"If you want the ultimate thrill, you've got to be willing to pay the ultimate price," eloquently said by Mark Foo, one of the world's greatest big wave surfer's to have ever existed. Big wave surfing is a branch of surfing that specializes in riding the most fearsome waves. A "big wave" is one that is at least twenty feet (6.2 meters) in height. These waves can crush a surfer to depths of fifty feet (15.5 meters) enough to rupture an eardrum. It's the people who conquered these waves that gave birth to this exhilarating sport.

It all started out with native Hawaiians, who invented the sport of "wave sliding". However, it was much more than just a sport, and several chiefs were required to do it for training. When competitions were held, money, status and even love were up for grabs. From this group of people's tradition, a great sport was born. Surfing boomed in the 1900's with a few new riders and technological advances with the surfboard. Soon, previously set limits were being pushed at every turn.

Big wave surfing came about in the early 1940's when riders such as George Downing (who invented the first big wave surfboard) and Wally Forseith, to name a few, overcame the mammoth waves in Makaha, Hawaii. In the 1953, a photo of them riding a colossal wave made it to the front page of a California newspaper, and thus motivated flocks of Californian surfers to try out the warmer waters in Hawaii. These guys were responsible for spurring the next generation of surfing.

Among the greatest who moved over to Hawaii to take advantage of the conditions was Greg Noll. He also set out in 1953, soon after the famed picture of George and Wally hit the press. He surfed every moment he could, and lived off the land of Hawaii. Later on, he and a small crew of friends went to explore the ominous northern part of Hawaii, being one of the first to do so. There, they came across a perfect locale with bigger waves than they had ever seen before. There they lived (off the land again, sleeping mostly on the beach), and in 1957 Noll became dedicated to being one of the first to ride Waimea Bay.

The Waimea Bay "pioneers" were comprised of about a dozen men, Greg Noll included, along with another well known surfer, Pat Curren. These guys were committed to being the first to Waimea Bay, the name of the massive wave. The wave usually reaches heights of at least twenty feet (6.2 meters) high. The crew was accustomed to living of what they could, and frequently dove for

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