Bromdog at Chopes

The year 2011 turned out to be a momentous year for Chopes, with all the drama that one could hope for. One of the biggest rideable swells to ever hit Teahupo’o arrived boom in the middle of the waiting period. The swell became known as the Code Red swell, with the local authorities shutting down the water access to prevent any possible tragedies and media channels worldwide going crazy.

The big wave surfers were having none of these minor legalities like closed beaches and restricted access, and headed on out in droves with their jetski partners to possibly catch a set wave of Armageddon-esque proportions. Which many of them did. The waves caught in that session totally dominated the Billabong XXL Awards, with Ride Of The Year, Biggest Barrel and Biggest Wipeout nominees abounding.

Bromdog was witness to the whole trainwreck of Code Red, and when the time came, he headed on out behind a rope and got himself dragged into a couple, with one particularly deep one finding itself into the pages of the Code Red book published in honour of the swell.

In fact, so positive was Bromdog’s approach to the whole ground breaking and reef-shaking episode, that this year he got the nod for an invite into the VonZipper Air Tahiti Nui trials at Teahupo’o. Bromdog will be competing in t trials event for a slot in the main WCT event, as well as the prestige and prize money that comes along with the event.

Matt is the lone South African in the trials. Jordy and Travis are in the main event so there will be some company, but he will be battling it out as a lone South African amongst the fierce drops and tubes of the world’s most notorious wave.

Matt had promised to check in on a regular basis to Wavescape, who will be tracking his progress as well as the event as it unfolds. All the drama, all the action and hopefully all the little bits and pieces that slip through the normal media filters.

The Billabong Pro Tahiti event website

Billabong Pro Tahiti Episode 1 – the Teahupo’o Way Of Life

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