The Depth Test Teahupo'o: Ten Days That Changed Surfing

In: The Depth Test by Stu Nettle 72 Comments Wed 18th Jan '12

Tags: australias surfing life , gra murdoch , Teahupoo , NIck Carroll

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I may be tone deaf and club eared but I could swear there's only one fella that narrates every Hollywood film trailer - especially those advertising heroic blockbusters. A deep, authoritative baritone, his is the horn that announces 'a hero for our age' or 'a story for our time'.

His is also the voice I heard when flicking through the opening pages of 'Teahupo'o: Ten Days That Changed Surfing'. The opening spread proclaims 'Our story starts in clouds' and features simple white type overlaying a photo of a mountain shrouded in mist. The following pages continue in similar fashion tracing the natural processes that formed the famous Tahitian reef pass: clouds, rain, river valley, fresh water. The sequence ends with a golden aerial overview of the reef and one word stamped in block font: Teahupo'o.

I read it and heard the deep, ominous voice.

'Teahupo'o' has been put together by the mob at Australia's Surfing Life – Nick Carroll pushed the pen, Gra Murdoch did the colourful bits - to document the events that occurred during the waiting period of the Billabong Tahiti Pro. Of course it was what happened in the middle of the waiting period, during non-competition days, that ensured the competition would be remembered for a long time yet. It was a rare moment when the Top 34 pro surfers relinquished the spotlight to "the people who represent the flipside of modern surfing's bleeding-edge skill levels" - the big wave surfers.

Yet it was only that Billabong had a 28-person webcast team running that the rest of the world got to see the big wave surfers in real time. It was a first for surfing and a watershed moment that may, if correct attention is paid to it, shape how we view surfing in the future. For now though the 2011 Billabong Tahiti Pro and the events attached to it deserve to be mentioned in the same breathe as the '74 Smirnoff or the '86 Billabong for events seared into surfing's collective memory.

As mentioned, Nick Carroll provides the words and it's tense first person prose. Carroll was on the ground in Tahiti and bore witness to the performance. But while the words provide context it's the photos that drive this sucker, and they're mostly double-page spreads of all the cherry-picked highlights. Instants caught in eternity that give reason to stop, sit and stare at the almost-unfathomable physics of Teahupo'o. Lips so thick and rides so critical that you can't help but wonder about the surfer's point-of-view: What do they see when they ride these waves? Photos that jolt so hard they transcend the medium: What do they feel?

As with most surfing publications the print medium is transcended by way of a DVD attached to the inside front cover. As befitting the subject said DVD is a few steps up from your typical covermounted magazine fare. It includes interviews with Laurie Towner and Dylan Longbottom, plenty of footage from the big day, and best of all, Phantom camera footage by Chris Bryan – the same stuff that appeared, and quickly disappeared, from the 'net recently.

Teahupo'o: Ten Days That Changed Surfing is a worthy document to remember a competition - and more importantly, a swell - that will be spoken of for years to come

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