Oregon Public Broadcasting

While most of us were still digesting our Thanksgiving dinners, some of the world’s best surfers were starting a mad dash to the Oregon Coast. 

They were attracted by a rare convergence of mild weather and monster waves.  Correspondent Tom Banse has a story of thrills, chills, and spills.

This is something relatively new to the Northwest, a big wave surfing contest.  Professional surfers from as far away as Australia, Brazil, and Hawaii paid their own way to Lincoln City, Oregon.  They came to rip and carve across wave faces 25 to 30 feet high.

John Forse: “The wave, it’s always the wave.  That’s the bottom line.”

That’s contest organizer John Forse describing the break over Nelscott Reef, which lies about a half mile offshore from Lincoln City.   

Surfers needed a jet ski to tow them out there and again to scoop them up after each ride to avoid being crushed by subsequent waves. 

The Santa Cruz based team of Adam Replogle and Alistair Craft won the Nelscott Reef Classic for the second year in a row.

Online:

Nelscott Reef Tow In Classic