If you were to list off Chuck Patterson’s repertoire of adrenaline junkie hobbies, you might wonder for a moment if you’d come across the character breakdown to cast Bodhi in the latest Point Break reboot. This isn’t hyperbole. Patterson’s personal website lists “skiing, snowboarding, big wave surfing, stand-up paddling, kiteboarding, windsurfing, foil surfing and speed flying” as the disciplines he’s mastered over the past few decades.
He’s given a lifetime to doing it all, but in recent years, he’s become more and more recognizable as the guy who bombs big waves on skis. Snow skis. And last year, while the WSL was gearing up to run the Nazaré Big Wave Challenge, Patterson was plotting to strap into ski boots, grab some poles, and tow into waves at the famed break.
“What makes this so dangerous, aside from the obvious, is that Chuck wears heavy snow-ski boots that are binded to these retrofitted water skis, basically acting like an anchor and making it impossible to swim should he ever wipe out,” says Canon Castro, who documented Patterson’s latest big wave ski session.
When the contest got the green light, plans for Chuck’s session were put on hold. He spent the day on the cliff watching the action, which only prolonged the planning and (probably) anxiety that comes with something like skiing at Nazaré. But when the window of opportunity opened the next day, Chuck was ready to cross another big wave off his skiing list.
“That was one bumpy ass ride,” he said after one wave. “I hit rhino bumps everywhere. Holy shit.”
And just like that, he’d crossed a wild task off his bucket list, reached the Jet Ski in one piece, and declared, “I think I’m gonna call it.”
As Castro points out, if you’re going to take on tasks like this at least get yourself a good life insurance policy.
