Last Updated on 06/16/2014 by Chris Gampat
Two years ago big wave rider Ryan “Hippo” Hipwood nearly drowned when he dared to surf “The Right,” an Australian break known for being the heaviest waves in the world. Hipwood told the Courier Mail how the thundering white-water of the middle-of-the-ocean break held him down as the power of the waves threw him around like a rag doll. In short it was a horrific near-death experience that left him terrified of returning to take on The Right again—that is until now.
Earlier this month Hipwood returned to the break off Western Australia’s coast with a few other daredevil surfers and a couple of cameras to record it all. Together the death defying wave riders took on Australia’s most fearsome waves some of which rears up to 7-meters tall (22-feet).
In the Monster Energy-sponsored video you’ll see some surfers just narrowly making it through the wave by the skin of their teeth. Others aren’t so lucky and there’s even a jet ski that gets flipped up by the wave halfway through the footage. Check past the break to catch all the gnarly action.