SWELL CHASING

AS A CAREER IS GROWING FASTER THAN EVER*. WITH WSL'S BIG WAVE TOUR NOW FOCUSING ON CONTENT CREATION INSTEAD OF CONTESTS, MORE AND MORE CHARGERS ARE LOOKING TO GET THAT ONE CRAZY WAVE THAT WILL GO VIRAL ON THE WEB.

- MATT BROMLEY

I'm in the final months of filming a movie called Over the Edge, which is about trying to paddle the biggest barrel. Filmmaker Andrew Kaineder and I have been critically weighing up all the factors of every significant swell in the last 18 months, pulling the trigger when the elements look to produce big, hollow waves.

Waiting for swells is an exciting business. You have to be prepared for something you're not sure when or if it's going to arise. The long hours of training, perfecting equipment and continually being in a mental state to step up to massive waves, all seems strange when the waves are flat, and there are no red blobs on the forecast. Then suddenly, the storm is created, and you're scrambling to get everything organised to travel across the world to face up to sometimes 50-foot waves.

It's also challenging to make any commitments. I had two events this last year that I had to attend, and both responsibilities caused me to miss big, life-changing barrels that would have been huge for our film.

In January, I was getting ready to go up the coast for my friend's bachelor party. With everything organised, suddenly the day before this incredible looking Mully swell popped up on the forecast. The Saturday morning, I cancelled my lift to the bachelors, booked my ticket for Dublin and then flew out a few hours later. Landing in Ireland, I was suddenly transported from the comforts of summer, family life in SA to an Irish winter storm; snow on the mountains, cold winds and giant surf. The swell hit the very next day, and we missioned out to Mully. My first surf off the plane would be 20-foot slabs, gloves, 5mm boots and hooded suit.