Watch Mark Healey Take on a 60-Foot Behemoth Swell at the Jaws Break
“You don’t get a second chance at a wave and you don’t get to look at it beforehand.”
Before towing out to take on Maui’s infamous Jaws break, Mark Healey wants you to know that none of this has happened by accident. Rather, he wants to combat the lackadaisical surfer stereotype: in point of fact, the Hawaiian surfer and SAXX Underwear ambassador spends most of his days preparing his body to withstand 60-foot swells. “A storm can pop up and you have four or five days to get your act together,” says Healey. “You can’t just be in terrible shape for a month straight and then cram for the test at the end.”
Healey’s pre-surf prep includes yoga stretches, ice baths, breathing exercises and calisthenics—a workout intended to keep his body ”comfortable in a very miserable and uncomfortable state.” But he insists that most of the barriers and obstacles in the sport are mental. But when the big wave surfer faces down a 60-foot behemoth swell off of Maui’s north shore, the physical side is undeniably real.
Watch the gut-churning footage above.
