Dungeons reef waves

As the saying goes "A picture is worth a thousand words." But I think this picture is for us just to marvel, it does not need any word at all!

It is from an article in the online Daily Mail of London entitled "Surfing on the crest of a 70ft tall monster wave" written by Victoria Moore. The article is a short one:

Surfers like to say waves aren't measured in feet and inches but in increments of fear.

And when you look at this heaving mountain of icy, dark water, its edge already curling over as it prepares to slam down and engulf all in its path, you can't help thinking that this must be close to registering a measurement of pure, lurching dread.

The man braving the beast to ride this colossal wave is the South African surfer Mike Schlebach and the picture was taken at Dungeons Reef, just to the south of Cape Town where a series of cold fronts has brought gale-force winds to lash the South African coast.

It is a notorious spot that, in the southern hemisphere's winter, is said to produce the biggest rideable waves in Africa.

Incoming waves hit the sea bottom at the rocky reef, and rear up into giant monsters 60-70ft tall - the height of five doubledecker buses.

Dungeons is notorious not just for the great white sharks that sometimes lurk in the waters, but also because the peak of the wave has a tendency to shift suddenly, sometimes catapulting the surfer into a 30ft freefall as up to 100 tons of collapsing water for each metre of the wave roar down after him.

I guess a sliding fall in front of roaring waves that carries up to 100 tons of collapsing water for each meter of the wave is something only surfers can understand and be thrilled. There is nothing freaque or abnormal about it. I was once asked by a young writer for a surfing magazine if freaque waves can be tracked for surf. Since by definition a freaque wave is a total unknown, we don't know where or when it will happen, it is unaccessible even for the most fearless, or reckless, surfers. Just go to Dungeons Reef, it's made for the reckless/fearless ones!