Video: Surfing HUGE Waves Off Tahiti

In the surfing world, Tahiti's Teahupoos (pronounced cho-po) are amongst the most legendary and coveted waves on the planet. This past August, they reached epic sizes while the Billabong Pro surfers were on hand, and the results can be seen in the video below. The waves on display are immense walls of water that look as deadly as they are beautiful.

The video was shot by filmmaker Chris Bryan, who captured the dramatic action perfectly. Amazing stuff!



BIGGEST TEAHUPOO EVER, SHOT ON THE PHANTOM CAMERA. from Chris Bryan on Vimeo.

Video: Surfer Rides Largest Wave Ever

I don't cover much in the world of surfing, but this video is well worth sharing. It captures pro surfer Garrett McNamara riding a 90 foot tall wave off the coast of Portugal. It is believed that this is a new record for the largest wave ever ridden, and the video helps to give us a true sense of the scale of the thing. Hint: It's enormous.

Non-Profit Warm Current Seeks To Inspire Youth Through Surfing

A non-profit organization known as Warm Current has kicked off a unique fund raising program today that will allow them to continue, and expand, their mission of inspiring youth and underserved communities through surfing.

Starting today and running through July 31st, the organization is holding its Faces of Warm Current fund raiser, which focuses on generating cash to purchase new surfboards, wetsuits, and a trailer for upcoming Warm Current surf camps. The minimum donations start at just $5 and anyone who contributes will be able to upload a photo or message of their choice, which will then be added to the side of the trailer in the form of a two inch by two inch tile. Those tiles will form a mosaic that shares your message or image with the young people who will be reached by the Warm Current surf camp program.

The organization sprang from a 2008 surf trip to South America, during which the three founders visited a number of communities where underprivileged people simply couldn't enjoy the water because they couldn't afford the resources necessary to take advantage of it. Observing the plight of those local people inspired the idea of helping underserved communities throughout the world to reconnect with the natural environment through surfing. Since then, hundreds of wetsuits and surfboards have been donated to the cause, which has already impacted lives here and abroad.

The plan is to continue sending surf gear to those South American communities that helped generate the idea for the organization, but to also expand the Warm Current surf camps in the Pacific Northwest to help inspire kids here in the States as well. The non-profit has three goals in mind, help underprivileged individuals connect with outdoor recreation; increase the awareness of the importance of environmental stewardship; and decrease the amount of waste generated by the outdoor community by recycling their surf gear.

For more information about Warm Currents and their fund raising efforts, check out the video below. You can also donate to the cause by clicking here.



The Faces of Warm Current from Warm Current on Vimeo.

The Eighth Parallel Examines Women's Adventure Sports In Indonesia

The Eighth Parallel is a fantastic short film created by Darcy Turenne, who traveled to Bali and Java in  Indonesia to interview a group of young women who are pursuing their passion for adventure sports. Amongst them are rock climbers, mountain bikers, surfers, and more, with each of them expressing what drew them to their particular sport and the obstacles they had to overcome to pursue these activities in a culture that doesn't see many women in that light.

The Adventure Journal has an interview with Turenne, in which she talks about making the film and shares insights into what she learned along the way. You can read that interview here, and it is definitely worth a glance before watching the video below. The short film is over 27 minutes in length, so settle back and enjoy.




The Eighth Parallel from Darcy Turenne on Vimeo.

Outside's Top Ten Adventure Stories For 2010

Yesterday we had an interesting little story on the Outside Blog that listed the Five Greatest Adventure Hoaxes of All Time. Today, they follow that up with their selection for the ten biggest stories in adventure for 2010.

Unlike the list of hoaxes, I won't give them all away here, but suffice as to say, you can predict what a number of those stories will be. Amongst the big adventure news items that made the cut were Alex Honnold's various climbing efforts, which included a new speed record on a couple of back-to-back climbs on El Cap, amongst other things. The continuing battle with performance enhancing drugs in the world of competitive cycling also gets a mention, as does the young kids who lit up climbing the world, like Jordan Romero, who topped out on Everest at the age of 13. Of course, my favorite story of the year, Ed Stafford's completion of his Source-to-Sea trek along the length of the Amazon, also gets a nod.

The top two stories on Outside's list don't rank as high with me simply because I don't follow surfing all that closely. I know in that world they are big stories, but I felt there were others that deserved higher mention, such as Roz Savage's completion of her solo row across the Pacific or Eric Larsen visiting all three "Poles' in a single year. Of course, that's what makes these lists so interesting, is that they are also highly subjective.

What makes your list of the top Adventure Stories for 2010?