![]() The team sets up camp in a remote, wave rich area of the beach. And you know, the excitement is still the same,” says Baker. “I’ve been surfing for 40 years, and the feeling as you come over the rise and you see the ocean for the first time is still the same. Once it gets half way across, it stalls out and creates a gigantic storm, finally sending the swell energy in the surfer’s direction.ĭay one is marked by heading to basecamp. The ideal scenario is a big storm with a little bit of energy starting underneath South America while building momentum as it gets deeper across the Southern Atlantic. “As a big wave surfer this is ideally what you’re looking for,” Walsh says. They begin to monitor weather conditions, anticipating the biggest storm the Southern Atlantic has seen this entire season, and maybe for the last three years. The pair meet in Cape town to pick up gear: camping supplies, water, and fuel- everything needed to survive in the desert for three weeks. “Putting myself out of my comfort zone and looking for places, waves, and people who will excite me and challenge me…that’s what keeps me alive and focused.” Though the trip requires immense planning and prep, both Baker and Walsh agree it is worth it for this final surfing frontier. These trips are what give him excitement, and make him feel like he's 20 again, going on his first big surf. And that unknown makes it more exciting for us,” he says.īaker explains the challenge of leaving his young daughter and wife behind while his daughter is too young to know what he’s doing or how dangerous it really is, his wife trusts his judgment, “She knows if the wave comes, I’m gonna go.” Baker has a hunger to chase waves: big, small, perfect, and everything in between. Where are you gonna end up after a wipeout? Are you gonna get pushed into rocks? You know, it’s all an unknown. And this adventure part of it, where these are new waves…there’s more danger involved because you don’t know how the waves are going to behave. “He’s not afraid of hard work, to find new waves, and he’s been at the forefront of suef exploration.” Baker has always explained big wave surfing as “calculated madness.” “I think all big wave surfers are on that spectrum: either completely mad or super calculated. Walsh explains Baker’s desire to push himself is what they connected on initially. Adding in reef breaks, sandbards, point breaks, and everything in between, it’s all new to Baker and Walsh. He explains The Peak’s potential is the deep water on the outside, with outer reefs coming out of deep water coming into shallow water. The objective is to tackle a big wave they’ve named The Peak, which Baker believes could be one of the biggest waves in the world. “You look at the entire world, and there can’t just be four iconic big waves: Jaws, Nazare, Mavericks, and Wiamea. And that became almost addictive for me, to be chasing and targeting waves around the world.” “For me personally, it’s always been about the next wave, the next location,” says Walsh. That was a different feeling than anything I’ve ever had. “Growing up in that environment, you start dipping your toe a little deeper, and then you start surfing the outer reefs, and then Jaws found me. My parents had one rule for my brothers and I: as soon as the street lights come on it’s time to head into the beach. “Growing up on Maui, every waking moment was consumed by surfing and being in the ocean. “Africa has an allure of danger and excitement the water, the color…everything about it is unique and special.” Joining him is fellow big wave surfer Ian Walsh, who Baker describes as the perfect partner and one of, if not the best, big wave surfers in the world. “Everything that you want in life is on the other side of your fear,” says Baker. As a 3x World Big Wave Surfing Champion, Grant “Twiggy” Baker has traveled all over the world, but sees the remote water of Africa’s West Coast as the final frontier. ![]()
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