ESPN did their homework on this one. If you’re going big-picture at Maverick’s, Jeff Clark and Mark Sponsler are two guys who must be mic’d up. The former, of course, is credited with being the first person to surf Mav’s in 1975. He had it to himself for the next 15 seasons. Mark, the founder of StormSurf.com, is one of the most keen-eyed surf forecasters in the world and has been especially astute on Maverick’s for decades.
So when ESPN wanted to highlight an underground Santa Cruz surfer who rode what is in the conversation for the biggest wave ever, these guys provided great color commentary.
“I’ve been out there on almost all the biggest days over 50 years,” Jeff said to ESPN. “That one wave stood out. It was just a unicorn. It was just different and it was bigger. And he rode it as perfectly as you could ride a 100-foot wave.”
Jeff, of course, is talking about Alessandro “Alo” Slebir, who at age 23 rode what is unquestionably one of the biggest waves ever seen at Maverick’s. But is it 100 feet tall? That’s still unknown. Depending on the photo/video you see, there are estimates that go over that threshold, but more fine-tuning needs to be done. The 2025 Big Wave Challenge, headed by Bill Sharp, will use eight different angles to officially measure Alo’s wave.
Related: 100-Foot Wave Surfed at Maverick’s? Potentially.
ESPN’s feature linked above was produced by longtime action sports producer Steve Lawrence. The clip goes into Alo’s background and what made that gigantic wave so special. As Mark explained, we were lucky just to witness the ocean’s power that day. A freak storm in the North Pacific sent supercharged surf east in December 2024, where Maverick’s unique bathymetry gobbled it up and churned out monsters.
“To get supersized, that’s an occurrence of about once every 10 years if you’re lucky,” Mark said. “Or maybe as rare as once every 20 years.”
For me, I loved Alo’s attitude toward the whole world-record buzz. He’s not at Maverick’s to chase records. He’s doing this with his friends at a spot he loves and fears. He’s just surfing.
“I’ve gone away from the whole chaos of measuring the wave because there’s so many people with opinions,” Alo said. “For me, if it was a big wave, then awesome. And if it wasn’t, it was the biggest wave of my life. And we’ll still be out there.”
Related: Santa Cruz’s Alo Slebir Describes “Lifetime Day” at Enormous Maverick’s