F orget tranquil coves! In Naz- aré, the world’s surfing elite gather to ride waves the size of ten-storey buildings, leav- ing onlookers observing from the cliffs breathless. North of Lisbon, along the coast of the Atlantic Ocean, lies the small town of Nazaré. During the sum- mer, it is a sleepy fishing village renowned for its excellent seafood. However, with the arrival of October, Nazaré transforms into the Mecca of extreme surfing world- wide. That’s because this time of year marks the official start of the season of winter storms in the North Atlantic, when the ocean begins sending its beasts towards the European coast. Every October, one small Portuguese town becomes the epicentre of the world of extreme sports IN NAZARÉ FOR THE SURFING Chase watery giants
Why Nazaré specifically? The reason these waves become the largest on the planet, reaching heights of a terrifying 30 metres, lurks deep beneath the surface. Lo- cated immediately in front of the famous North Beach (Praia do Norte) is Nazaré Canyon, a gigantic underwater trench ex- tending over 200 kilometres and reaching a depth of 5,000 metres (making it deep- er than the U.S.’s Grand Canyon). When
huge volumes of storm water travel down this deep underwater highway and slam into the shallow sandbar in front of the beach itself, the water has nowhere else to go and is catapulted high into the air. Nazaré’s October waves are so fast and huge that it’s impossible to catch them by traditionally paddling on a board. That’s why tow-in surfing is practiced here. The surfer, who is on a board with fixed bind- ings for the feet (like on a snowboard), is pulled by the rider of a powerful jet ski directly into the “heart” of the waves at speeds exceeding 60kph. When they catch the right moment, the surfer lets go of the rope and rides the wall of water that resembles a collapsing ten-storey build- ing. Mistakes aren’t forgiven here, where the noise of a breaking wave is equiva- lent to the kind of thunder that is felt in the chest. The best place, but also the only com- pletely safe place to watch this gladiato- rial spectacle, is the famous lighthouse at Farol de Nazaré fortress, located high on a cliff that literally splits the ocean in two. Standing on that wall, with the wind blowing the salt mist, while far below you a human figure on a board is attempting to escape a mass of water weighing thousands of tons, is a visual experience that changes one’s perspec- tive on the power of nature.
Sports » Sport | 111
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