Surviving Over-the-Falls in Massive Nazare Surf with Will Skudin

Nazare is not all fun and games, in case anyone is wondering. "After I went down, I took one stroke and was like, 'oh, that's pointless.'" Will Skudin says. "It just blasted me. I just remember staying calm, pulled the inflate halfway through the wipeout. Popped up -- and the next one was right on top of me. Sometimes, the inflate was not the best thing."
Footage: Red Chargers
-----------------------------------
Subscribe: www.youtube.com...
Like us on Facebook: surfline/like
Become a Surfline Premium Member: discover.surfli...
----------------------------------

[@joenance8641]

Being thrown over a 6 foot wave is terrifying to me. You’re a tough guy

[@higherresolution4490]

Will Skudin handled this one REALLY well. Very impressive, especially in such cold water conditions. Caught in the impact zone and going over the falls are the two worst feelings you can have.

[@xacute2937]

He could have made that lip and avoid all that.

[@__sm1441]

Especially being from the east coast... we don’t get waves that are quite that big here lmao

[@MathsatBondiBeach]

And he swims to shore!!! What an effort.

[@welcome_2_the_jungle]

Peter Haggstrom and then jogs up the beach!!!

[@cristobilllumberg2473]

exactly. how the fuck did go through that and then jog up the beach?

[@LEDANCETHERAPY]

These guys are either extremely crazy or brave af. Probably both. Just unbelievable really. Nice to hear someone who can speak. Some of them sound like they've been hit one too many times by a crushing wave.

[@crankyneanderthal6784]

Deserves wipeout of the year nomination!

[@onebeingeverybody]

Absolutely, swum in.

[@pierredupont3029]

The guy on the jet must have been freaking out so much not finding him

[@pwengineering9070]

If he didnt get hung up on the lip for that millisecond he would have made it around the corner and up and out of that wave. Washing machine set on nuclear power mode. I have gone backwards, upside down and every which way over the falls on waves up to 20', maybe a few feet bigger and felt as though my arms and legs were going to get ripped off. I cannot imagine what that would feel like on 60 foot plus waves! My worse time was at Hammerland in LA's South Bay on a day that was the biggest I have ever surfed in my life, with faces pushing 20'. I dropped in on a big set wave and got the speed wobbles being on a 6'6" multi winged pin setup with 4 fins that was a dam bullet, but not as easy to turn when in a four fin setup. I dropped in with my hair on fire was able to set my inner rail and turn up and around the corner and pass the lip... I thought, then I would head towards the bowl, being a goofy foot it's far easier to ride than a regular foot. But as I was trying to get around the lip that was as thick as any lip I have seen, the wave was really sucking up a lot of water then the lip hit my shoulder spinning me around and slamming me down onto the flats face first forcing my eyes open. I lost my vision, it was like looking out an obscured bathroom window, I was as scared as ever because I could not make out what was past about 5' from me and I was floating blind in the impact area of the heaviest wave In LA. My leash broke which at the time it happened thought it was a bad thing until later. I was kinda lucky as there was only one wave left in the set which I tried to time in my head when to duck, but as I'm floating there and felt the super fast pull of the next wave sucking me towards it my foot touched the sand. I was just about to take a 20' wave on the head while standing in 6' of water and I wouldn't know when the lip lands on me. What I did was timed when I thought the wave was close and took a huge breath then dove down to the sand bottom and dug my hands as deep as I could into the sand that happens to be almost as hard as concrete. Ipulled my body tight against the sand bottom and waited. The wave at first seemed to had disappeared, but it didnt, then I could feel the wave trying to pull me up off the sand into the wave. At first I thought I was going to be able to stay down on the sand which as soon as I thought it the bomb dropped. I was sucked up and turned every way while I could not keep my arms tucked in, one of them wacked me on the head. This went on for what felt like hours but was probably less than 10 seconds, the arm that hit me gave me a contusion on my temple along with a concussion. Once I came up to the world again there were two of my friends who witnessed it yelling to me as they were already in the water heading out to me. I went to the hospital, took 10 stitches on the side of my head and stayed over night to keep me under observation because of my concussion. My vision slowely returned over night but my eye balls were in such bad pain. I had a buddy who caught it own VHS-S back then in 1995, but I have not seen him since about that time. We wore that tape out over the next year.

[@mattyvlogs8074]

P&Wengineering bro gnarly

[@James-ip5gz]

Holy shit what a story

[@TheEconomicExpert]

Harrowing

[@commie281]

great story

[@aidanmckenna6688]

not reading all that bro

[@Paul-rn5bz]

Great seeing fellow NY surfers pushing the limits of our sport keep on killing it bro!!!

[@Will-zc8tz]

Far out that'd be one hell of a drop getting sucked over that. I already feel helpless when I get sucked over a 4 or 5 footer, can't imagine what that's like.

[@oldguyfun]

"Oh, that's pointless." Classic

[@ryanq9314]

Man is that one of the fastest and farthest I've seen a dude go over the falls. True water-man just swimming on into the shore.

[@richhymes9409]

Oh G_d, watching him go over the falls, seemed live forever. You just know that's gonna hurt. These guys are so tough. LB STRONG!!

[@Drewbtube]

Thats why its good to be in good swimming shape for sure!

[@atmosphereadr588]

The combination of a great powerful natural thing such as waves with a sport makes the sport so much more dynamic and fascinating. Everyday day has its own waves , its never the same.

[@matthewwaddingham1617]

Dude he fkn paddled into that. Legend

[@radical3869]

Good job Skudy, well done. Conclusion: Sometimes the inflation vest isn't a good thing but don't forget, most times it is.

