CNN
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The horror that she stepped onto a surfboard and ran in a water tower ten times her size was one of the first feelings she felt before Big Wave surfer Laura Crane hurt the 60-foot giant.
“From the moment you let go of that rope and see this mountain of water begin to grow behind you, of course, there are moments of fear, like a body reaction,” Crane told CNN Sports.
With waves ranging from 25 to 70 feet or more, large wave surfers can reach speeds of up to 100 kph (approximately 62 mph) as they charge the largest water walls. If they fall or wiped out, the impact they may get is comparable to the impact of a car accident.
However, the British surfer crane uses her fear to drive her from discouraging her from surfing the top of the roo.
“I think fear is like a catalyst for the fact that something amazing is about to happen and excites me, and it’s ready to take on what I’m trying to bring up.
The crane is one of the few women who rode the waves in Nazareth, a Portuguese fishing village famous for its 100-foot giant.
The threat of these waves is unfounded. The big waves of waterman Mark Who drowned in the Mavericks in California in 1994, died in 1997 by Hawaii’s local Todd Chester on the outside reef of the North Shore.
“When the waves are really, really, really, really, really, it’s like hitting a train if you fall,” Guatemalan-American big wave surfer Polly Lalda told CNN Sports.
“Sometimes you fall, nothing happens, and at other times you fall and destroy.
“It’s ruthless. You’re beaten, it’s very dangerous, I’m black, I’ve almost died many times,” Lalda added.
The roots of surfing could be traced back as early as the 12th century of the PhD in Hawaii and Polynesia, with big wave surfing steadily entering the mainstream, competing in world-renowned surfing spots, including the critical media attention of Nazare, Piei (the jaw also known as Joe) and Orhoo Goo Garner.
However, the resulting sponsorship and prize money that took part in the prestigious competition was often inaccessible to women who were excluded from the competition.
It was less than a decade since 2016, women were allowed to compete for the first time in the Big Wave competition in the World Surfrigues.
More recently, in 2018, WSL announced that it would offer equal prize money to male and female athletes in competitions.
In most big wave competitions, men win more spots than women based on the rules of competition qualification.
CNN has contacted WSL for more information on competition entry requirements and regulations.
Crane told CNN Sports that when she was a teenager, she told her career advisor she wanted to be a professional surfer.
“She literally laughed at me and recalled, ‘Oh, Laura, that’s so sweet, but you know, you’re from the UK and girls really don’t.”
Crane retired from surfing for years after feeling disillusioned with the industry.
“There wasn’t much space for women to push their physical limits and do things I’m really passionate about. We were expected to pos in our bikini and get as many views as possible,” she added.
She eventually found a way to go back to surfing, and this time she wanted to pursue a bigger and better destiny.
“It takes a lot of courage to get out there on the biggest day,” Crane said.
“You definitely have to get your respect in a world of big waves, like everyone does. I believe that if you’re there, you have the respect of a man, so everyone is equal.”
Still, Crane said there is a gap between what male and female surfers can make money in their surfing careers.
“We may not necessarily pay women the same, but the opportunities are definitely far less,” she explained to CNN Sports, with fewer competitive spots and sponsorship opportunities for women.
If there is no equal spot for men and women in the competition, “it won’t put us on the same platform,” she explained.
Lalda agrees, and to her knowledge, there are only two women who have been sponsored “just for the big wave surfing.”
Film director Sachi Cunningham told CNN Sports that women’s surfing has seen “the most incredible growth” in the last 15 years. But nonetheless, she explained that despite documentaries like “100-foot waves,” focusing on sports men, the film focusing on big wave surfing women still lacks funding.
“It’s birthright for men to do these dangerous things and break barriers, but for women it’s even recently that it’s been presented as a possibility,” she explained.
“Big wave surfing is just a small microcosm of every power hall, and I think there’s something we need to do to equal all of those arenas.”
It is clear how important it is to showcase women’s journeys in big wave surfing in Cunningham.
“You’re just being gobsmacked to see this little guy in the 60-foot waves. It’s like Evel Kuniebell jumping over a canyon or something. It’s not that difficult to see what this is an extraordinary feat for humans.
“When you realize that it’s a woman, I think it just blows the whole world over to a lot of people. It just changes their perspective on what women think they can do.”
Still, she said there are few films about women in sports.
“I’m clearly interested in big wave surfing, but there’s nothing about big wave surfing women yet,” added Cunningham.
Crane told CNN:
Lalda explained that beyond competitive spots and equal pay there are more simple signs that women do not have equal status with men in sports.
“We use men’s wetsuits. Patagonia’s inflation is for men, even flotation, even the one you’re pulling, and two canisters that aren’t for those with breasts. There’s breasts.
“We have to be brave enough to make ourselves. By creating ourselves, we have to accept that we don’t surf like guys. That’s fine. I’m not a guy.
Some people are campaigning for women to include in the big, established wave competition. Still a work in progress, Cunningham’s upcoming film, Shechange, follows pro surfers Biancavalenti, Page Almus, Keira Kennelly and Andrea Mueller.
“Some of the girls who pioneered the sport decided to take the approach of, “We want to be part of the same event, we want to view the same thing” like what came before me. And I think it’s very different,” Lalda, who founded the women’s surfing group, told CNN.
But Lalda and others will prefer separate competition. “What we do when women surf big waves, we’re not like men, our bodies are designed differently, especially in the knees, because we don’t want to surf with guys.
“I want to defend a variety of opportunities rather than the same ones. There’s no way to shine compared to the best big wave surfer in the world, the man.”
Crane said the industry has changed for the better since she first entered surfing and then big wave surfing.
“I think there’s definitely a lot of respect within the industry. I think there’s a bit of caution about having girls have too many of their own shows,” she explained.
“I think there’s an element of everyone who sees what we can actually sell with our own rights. Finally, I think there’s probably an aspect at the moment that I’m not yet ready – that’s going to come.”
