Originally Posted By: ryansride2017
I don't mean to be insensitive because I know how many people died, but I could watch videos like this all day long to learn how powerful mother nature is.
x2.
There are surfers who, with the aid of wave runners/jet skis, have been able to ride smallish and medium and astoundingly large waves that would not be possible to paddle into. These locations, and the waves that break upon them are referred to as Slabs. It is not so much their size, which can be truly impressive, but the raw power, and how quickly it goes from an ocean lump, to a below sea level dredger whose Lip is thicker than the wave is tall.
The amount of energy in these barely ridable waves is astounding.
I saw some tsunami footage on NHK that showed such a slab, and it appeared to me as if it were well in excess of 100 feet tall. I've been searching to find this footage again as it is by far the most impressive display of oceanic fury I have ever seen.
A couple storm fueled slabs are ridden in the following video: The largest wave ridden in this video might be 1/4 the size of what I saw in the recent tsunami video.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q_9ySNyD30o