[@jerrylambert2553]

NY bred ! . Real tough guy , for sure .

[@realquirkyvideos1197]

Wonderful story and images .. respect - thanks for your tale!

[@isaacjamesbaker]

Incredible shit, Will! Biggest balls on the East Coast.

[@Vlaid65]

That was so heavy. The amount of water moving on the inside was insane.

[@manalain5121]

you are a king man!...

[@danegoodwin3057]

That's a miserable feeling on 5 ft waves. I can't imagine this bs 😂

[@Uboat1407]

Estes gajos são “marados” 😃😃 From Lisboa 🇵🇹Portugal

[@kbabe3315]

Yes I’ve met Will Skudin

[@ilikeyacutg1642]

Me to

[@aquasight1019]

Ha! "One Heck of an Experience", indeed!

[@patriothunter2832]

Dude! Glad to see that you're OK. But Man? WTF was it like when you saw #2 coming at you, knowing that you couldn't dive? Did you think it was the End?

[@98mskate]

Hands down one of the the craziest wipeout..

[@clarkewi]

That was one hell of a thrashing.

[@Phil0690]

That was heavy damn

[@Martin_Gregory]

It's intersting at 1:16 he's describing how he can see it's not working out and in the footage right at that moment his body posture goes from riding hard at it to standing up like "oh shit" ... already he worked it out right there...

[@nolangoldenberg8843]

Does he mean giant Porto wave as in El Porto Manhattan Beach?

[@Auriam]

I miss the old Greatest Wipeouts intro with the circus font and surf rock.

[@kbabe3315]

I went surfing with him

[@sandhopper599]

Knackers of Titanium!

[@wormgun9586]

Dude that shit is heavy!

[@druvik2052]

when u wipeout at Nazaré you're not thinking about your board. Noone ever thinks about their board. You're just hoping to get out of this thing alive. Very few places in the world hold this kind of power.

[@claudiobirnbaum5784]

amazing!

[@drewee88]

solid effort

[@kbabe3315]

I met him

[@cmoon682]

imagine outer reefs before leashes ,skis, vests 1/2 mile offshore thankfully lost at sea not so much an issue

[@Coconutscott]

Ahh, the good old days....

[@MrJohanOne]

Will skudin from HALLOW WEEK

[@boisterousbillyclub2772]

Senior Super Cajones

[@marinaivanova3023]

Crazy people:)

[@manualonso7]

1:45 hahaha

[@elffirrdesign2063]

"sometimes the inflate is not such a good thing"

[@MrJohanOne]

I agree. It keep you on surface so you take oncoming sets on the face.

[@surftherock1]

yew will

[@johntresemer5631]

😳👍

[@homefront3162]

Oh shiiiiiiiiiit

[@Dunningsd]

shoulda had a red bull

[@diplomasizhirsiz6571]

Barrel!! @ nazare?? It never does, ugliest big wave ever. It’s one huge big fluffy wave.

[@mackkaval5699]

lucky theres no shorebreak

[@pickledoctapus1]

Bigg balls !!!!!!

[@kayharrington3806]

I want to see Andrew cotton's fall storey!

[@pirmuhammad1579]

Numayshe log na kam k na kaj k dusman anaj k dharte k boj

[@dischargesummary8794]

Who gives a fuck....everyone’s gotta do something

[@bushbuddyplatypus]

Aweful, aweful intro music

[@thelongranger9238]

WOW! That was a huge wipeout. Glad you survived.

[@TKM11370]

That right there is a wild man... a real wild man. :)

[@isildursheir2644]

he would have made it over for sure... it had maybe been one of the biggest fly-away-kickouts if he had gone around the section

[@keeganlad]

jay Z exactly what I was thinking.. guess when you're in the situation though it would've been different

[@stevecarey2030]

I disagree. The monster section that was coming at him from the other direction was making the lip break coming toward him. When he dived in the water the lip was already more than vertical. No way he could have made it at that point.

[@dusk5956]

Just went surfing yesterday and a wave broke on me and I had to sit on the beach😂😭

[@sniperninja27]

"like a giant was swinging me around." it totally was. epic.

[@Khaotic_6]

When you know this man in real life and work for his brother kinda cool to see this

[@Emanoia]

The waves of Nazaré feed on people

[@jeremyacton4569]

This is a sport I totally respect and every bit of new footage makes this sport greater.

[@The-Dom]

i dont know why, but when i see extreme wipe-outs i start laughing and shaking my head.

[@axedo1]

Love it when you fall just high enough on the wave to get that last breath before you get sucked under! That was the only good part of this wipe out.

[@globalbossevent7284]

with this guys surfing ability, he should not be doing this.

[@ronhernandez8857]

so this guy basically swam with an inflatable which little kids use straight towards the beach and calls it an achievement.

[@levivv]

What happened to his board?

[@romcallis]

Could have been worse

[@jonathanstill8932]

I met God when it happened to me.

[@onebeingeverybody]

Swum in. Legend

[@TheFatblob25]

Holy Shit.

[@panchowheeler4122]

You held your own there guy,,,you did well to hold the line as long as you did,,, over the fall like a fuckin doctor,,,savage,,,full power to you my friend

[@willcumming1267]

Fucking GNARLY! Swimming out of a wipeout like that at Nazare; this guy is a BEAST

[@DavidG-mp8kt]

nice man. I got my ass kicked there all last winter. you handled that really well

[@silvaplan]

WOW! 👀👀👀❤️❤️❤️👀👀👀 I love Praia do Norte ❤️

[@stephenjones6472]

Whoa, bro....respect to you!

[@jasonc1817]

Did he loose his board?