At the tail end of May, Teahupo’o got big. Really big. As is generally the case with very large swells at Teahupo’o, the internet was immediately awash with clips, including a very unfortunate accident involving a boat, but Nic von Rupp’s latest edit is a little more in-depth than a few seconds on Instagram. By in-depth, of course, we mean a wipe out reel.
It was the first real swell of the Teahupo’o season, so Nic made sure he was there. After 41 hours hours of travel, he landed at one of his favorite places on Earth, and it was immediately apparent that the talent level was at an all-time high.
“We rocked up and it was in between paddle and tow. The boys were absolutely charging. The level of talent here — local talent, guys like Matahi, Eimeo, Kauli Vast — everyone’s there, hungry.”
When a lineup like Teahupo’o’s is full of the hungriest surfers, people are bound to have their limits pushed. There’s no place like Teahupo’o to push them and as you’d expect, there ended up being a whole lot of carnage.
“I had some of the heaviest beatings of my life this week,” Nic said. “I had two really massive ones. I know the boys also had some of the gnarliest beatings… Failing in such heavy waves as Teahupo’o creates astonishing wipeouts, which for the surfers are dangerous and painful. But for the audience, extremely entertaining.”
Which is why Nic decided to put together what he calls “the Teahupo’o Carnage Edit.” And after watching, it’s a fitting name.
