Watch: Kerby Brown // Born Of Fire
It's a slow starter this one, a slow burner even, but oh Lordy, when the action starts in around 1:30 you gotta wonder if it's all worth it. The barrels are big, no doubt, but the beatings Kerby Brown endures between the makes are downright medieval.
Years ago...I mean like fifty years back at the birth of big wave surfing, people thought a lip on the head at Waimea would kill. Surfers have proven to be more resilient than that but when does big wave surfing shift from derring do to death wish? Surely those over-the-falls-in-a-foot-of-water waves cross some sort of line.
Anyway, say what you will, Kerby Brown has earnt his beard.
Comments
That last one is the heaviest wave I’ve ever seen.
I was reading an interview with him and he was saying when he’s out at the right, he’s out there to catch the biggest wave that comes through.
He’s not right in the head is he? Fucking maniac
Last wave was heavy - gotta admit he was sitting on the shoulder tho...
downright medieval !
"Years ago...I mean like fifty years back at the birth of big wave surfing, people thought a lip on the head at Waimea would kill. Surfers have proven to be more resilient than that but when does big wave surfing shift from derring do to death wish?
Surely those over-the-falls-in-a-foot-of-water waves cross some sort of line."
Stuart this is true, it is medieval
and crossing some sort of line.
EPIC SURFIN KB, MY GOD THATS HEAVY........
Underground WA BW Legend that's for sure.
Underground tim ?
What more do you need to do to get above ground ?
Is it me or does the right seem to be even hollower these days .
Used have that step and the barrel would kind of shrink as they went into it.
Not there as much now.
Laughed my head off on that right he fell on and became the lip.
He's crazy wild waves.
My GOD. He has kids right...and wasn't he in a neck brace recently.
He looked a little pained after the fall at around 3:10. How's the backdoor at 5:01 Jesus, takes some skill. If you've ever been up north why you would want to surf the left has got me snookered. Yep, certified lunatic.
Is it true the right jacks up on the ledge but sends you in to the deep where it breaks?
That's what a body boarder who has done several missions for big swells told me anyway.
I've never seen better surfing in my life than Shaun Cansdell and Kerry Brown at their home town pointbreaks.
The gear in the video is outrageous.
Ahh Shaun Cansdell!
Being the same age as him and a fellow goofy I was obsessed with how he surfed!
One of the smoothest, naturally talented people to ever ride a surfboard
Fuckin mental !
Board has double decals Big Simons and Dyl Longbottom.
Nuts!
Wow!! .....
Thats f.ckin tuff.
The white water explosion at 5:50!!!!!
I can barely keep a cool head entering a solid one at shark island let alone those behemoths KB is taking on. How do the elite keep such a cool head in the heaviest situations the ocean can dish up? Unreal.
What a fuckn beast
Kerby is a WA surf legend. I wouldn't even contemplate one of those waves. Who in their right mind would surf those bombs at The Right on their backhand? Or those lefts??
He's a supporter of Beard Season too! (Skin cancer awareness group) Champ!
Its a race to see who can get to the hospital first.......spectacular.......footage...well done
Those reefs must be softer in WA hey?
Kerby Brown has earnt his beard!
Hahaha
insane. nicely put by stu, couldnt help think of mark mathews filling in his time giving motivational lectures on "fear is all in your head" as he takes a slabbatical to recuperate (when you are getting major joints fused in a fixed position to enable surfing later you are rooted..) , suspect fear is a perfectly logical response most of us experience and act on in situations much less heavy than this, look forward to seeing the amazing mr brown joining the lecture circuit soon..
"slabbatical"
Nice.
Golly! That is science fiction come to life. If he really was "underground" before, he's destined for major celebrity status tomorrow.
He paddled out at a break I was surfing a few months ago, on his second wave he pulled into a decent stand up barrel, too deep, couldn't come out, snapped his board. About 5 hours later he jumped off a boat and back into the lineup.
And then?
He said gday ?
I don’t get it ^^^^^
Like the waves but why are all videos edited to create maximum annoyance these days? Just show me the waves I don't need all the other palava at the start
There's a lot of sub cultures to pander to nowadays.
That being said, he's quite the Surf Emo Bush Hipster who likes to stand near bonfires and places great importance on his skinny jeans and shoes, the latter the obvious source of his abilities.
Charging no doubt, underground? not for a long time, has recently moved down to the south coast much to the dismay of some of the less media loving longtime local surfers, I guess NW WA doesn't have anything left to expose anymore so off to (much) greener pastures. Surfing careers are short, living in towns that you shone heaps of light on lasts much longer.
Haha fucken undergroud ay? Good to see there’s still some rare Chinas left that can see through the bullshit. Cheers Mike.
Those long time local surfers must love when guys like Mark Mathews and Tim Bonython come to town then.
The Right couldn’t get anymore exposed could it? It was long gone before Kerby moved there
Absolutely, those guys have a lot to answer too, also some of the local semi pros who were the first to show off what was going on down there (after the lids managed to keep it semi under wraps for a fair while) and the first to be pissed off when better more organised exploiters (mm and bony thong) followed their tracks. 30 + skis there on a swell these days.
shoulder hopper, needs to stall a bit more to get deeeeeep
The first time it was surfed, the photos got printed in the magazines , The second time too, and so it began...
Nobody was keeping it a proper secret.
Mark warrens surfing atlas subtlety mentions bommies of the beach that its on, way before it was surfed .
