Aside from a two-wave holddown, it’s hard to think of a scarier situation at Mavericks than this.
The scene: December 28, 2023 swell was the day of the year off Pillar Point. If massive, unruly cold mountains can be considered positive attributes. The cast: Heavy hitters like Peter Mel, Jojo Roper, Lucas Chianca, Kai Lenny, Matahi Drollet, Andrew Cotton, Will Skudin and Nic von Rupp, along with local hellmen including Luca Padua, Michael Joshua and Alo Slebir.
Bianca Valenti, a regular at Mavericks and the only woman having a crack on the day, had a shot to ride her biggest wave to date. But the peaks were as huge as they were unpredictable. After getting to the bottom of this beast, (at least a 35-footer) a small bump was all it took to catch her heelside rail and flip her over the handlebars. If it looks intimidating from Tim Bonython’s camera, I can only imagine what it looked like from her POV. It’s the kind of wipeout that either lingers with you the next day, or produces so much adrenaline it’s lost in the memory bank.
Heavier than it looks, and it looks pretty damn heavy.
A few cartwheels on the face, then the lip landed on her. She took a few more on the head before the water safety skis could get to her. Water safety ace Drake Stanley got there first but could only watch her go in the foam, then her tow partner Jeff Kafka picked her up before she went into the rocks. Below, you can catch a breakdown of the wave and the pickup from Powerlines Productions.
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