Who rode the biggest wave at Teahupoo?

Who rode the biggest wave at Teahupoo?

Laird Hamilton
On August 17, 2000 Laird Hamilton is credited with surfing the “heaviest wave” ever ridden, documented in the film Riding Giants.

Has anyone ever died at Teahupoo?

Teahupoo is rightfully known as the scariest wave on the planet. It is perhaps surprising that it has only claimed one life, local surfer Briece Taerea, who died after being slammed in to the reef in 2000.

Who first surfed Teahupoo?

Tahitian Thierry Vernaudon
The first surfer to claim the first ride at Teahupoo was Tahitian Thierry Vernaudon in 1985. A few local friends support his story. The entire island is surrounded by coral atolls, making for exciting surf.

How shallow is the water at Teahupoo?

As seen by the video above, when the waves break, even at heights of up to 50 feet, there is still less than two meters of water over the reef. It is this transition from super deep to super shallow that makes the wave the scariest one on the planet.

Is Teahupoo shallow?

It is very, very deep, then very, very shallow As seen by the video above, when the waves break, even at heights of up to 50 feet, there is still less than two meters of water over the reef. It is this transition from super deep to super shallow that makes the wave the scariest one on the planet.

How deep is the Teahupoo reef?

The bottom drops to more than 1,000 feet deep just 1/3 mile offshore, and more than one mile deep just three miles offshore. As a result, swells don’t feel the ocean floor until they are about 1/2 mile from shore, allowing the open-ocean energy to march virtually unimpeded into the reef at Teahupoo.

Who was the surfer that survived the biggest Wipeout?

Big-wave surfer and all-round adrenaline junkie Niccolo Porcella has survived what some are calling the heaviest wipeout in surfing history. Footage shot by videographer Tim Pruvost shows 27-year-old Porcella dropping down the face of a seriously big wave in Teahupo’o, southwest Tahiti, before being sucked back up and slammed toward the reef below.

Is the Teahupo’o swell dangerous for surfers?

I’m coming back every year,” he told Surfing Life. Teahupo’o, also called Chopes, is renowned for having some of the heaviest and most dangerous swells in the world and has attracted big wave surfers since the late 1990s.

Why is the Teahupoo reef the most dangerous wave?

It is very, very deep, then very, very shallow Fifty yards beyond the Teahupoo reef, the depth of the ocean drops to more than 300 feet. This is one of the main reasons for the force and power of the wave. Big South Pacific swells march for thousands of miles unimpeded by any shallow water before exploding on the crescent-shaped reef.

What was the name of the biggest wave ever surfed?

Perhaps the most awe-inspiring was Laird Hamilton’s wave at Teahupoo, Tahiti, on August 17 th, 2000. Now named the Millennium Wave, the backless monster that Hamilton towed into was, at the time, by far the heaviest wave ever surfed.