Love it or hate it, the WSL’s Championship Tour is still the gold standard for professional surfers. A world title is undeniable. A top 10 finish cements a six figure contract.
If you’re not on the CT, you have to find other ways to prove your worth. Soli Bailey understands that.
For “Conehead”, Bailey traveled far and wide in search of the world’s best (and often scariest) waves. From South Oz to Fiji, Tasmania, Indo and beyond, Bailey basically lived on an airplane this year, jumping between countries and time zones like an airline pilot.
If you had any doubt Bailey is one of the best and most well-rounded surfers in the world, this 14-minute edit will put those doubts to rest. Bailey isn’t a one-trick pony. He’s not just a slab guy or an air guy or a big wave guy. He’s all of that, and more.
At Cloudbreak, he threads the wave of the swell: A 12-footer that’s so big and blue and terrifying it nearly looks like a cartoon. At Shipsterns Bluff, he goes and one ups himself, paddling into one of the most intense slabs that’ve ever been ridden out there. Even more impressive? This entire edit was filmed in just the last 12-months, while Bailey was concurrently doing “Maps to Nowhere” trips with O’Neill.
While there are still 4-months left in 2024, Bailey and Nate Florence are neck-and-neck for the most barreled freesurfer of the year. And while there’s currently no official award for that (maybe there should be?), it’s a core award that’s definitely recognized by those in the surf world that matter the most.
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