The first standup surfer to ride a wave there was one of the Harrington brothers , the boogers took him there, photo of this guy was printed in magazines . There was no time frame whatsoever that it was being surfed before the photogs arrived . There were sessions without photogs but that was not the beginning. The very first times it was surfed the photos were printed in the booger mag (riptide?)
Im pretty sure of this , correct me if im wrong ?
It was discovered by a crew that included Phil Gallagher from le Boogie magazine.
You don’t reckon Rufus and co were aware of its existence years before ?
“I was actually sitting in the pub having dinner with the local lads down that way the night before a predicted swell,” legendary WA photographer Russell Ord recalls. “And we saw the lads drive past with their ski’s loaded up. We thought we would have crossed paths the next day, however there was no sign of them at the wave we were surfing. When we came in that afternoon a lady came up to us and said… ‘Are you the guys that were surfing the point off XYZ?’ And we knew straight away it was those lads, but had no idea they scored so big. We didn’t realise for months, actually.
“I take my hat off to them because we were all on the hunt for new slabs, but they gave up a good surf day to drive along the coast and were rewarded with the crown jewels. There have been a lot of crazy slabs found since then, just none the same as the Right.”
Sorry , Stu .
Who’s who in that story ?
You saying that Rufus , Shanohan , Griggs had no knowledge of the right ?
Russell Ord is Russell Ord. "The lads" are, I assume, Rufus, Shanahan, and Ross. While the crew who found it included lidders Chad Jackson, Brad Hughes, and Sean Virtue, plus Mad Huey Dean Harrington, with Phil Gallagher shooting.
So yeah, according to Ordy, who I figure would know, those guys were the first to surf it.
I didn't want to comment here , but i find it compelling .
Its very strange that people expect that local guys didn't know about the wave .
Hell even some travellers have seen it prior .
Blowin if my memory serves me correct you were based in the Region in 2001 ? So i would take your word that others were onto it prior to Brad and Co .
Whether or not anyone was up to tackling it is another conversation altogether . I would suggest the quality of Jetski's in the region may have been more the sticking point .
Personally I'm astonished that Russ speaks for the local guys . 'cause i'm very certain that Cale and Co weren't the first generation of decent surfers living in the region . Just that this is a different time and attitude to the past .
All of which considering the best/ closest viewing platform is accessed far more easily by boat .
As for Kirby , yes madman .
He did admit to me in a totally different setting , that he had been shaken by the moon . That was back in 2006 ? , but by the look of this latest exploits it seems he maybe ready for another dig . Definitely of strong intestinal fortitude , mental even .
I find nothing strange about unpaddleable, mutant slabs only being surfed or discovered recently. Maybe the locals guys saw it, maybe they just passed on it cos they didn't think it was a ridable wave, which it wasn't until skis made it possible and the slab revolution began.
That’s a surprise.
Those fellas are some of the most radical crew you’ll ever meet. Undergone some harsh shit . I hold them in pretty high regard for their commitment.
“Breath” may have been transcribed by Winton’s hand but that wasn’t where the story started.
You ever want to experience the opposite of Manly beach ? Then take it upon yourself to find a lonely stretch of South South Western coastline on a decent day and paddle out by yourself through the deep gutter to the outside bank and take the time to choose your waves wisely. Cause not all roads lead to victory and the sheer scale of the joint can bring you unstuck.
Rewards are there for the patient and for those with the nerve to exercise that patience as their feet dangle in the screamingly blue abyss in the extended intervals between long period swells.
Credit to the Mad Huey that took it on too.
Got to love the redemption that strong character enjoys when the popular opposing discourse gives way to the reality of someone that lives their life by their rules.
https://www.sbs.com.au/yourlanguage/punjabi/en/article/2017/12/27/rescue...
"You ever want to experience the opposite of Manly beach ? Then take it upon yourself to find a lonely stretch of South South Western coastline on a decent day and paddle out by yourself through the deep gutter to the outside bank and take the time to choose your waves wisely. Cause not all roads lead to victory and the sheer scale of the joint can bring you unstuck."
That was some nice writing Blowin; been there and done that. Middle of a 10k stretch of beach, crystal clear teal water and a wide, wide vista. A school of tailor did a perfect bottom turn with me under my board. After about 45 minutes, it felt lonely. Real lonely.
Another time on that coast I was lined up by a school of salmon. Transfixed, I decided to stick my head underwater to see them face to face. Can still see their faces in my mind today. Wondering, wondering: "What is behind you?"
But why is he throwing a perfectly good stubble into the fire?
Very heavy, looks super calm in the face of it all, top effort.
Still, a bit disappointed in the Parkway Drive track - I was hoping for some Slayer when I saw that title...
I've surfed the beach near it prob 20 years ago - Fun beachy waves - could see it breaking in the the background but looking sideways into the left. Looked like an insane unsurfable non wave back then. No one around for miles. Sharky.
Different break S-S......Thats the left.
"The lads" are, I assume, Rufus, Shanahan, and Ross."
Add Grigson Stunet
Morning swellnetters I’ve disabled the “notifying button for new comments” but I’m still getting emails whenever someone comments on this thread.
Please help!
We’ll check it out ASAP.. sorry for the hassle mate.
Shaka
That shit does blow my mind, no doubt about it. Can't get my head around the mindset that creates a person who can do that.
The wave itself was in good form, clean as a whistle on the rights, not a step or bump in them.
That was psycho. He puts a lot of the Big Wave Tour guys to shame.
Great clip, dudes got gonads!!
Cringeworthy close ups on the footwear however.