The loss of a Big-Wave surfer

Tragedy is hard to blog. Not being a surfer or a follower of surfing, I have never pay attention to different surfers. So the name Sion Milosky never made an impression on me. When I first heard of he lost his life while surfing in California, it was a tragedy, but did not feel strongly about blogging it without knowing about the details of the wave. Well, I just came across this report from Mercury News, I guess it describes the wave condition that Mr. Milosky encountered which is about as good as one might expected:

As the giant wave swelled at Mavericks, Sion Milosky paddled into it. He'd caught more than a few when suddenly the lip of a wave he was riding collapsed on top of him. Milosky went down, and the wave crashed over him -- again and again.

After surfing what some called "the session of a lifetime," Milosky, a 35-year-old Hawaiian known as one of the best big-wave riders in the world, died late Wednesday.

And this one:

Fifty-foot waves do not discriminate -- especially those that lurch from the deep open ocean at Mavericks, the region's iconic surf break near Half Moon Bay. From world champion surfers such as Kelly Slater to underground daredevils like Sion Milosky, the waves' raw, violent energy places the life of any mere mortal in the balance.

On Wednesday, Mavericks claimed Milosky, a respected 35-year-old Hawaiian with a wife and two daughters back home on Oahu's north shore. Milosky was a welder by trade but forged his truest identity as a fearless charger in the midst of four- and five-story waves, often at remote outer island reefs in Hawaii.

That told what had happened. It was an accident, a tragic accident. It's always sad to hear it. Now hundreds of news articles have written about the tragedy. This SFGate short tribute entitled "Surfer Sion Milosky's death atMavericks underscores ocean's force, attraction" is a good one completes with a video monologue. I would like to just show the following short video showing Sion Milosky in action in his memory: