Who Goes Biggest?

Marti Paradisis at Shipstern Bluff, finalist for Biggest Wave. Photo: Andrew Chisholm

There's $35,000 in prizemoney on offer for surfing's wildest watermen and this year’s finalists have been decided through a world-first surfer poll in which every surfer who’s ever registered for a Big Wave Award entry was asked to vote for the top few rides in each of the three divisions: Biggest Wave, Biggest Slab, and Biggest Paddle-in Ride.

“We felt the surfers themselves were the best judges of each other’s performances,” explained event co-ordinator Nick Carroll. “They know these wild surf zones better than anyone else and they have a clear view of the challenge involved. We were stoked with the way they responded! They’ve come up with an epic group of finalists, that’s for sure.”

Biggest Wave, Biggest Slab, and Biggest Paddle-In rides are now in the hands of the finalist judges – an elite international panel of big wave maestros – and they’ll be stretched to pick the winners out of an unprecedented range of entries.

Tyler Hollmer Cross at Shipstern Bluff in May 2011 with his entry for Biggest Wave.

A number of impressive sessions in a year of consistent swell has seen a colossal total of 80 entries, far above and beyond any of the year’s previous, which have now been whittled down to 13 entries between 12 surfers across the 3 categories.

Jamie Mitchell, 10 time conqueror of the Oahu-Molokai paddleboard race, secured his monster Paddle-In entry at the infamous Cow Bombie, usually only tackled with jetski assistance.

"Usually the left-hander out there is the only paddleable wave, but that day I through caution to the wind and paddled into one of the rights and after that it all just came together," Jamie told ASL. "My big wave, the one that has made the finals, felt exponentially bigger than my other waves that day. It was such a perfect day, everyone was going for it!"

Jamie Mitchell putting his world-beating paddle strength to the test at WA's Cow Bombie.

Surfing Life’s Oakley Big Wave Awards will be presented at Simmer on the Bay, Dawes Point, Sydney on February 8^th, 2012.

To see all the photos and video of the finalists head to: www.bigwaveawards.com.au

FINALISTS

BIGGEST WAVE

Damien Warr, The Right                                   

Marti Paradisis, Shipstern Bluff                          

Tyler Hollmer-Cross, Shipstern Bluff                  

Jeff Rowley, Southern Victoria                          

Mark Mathews, The Right                                

Cale Grigson, The Right                                   

BIGGEST SLAB
Tyler Hollmer-Cross, Shipstern Bluff                 

Mark Mathews, The Right                                

Marti Paradisis, Shipstern Bluff                        

Cale Grigson, The Right                                  

Ben Rufus, The Right                                      

Chris Shanahan, The Right                              

Ryan Hipwood, The Right                                                                                                             

BIGGEST PADDLE-IN
Jamie Mitchell, Cow Bombie                           

Paul Morgan, Cow Bombie                              

Cam (Camel) Smith-Knight, Cow Bombie