MICHELLE MILLER:
00:00:06
Millions of people went on alert this week when an earthquake in Russia triggered tsunami warnings in Hawaii along the West Coast. Tsunami waves crashed into coastal communities in Russia, Japan, Hawaii, and California, but no major damage was reported. While not nearly as powerful as a tsunami, the ocean waves at Maverick's Beach in Northern California can be imposing, routinely topping out over 60 feet. They attract the world's boldest surfers. And late last year, one of them may have caught the biggest wave of them all. Elizabeth Cook of our San Francisco station, KPIX, met up with the man who might soon find himself in the record books.
ELIZABETH COOK:
00:00:52
While most Californians retreated as waves, wind, and rain pummeled the West Coast late last year, Santa Cruz surfer Alessandro Slebir was suiting up. We tend to thrive in that type of stuff. Wow.
ELIZABETH COOK:
00:01:06
And at Mavericks, one of the world's biggest surf breaks, and an hour from Slebir's home, is where he thrives the most. Every time Mavericks breaks, it's always got this dark, fast-moving water just lure to it.
ELIZABETH COOK:
00:01:22
And on December 23, that lure was stronger than ever. There was just this atmosphere that you knew something was coming.
ELIZABETH COOK:
00:01:30
19-year-old videographer, Jack Sandler, was out there with his camera. I'm out there from 5:00-6:00 AM till 6:00 PM. Sunrise to sunset. I filmed, well over 130 written waves that were just so huge, the biggest waves I've seen in my life.
ELIZABETH COOK:
00:01:47
Conditions were ideal and only a handful of surfers were in the lineup. Local surf stars Slebir and his surfing partner Luca Padua, each caught dozens of monster waves.
ALLESANDRO SLEBIR:
00:01:59
It was just walls of water. It looked like stacks of tsunamis, and it was nonstop for hours. But not every wave was conquered and the pressure was palpable.
JACK SANDLER:
00:02:12
When a surfer falls, everyone in the channel points to where they fell. And that's exactly where the driver should be driving right behind the wave where they're surfing.
ELIZABETH COOK:
00:02:23
There was no room for error.
ALLESANDRO SLEBIR:
00:02:25
No uncertainty. And I think those waves require that. And a day like that had to have that.
ELIZABETH COOK:
00:02:32
And then there it was, the biggest wave of the day. And Slebir was in a position to surf it. What was that first moment like? I've never gone that fast on a surfboard. I could feel the water being sucked back up behind me, and it essentially felt like I was moving backwards as I was moving forwards, because the speed of the water coming back up the face.
ELIZABETH COOK:
00:02:56
But it wasn't until the end of the day, did it all sink in.
ALLESANDRO SLEBIR:
00:03:00
So when we got the photos sent to us that night, we were kind of a little bit shocked. Like Oh wow! That was really big. Definitely the biggest we'd ever surfed it.
ELIZABETH COOK:
00:03:11
A surf photographer estimated his biggest wave was over 100 feet, which, if confirmed, could set a new Guinness World Record. I mean, I had 1,300 missed text messages, 300 missed phone calls, and I thought about throwing my phone right in the ocean.
ELIZABETH COOK:
00:03:29
Despite the buzz, it wasn't the world record that was on his mind. Rather, when was their next chance to serve?
ALLESANDRO SLEBIR:
00:03:35
So we knew we had to go right back out the next morning, and in fact, we surfed it that next morning with no other jet skis around.
ELIZABETH COOK:
00:03:42
Surfing giant waves is Slebirs calling despite a long list of reasons to stay away. The water's cold, the waves are huge, and when you wipe out, it's violent. You're going to get injured. So why do you want to do it. It's $1 million question. I've been obsessed with it since I was six years old. Once I saw it for the first time too, I was hooked.
ELIZABETH COOK:
00:04:05
His dad taught him to love the ocean as a young child, and by 14, he started surfing Mavericks. I've been extremely focused on one thing.
ELIZABETH COOK:
00:04:14
Now at 24, he designed his life around surfing while still holding down a full time construction job.
ALLESANDRO SLEBIR:
00:04:22
And I think that always surprises people. It's not the beach bungalow surfer living on the beach and just going surfing. It's work hard and work for it and prepare yourself.
ELIZABETH COOK:
00:04:33
For him, that decade of discipline was well worth it, but not in the way you would expect.
ALLESANDRO SLEBIR:
00:04:39
I don't think I have that sense of wanting to beat that record at all in me. I just knew it was the biggest day I'd ever surfed Mavericks and Luca as well. Sounds like it's really the magic of that day that you got to spend with your friend, experiencing something that you guys have never experienced before. That's really the prize. That's the prize. There's nothing that will beat that. And now we're just going to be chasing that Dragon for a long time.
ELIZABETH COOK:
00:05:08
For CBS Saturday Morning. Elizabeth Cook, Santa Cruz, California. I mean, jaw dropping images. And he wrote it all the way in. All the way in. So cool. Well, we're going to find out about that record come September one way or another. Can't wait. I'm looking around because these are amazing images in here. Yeah, we'll definitely report it to you too. That's right.
