Sometimes you don’t need to make the wave to have it change your life. Photo: YouTube//Screenshot
Russell Bierke has built a career around quietly surfing the loudest waves on the planet. This is a huge generalization, but I’ve found over the course of the years that big wave surfers often fall in two camps: the screw loose, chest-beating type who go on anything and everything, or the quiet, calculated type who patiently waits for the right one. Bierke falls in the latter camp.
He’s been surfing big, heavy waves for a long, long time, and there are a few that have stood out over the years. Watermarks, a new series from Bierke, tells the story of the waves that have defined his career. The first was the Bombie and a wave that was years in the making. The second installment featured Shipstern Bluff, a place that only a handful of surfers can attempt, let alone excel at.
In this, the third installment, Bierke looks back at The Cliffs, which he describes as “one of the most intimidating and unique waves in the world, as long Atlantic ocean swells batter the coastline.”
There’s only one way in and one way out. It’s a fickle place that Bierke had been eyeing for years before finally getting the chance to surf it. And when he finally did, one ride was about as amazing as he expected… even though he didn’t make the wave.
“I rolled the dice,” Bierke said. “I thought it was a good wave, but when I got to the bottom is was just this giant stretched out wall. As soon as I came off the bottom, I was like, ‘I’ve got to pump this thing.’ I was pumping and flying through section after section. I remember one chandelier dropping down and I was like, ‘oh, I’m done,’ but then it cleared and the wave spat. I thought I might be in the channel, but I was still in the barrel. I was just trying to get out of this thing. When the wave finally gets to the end section, it closes out and there’s almost a little section that goes left back at you. I could see that starting to form and then the wave spat so hard. I thought I had a little chance to doggy door it before it closed out. I almost got there, but then the lip just landed right on me.”
