Word: wave
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Dates: during 1990-1999
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...first monster wave ate him up. Taylor Knox, a 26-year-old pro surfer, disappeared into the churning foam off Mexico's Todos Santos islands like a rag doll tossed into a washing machine. Then he got another chance. He spotted a second wave, even bigger than the first, and paddled straight for it. As he reached the crest, Knox smoothly swiveled, stood up on his board and started sliding down a slick expanse of water as steep as a cliff. Somehow he stayed in control, even though he flew 6 or 7 ft. through the air so that...
Todos Santos is famous for big waves, which generally range between 25 and 35 ft. tall. This year, however, because of the storms ushered in by El Nino, the waves at Todos Santos have been epic. The official word isn't in yet, but the wave Knox rode may well have been more than 50 ft. high. If that's the case, Knox should win the K2 Big Wave Challenge, which at the end of this month will award a $50,000 prize to the surfer who caught the biggest wave of the season. And if he wins...
More than anyone else, perhaps, Collins has helped fuel the growing popularity of the extreme trend in surfing known as big-wave charging. What has made it possible for dudes like Knox to take their death-defying rides is not some quantum leap in equipment design or surfing technique, but the improved ability of surfcasters to pinpoint exactly when and where a Godzilla-size swell is likely to sweep in from the sea. While there are others in the business, says Bill Sharp, director of the K2 Challenge, "Collins is the guru. He was the first...
Collins, who completed only two years of college, knows as much about meteorology and oceanography as most scientists. But he started out as a surfer who kept on wondering why great waves were so hard to find. In the early '80s, while he and his buddies were roaming the sparsely populated beaches of the Baja Peninsula, Collins began spinning out his first crude forecasts, downloading satellite weather maps in the middle of the desert with the help of an antenna strung from a cactus, a short-wave radio and a portable fax machine. In 1985 he helped set up Surfline...
...Neve was young. At age 9 she joined the National Ballet School of Canada; at 14 she dropped out of school to join the Toronto production of The Phantom of the Opera; a few years later she moved to L.A. and was cast in Party of Five. "This new wave of talent is all- consuming in Hollywood right now," says Cathy Konrad, who produced the Scream movies. "Neve has a step up because audiences have been identifying with her for years on Party of Five. When she makes her real star turn, she'll have a body of work behind...