Sketchy and Scary: Cloudbreak Goes XXL

“Cloudbreak is that rare wave that’s good from very small to as big as waves get,” Kelly Slater explained to SURFER last year. “There are very few waves in the world that have a reef or bottom that handles waves of all sizes and keeps good quality. Most have their little zone where they’re at their best—two-foot, six-foot, 20-feet. You’re not paddling out to Waimea when it’s head-high. But you are going out to Cloudbreak when it’s 40 or 50-foot and getting the craziest wave that’s ever potentially been ridden. But you can also get the most fun wave you’ve ever had when it’s head-high. That really eclipses all of the other waves, for me. If it was a right also, it’d be too much. If it was a split peak, there’s no way it could exist.”

Look no further than the last month in Fiji to see just how right Kelly is. On a six-foot day at the recent Fiji Pro, 19-year-old Erin Brooks locked into a barrel that’s probably the best wave ridden by a woman on the Championship Tour. And while young Brooks was getting her warmup laps in at Lowers this weekend, a cadre of big-wave chargers headed to the South Pacific to tempt fate on the reef’s outer ledge.

Related: 19-Year-Old Erin Brooks Scores Perfect 10 In Fiji: “Best Heat Of My Life”

But the one caveat with Cloudbreak is that while, yes, it can be absolutely perfect at times, it is basically located in the middle of the ocean, leaving it exposed and unprotected from the sea’s wrath. In the case of the swell this weekend, it was “tough conditions with strong winds,” reports photographer Fred Pompermayer.

Undaunted, there were windows when the waves turned on. Lucas “Chumbo” Chianca was reportedly towed into the biggest wave of the day, while Pedro Calado got himself into the right spot and scored the ride of the day. Kai Lenny went switch, while Jojo Roper faded his backhand bottom turn like it was a playful day on Maverick’s left bowl. Days like this don’t come around that often; in fact, it’s been a couple of years since Cloudbreak was this big, which makes the session that much more special.