Photo: Nathan Florence // YouTube
Even Nathan Florence isn’t immune to getting worked every once in a while. In fact, given how often he puts himself in ridiculous heavy water in far-flung locales, the surprising part is that it doesn’t happen more often.
His latest adventure started on a remote island in the Pacific, where Florence ran into big wave legends Kohl Christianson and Aaron Gold, who happened to be there on a family vacation. However, they brought boards just in case, of course, and the trio ended up on a sketchy paddle-out over a shallow reef, into a series of massive peaks lurking in the distance.
So much for a relaxing vacation.
The crew survived the paddle-out, to find themselves in what appeared to be 10 to 12-foot surf. However, after his very first wave, Florence realized it may have been much bigger than he initially thought, with no channel to take him back to safety.
On a second run, a POV shot gives us a vision of barreling perfection…for a second before the wave clamps down. What follows is a hectic ballet of hunting down peaks and avoiding impending watery doom.
“I can’t even believe we’re scoring this,” an elated Florence says in the water. “What a dream. Two of the guys I looked up to, growing up surfing big waves, somehow ended up in the same spot, surfing this wave. I don’t know how many people have surfed this wave, if they have. What a treat.”
In the end, Florence once again managed to avoid any brushes with fate. Gold was not so lucky, though, going through the wringer and earning a broken board for his efforts.
Still, the trio still couldn’t have asked for more. “The potential was really exciting,” summed up Florence. “To just ride a few, in a first-time session like that, was a big success.”
