The swell train screamed through Hawaii on Friday.
It was historically large; big-wave hellmen charged the notorious Outer Reefs on Oahu; rogue waves snuck through in the night and flooded lifeguard towers.
Utter chaos, and schadenfreude eye candy, for those sitting behind the safety of a screen.
But while much of the attention has been focused on what went down on Oahu’s North Shore, the swell also hit nearby Maui, and ignited big-wave hotspot, Jaws.
Of course, local surfer and all-around waterman, Kai Lenny, got in on the action.
He busted a strapped-in sideways flip (a barrel roll, perhaps?) on a 20-footer. Flips are something Kai’s had in his arsenal for a while now – occasionally on foil boards; occasionally straight back, not sideways – but this is definitely his biggest, or most critical, one to date. Pretty bonkers, actually.
And there’s not many other people out there doing them, either. Inverted air reverses? Sure. But not many full-on backflips or side flips. But then again, not many people are using straps. Ever since the heyday with Laird Hamilton and the aptly-named “Strapped Crew,” the foot buckles haven’t been very en vogue with the mainstream pro surfing crowd.
Speaking of mainstream pro surfers, though, Australian aerialist Jack Freestone commented on the clip:
“What did I just watch!?!? That was wild.”
But it wasn’t all glory for Kai at Jaws during the recent historic swell.
He also got sucked over the falls on a gigantic wall of water, a terrifying sight, while attempting to save his surfboard from certain destruction.
About that one, Kai captioned:
“Learning new tricks in big waves don’t come without consequences. Every fall or caught inside there’s a chance the board will go straight on the rocks. In an attempt to save my board I was dragged over the falls.”
You win some, you lose some.
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