Surfing
Here's the Latest XXL Madness From Nazaré
Ross Clarke-Jones leads the pack of maniacs in this "Sessions" edit of maxing surf in Portugal.
2 min
The latest XXL madness from Nazaré
Ross Clarke-Jones leads the way in February 10's tow-only swell at Praia do Norte.
On Thursday afternoon, word started trickling in that the next day, Nazaré could be on for the tow crew. A barrage of powerful storms have been marching across the Atlantic the last few weeks, and one was bound to shape up nicely for Europe's gnarliest big wave.
The first person to alert us, as usual, was our man on the ground this winter, Alex Laurel, who is incapable of misreading a swell chart and always ready to pounce. "It’s a 50/50 that it will good, but it’s the biggest swell of the season so far," Laurel told us. "You want me to go?" Off he went.
Fred David finds the illusive Nazaré barrel
© Hélio António
At dawn the next morning, things didn't look promising. Maxing, unruly conditions. Howling wind. Cold, gray sky. Then around noon, it all seemed to be turning around.
Unfortunately, there was a very close call — a surfer nearly drowned after reportedly going under a big set. The accident shook things up in the lineup, and effectively shut down the session early. But beforehand, Clarke-Jones, Justine Dupont, Zac Haynes, Mick Corbett, Rafael Tapia, Sebastian Steudtner and others safely navigated some huge ones. See it all in the edit above.