Just bored, looking at videos... Found this one, called "The Wedge, Slow Motion Carnage" 2:40 2:58 EPIC! http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=em9psPJuZkw
I used to body surf about a mile or so north of the Wedge growing up. Never made it out on red flag days though. Very very rough and scary!
It looks so sick until it mutates when you get to the bottom. There is good footage of Wardo making some in Redux I think.
That was one of the ganrlier, more impactful collisions i've seen. A death drop about 8 feet free fall into an unsuspecting surfers legs.... And, can you imagine the butterflies in the guys stomach on that second one I mentioned at 2:58... Standing vertical at the Wedge and a milli-second later, you free fall 20 feet into the flats. Insane. There is no reef, so those wipeouts are relatively "safe" but still, you land wrong there, something is snapping after a 20 foot free fall.
I wish we had a wave like that on the eastcoast.the best part about the wedge is its a short wave,so its not like ur gonna get caught inside every time u paddleout.it would be great training,i remember that lifeguard show that came on court tv and they were always saving people at the wedge.u think the spongers are crazy,watch the bodysurfers
Iv seen this a bunch, but every time it makes me want to throw up. When the shot zooms out and you can actually see how close to shore is breaking. Oh god I want to cry. Sick camera shots though and pretty cool song too
Yeah, it's just a strange scene. I understand the thrill, but what's the fun in all those closeout barrels. I get the straight drop adrenaline rush, but thats like that video someone posts last week of all the bodyboarders at "Sandy Point??? SP). It was a 5 minute clip of boogie boarders dropping into closeout shorebreak. Out of like 50 drops, not ONE guy made it out... I mean, I thought the whole point of the barrel was to get out of it. If you get covered up and don't make it out, that like kissing your sister. Nobody wants that.
The hero of the day in that video was for sure the SUP guy. I mean, he waited all damn day and he charged it. Know that at a certain moment, you are going to get blowup on that giant piece of equipment and oar. thats crazy.
Gotta be young and crazy. In the early 70s, when I was around 16, some of my friends would drive down to Newport to try body surfing at the Wedge...or so they claimed. I never went. At the time, I had no idea how nasty it was. My friends would talk and brag about going "the Wedge. But I can't imagine any of them ever going into the water with conditions such as those on the vid. They weren't particularly good swimmers or body surfers. They only went to the beach occasionally during the summer. If they actually went out in something like that, I'm surprised any of them lived.
I will have to google the history of the Wedge, cause when I lived out there, I was told its a man made wave. That the whole jetty structure and the way they drop the sand there creates it, so I don't know if it is a natural beast since they installed the Jetty, or if they have to keep manipulating the sand etc. to create such a monster.
I love Wiki... So, its been there since the 30s, rather uninterrupted. The Wedge is a skimboarding, surfing, bodyboarding and bodysurfing spot located at the extreme east end of the Balboa Peninsula in Newport Beach, California. During a south swell of the right size and direction, the Wedge can produce huge waves up to 30 feet (9.1 m) high. The waves are a by-product of improvements to the groin (rock jetty) on the west side of the Newport Harbor entrance undertaken during the 1930s.[1] When conditions are right, and a wave approaches the shore at the proper angle (most generally a south swell), an approaching wave will reflect off the jetty creating a second wave. The reflected wave meets up with the following wave of the set and forms a peak, and this pattern can repeat for several following waves as well. The combined effect of the reflected wave and the incoming wave creates a combined wave much larger than either of the two separate waves and occurs very rapidly and forms waves in a very unpredictable and "unstable" pattern, so that no two waves are alike and the exact breaking point is difficult to predict even for an experienced surfer. Although this condition primarily occurs with large, south swells, it can also occur, with considerably lesser frequency, during "normal" conditions. In addition, the beach at The Wedge is very steeply shaped sand, resulting in what is known as shore break (see below) and a very strong backwash which often drags people back into the surf. The backwash itself frequently creates another, outgoing wave, which can hit an incoming wave or surfer with enormous force. With the combined effect of the unpredictability of where the incoming waves will break, and the strength of the backwash, the resulting wave action can be highly unpredictable and therefore both exciting as well as very dangerous. Of course, it is this combination of danger, along with the chance to get pitted, which draws so many to surf The Wedge. Inexperienced swimmers or surfers should always use caution when considering swimming in the surf near The Wedge. The Wedge really breaks largest when intense Southern Hemisphere storms or large tropical depressions, and hurricanes send their energy from the proper SSW direction, primarily during the summer & fall months.
The Wedge was created in the early 30's by the Army Corps of Engineers in order to create the Newport Harbor. Old surfing pioneers like Tom Blake rode what used to be one of the class summer waves of SoCal before it was dredged...rumor has it that Duke Kahanamoku also plied his skills there. It was called Corona Del Mar (the present namesake of the south harbor jetty), and was a giant 'A' frame peak that never closed out and could hold south swells of up to 20' or more. From what I've read, both lefts and rights would end in a bonecrushing shorebreak, just like today. Over on Corona del Mar Jetty, it's mostly small fast rights that close out quickly. The Wedge obviously was transformed into the mutant we see today. Other projects included: Doheny (now crap), Killer Dana (non-existent) and Surfside Jetty (non-existent). Supposedly, each one of these waves were as big and almost as critical as Lunada Bay. All gone now. Thanks again, Army Corps of Engineers.
kidrock my man, what was Doheny like before it was dredged? With the jetty and the rock reef that place is set up to mack if the sand bottom decline was less drawn out. Was Killer Dana between there and Cr***? Was Aliso Beach ever a working spot?
Way before my time, but I've done a lot of reading about it. I still have a book by David Stern called "Surfing Southern California" buried around here somewhere, I haven't cracked it in years. Written in 1963, when most of these breaks still existed. Doheny was another victim of the Dana Harbor project, sometime in the mid 60's. A big jetty was built at Doheny, while a huge breakwater was built at the spot called Killer Dana. Legend has it that both got huge and perfect. Killer Dana was a summer break, and I believe Doheny was a fall and winter break. Doheny had big perfect lines and a sandy/rocky bottom, perfect for the boards and riding styles of the day. It can still get good once in a while, but nowhere near the size and consistency. Also, it's one of the most polluted breaks in the state...probably rivaling Imperial Beach in SD. Killer Dana was even more legendary. Big perfect south swell point/reef setup with massive kelp beds to keep it hot-n-glassy. Now, a boat harbor....totally destroyed. Killer Dana is probably the first and best example I can think of when I think of Surfrider Foundation fighting so vehemently on behalf of saving spots like Trestles. Can you imagine what would happen now, if they killed Trestles? I've never surfed Aliso Creek, it is super inconsistent. But I've heard, like any other creek break, that it will turn on under the right conditions (right after heavy rains, peaky combo swell, slack winds). But again, like any other creek break, you also take a chance paddling out to a bounty of Mexican Brown Trout after heavy rains. Sometimes you gotta pay the price.
