Photo: Gigantes de Nazaré//Screenshot//YouTube
Martin Schricke is most commonly seen soaring above the Earth in a wingsuit, but he recently took his talents to the waves. And then, for a scary few minutes, below them.
The moment happened at Nazaré on December 3. When the first swell of the season hit the famed big wave, the best of the best were out there to greet it, including Schricke. However, after riding what appears to be a 40-foot wave, he found himself trapped in between the following sets, taking two waves on the head in the process. It took over a minute for rescue skis to find him in the foam, which may not sound like long. But a minute is an eternity when you’re getting thrashed around in head-high foam and there’s a 40-foot wave darkening the horizon. Luckily, ski operator Toby Cunningham managed to scoop Schricke up and take him to safety, with not a moment to spare.
Schricke wasn’t the only one to stare death in the face that day. His rescue occurred on the same day as Carlos Burle’s harrowing Nazaré wipeout. Burle was swallowed up by whitewash from several waves, before being rescued by Lucas ‘Chumbo’ Chianca on a ski. Afterwards, he was carried up the beach, where lifeguards administered oxygen, then sent him to a nearby hospital. Since then, he has been released in stable condition and traveled home to Brazil.
