pushing. Despite the risks, surfers from around the world are flocking to this ultimate testing ground. Andrew Cotton from England is famous at home for his exploits here but this morning things go terribly wrong and he literally catapults off the road and breaks his back when you actually hit the water at that speed it feels like concrete because you It's shocking to see a surfer get kicked out like that. I think it's the first time for me, yes. Cotton's full recovery could take up to a year, but serious injuries are part of the big wave surfing equation: Is it worth it?

It is worth it. I mean, Andrew Cotton has been here. You know, some of the biggest waves ever surfed here in the last ten years. You have a lot of experience. Yes. And you saw it, you could see it being spit out by Wow, why has this become the Holy Grail? Well, it's a wife's greatest right, but he's been here all these years. Well, why has it been discovered recently? Well, I think it's because it's a death to find Australian filmmaker Tim Benaiah, so he lives. What he calls his endless winter chasing the big winter waves of both the Southern and Northern Hemispheres has captured some of NASA's most iconic moments.

Filmed in many surf spots around the world, it would be the best for years and years and years. As? this range where this is located is above it of big wave surfing there is nothing bigger than this it is a great job it is the best job on the planet there is nothing more exciting and you know how wonderful these good events do Not everything happens time. This is a calm

swell

event that occurs once every time there is a blue moon. This will go down in history as one of the great swell events in big wave surfing.

They were here. The swell increases throughout the morning peaking at over 60 feet, as Ross says. and Mick trades wave for wave with the other riders, it's turning into a day to remember that a good wife makes you feel complete, we really think, um, that's an amazing feeling to get that pump and yeah, that way I can go on for years , yeah, and get excited about it when you remember it, yeah, you know, that way I can remember, yeah, so that's one of the feelings we strive for, yeah, just that wife, you know, big waves , great memories, yes, wait, it's a set, wait, wait.

Wait a minute, wait down here now look at the Gallaghers Ross Clarke-Jones has a well-deserved reputation as a Hellraiser in and out of the water. He loves to play tag, but not when a servant is serious. He is almost as skilled at writing this. It's for the board, no, no, it actually takes more skill to ride a jet ski, they tend to ride the board, that's for sure, I think it depends more on the driver, but in the realm of driving, you have more responsibility, since what you have to achieve is driving. them in the wave and rescue them, so you have double the responsibility, so when he towed Mick Corbett into one of the waves of the day, it was total concentration in such big waves, there is a fine line between glory and oblivion.

Mick is running down the wave. line at a speed of 80 kilometers per hour but the wave catches up with him and Mick is buried under tons of white water, that wave basically chased you underneath, yes I can say it was because it was going down, I felt it to myself. I'm very sweet, you know? And then I could see the shadow coming over me. I did not see. I thought it was actually going to land directly on top of me, but I kind of looked up and then I landed and hit behind me and just ran straight. about me Ross knows that he has to go rescue me but he has to find him and not run him over.

The first attempt fails and Mick is buried by Whitewater again even though I have some eyes in my head. I'm still pretty. I relaxed when he caught me and these eyes were straight, like when I pick people up, sometimes they just go cross-eyed and they're bleeding and you know it's not good and you have to pick them up by their hair, bleeding, yeah, bleeding noses. or like they've had too much pressure, you've got tons and tons of water falling on you, so we've been hit. burka imagines that's what it feels like to have arrived earlier and I thought I had broken all my arms and legs watching all of this from the safety of solid ground.

I was really amazed, but I couldn't decide if these athletes were brave or stupid. What do you like? Well, not putting my life at risk with those sighs. Why what excites you? Well I guess. That's the question isn't what is the level of excitement versus the amount of risk? that's the question yes you have money inside the advanced chip yes I think that's quite the adventure oh it's not just the scuba surfing we've tracked this swell for two weeks and then you finally make the call and fly from Australia to Portugal to surf these waves, but I suggest to you that the amount of risk that you are willing to take here would be much greater than the average person, yes, but then, without risk, there is no reward, you know, it's like you take the risk and you get the reward, the feeling of getting that reward is just amazing and as they say only a surfer knows the feeling, incredibly this was the first time Ross and Mick surfed together. but it won't be the last so the old bulls get a good workout and then spring chicken seasoned chicken regular chicken