The Brave Man's Choice: Extreme Surfing

The Brave Man's Choice: Extreme Surfing

Ross Clarke Jones is a legend in the elite 1 world of big wave surfing, his exploits on 40-foot Hawaiian waves are well documented.

Ross: People look at me and go aren’t you 1)scared? See fear in other people’s eyes I actually gain confidence from that.

The huge wave was 2)initially 2 spotted 3 during big southwesterly swells 5 by a lighthouse keeper in the late 1970s. But there are a number of factors which are 3)crucial to produce this rare surfable big wave. The swell 4 is generated by a storm hundreds of kilometers south near Antarctica, the further it travels the more powerful the wave. The swell travels north through deep ocean with nothing in its path to slow it down. Swells slow down when they hit the 4)shallow continental 6 shelf, 5)friction 7 reducing wave height. Off Centre Island a deep ridge 8 in the seabed focuses the swell through a gap in the shelf. When it hits the reef its 6)crest 9 rises, the face becomes steeper and it 7)topples over. Surfers will access the wave from the boat, while the judges work from a vantage point on the island.

On a journey, which begins in New Zealand and culminates 10 in the big wave 8)mecca of Hawaii, this young Maori surfer will 9)attempt what few have even dared to imagine. At the southern tip of mainland New Zealand a group of hardy 11 men gather. 18 surfers have been invited to take part in a competition where they’ll surf some of the biggest waves in New Zealand, a short boat ride away. 23-year-old Maori Daniel Cariopa is one of the youngest in the competition and one of the most 10)talented surfers here.

Daniel: I was actually really nervous from the start of the morning. I’ve been preparing for this contest for a while, with surfing you have to be quite centred within yourself. The whole boat ride from Collock Bay to Centre Island that’s all I was thinking just give it a shot you know, start getting competitive.

All 18 are considered capable of surfing big waves in dangerous conditions. Big is defined as anything over 10 feet, but organizers are hoping for a swell pumping up from a storm down near Antarctica to produce waves of up to 20 feet. They’ve all been waiting for this swell for nearly two weeks.

Daniel has more at stake here than other surfers who just want to survive these waves without broken boards or heads. He’s being watched.

Daniel has laid his neck on the line. He’s been surfing the professional circuit for some years with good results including four Pacific Champion titles. He wants a new challenge. He wants to surf monster waves in Hawaii and he wants Ross Clarke Jones to teach him how. The Hawaiian waves Daniel wants to surf are so big and powerful it’s almost impossible to 11)paddle into them, it’s called towing surfing unlike paddle surfing teams of two use jet-skis to tow each other onto the massive waves breaking on Hawaii’s outer reefs. It’s a whole new sport and Daniel wants to learn from the best. He’s put the word out and he knows Ross will make a decision based on his performance today.

The first 12)heat of the day gets underway. First there was a wind at sea, it caused 13)ripples, which became 14)chop, wind blew the chop into a swell, which began to travel. By the time it reached its 15)destination the breaking wave would propel a force equivalent to the weight of 60 family cars. These mountains of water have been tamed, some call it courage, others madness.

Daniel takes off on his first wave, with strong winds blowing the swell backwards 13, the powerful waves are playing hard to get, finally Daniel finds his form. Conditions worsen, the swell is still huge, waves up to 15 feet but the wind is growing stronger, Daniel has one more heat. Daniel makes the most of the difficult conditions, he ends up fifth overall but his performance has 16)convinced his 17)mentor 14.

注释:
1) scare [skZE] v. 惊吓, 受惊, 威吓
2) initially [I5nIFElI] ad. 最初, 开头
3) crucial [5kru:FiEl] a. 至关紧要的
4) shallow [5FAlEu] a. 浅的, 浅薄的
5) friction [5frikFEn] n. 摩擦, 摩擦力
6) crest [krest] n. 顶部, 顶峰, 浪头                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                             
7) topple [5tCpl] v. 倾倒
8) mecca [5mekE] n. 众人渴望去的地方
9) attempt [E5tempt] v. 尝试, 企图
10) talented [5tAlEntid] a. 有才能的
11) paddle [5pAdl] v. 划桨, 戏水, 涉水
12) heat [hi:t] n.（一场）赛事，分组赛，预赛
13) ripple 12 [ripl] n. 波纹，涟漪
14) chop [tFCp] n. 碎浪
15) destination [7desti5neiFEn] n. 目的地
16) convince [kEn5vins] v. 使确信, 使信服
17) mentor [5mentC:] n. 导师, 指导者

勇敢者的游戏--挑战巨浪

罗斯·克拉克·琼斯是冲巨浪的一个传奇人物，他曾在夏威夷40英尺高的巨浪上冲浪的创举已成为纪录。

罗斯：人们看着我并说“你不害怕吗?”。看到别人眼里的恐惧，我反而从中获得了自信。

最早的巨浪是20世纪70年代末的一位灯塔看守人发现的，他是在海浪往西南方推进的时候去冲浪的。但是这种罕见而适宜冲浪的巨浪的产生有许多至关重要的因素。这种巨浪是由靠近南极洲北部几百公里的风暴所引起的，它走得越远，海浪的威力也就越大。浪头向北移动，而一路上没有遇到任何使它变缓的阻碍。当海浪撞到浅薄的大陆架上时，摩擦力使它的高度降低了。中央岛海底对开的深海脊使大陆架上的峡谷集中浪潮。当它撞上海脊时，它的浪头更高了，浪潮更陡了，浪就倒下来了。冲浪选手将坐船接近海浪，而评委们则在岛上最有利的地形上进行评判工作。
在这一次从新西兰出发在夏威夷的巨浪上结束的旅行中，这位来自毛利的年轻冲浪运动员试图尝试有些人甚至连想都不敢想的事情。在新西兰岛的最南端聚集了一群勇敢的青年。有18位冲浪运动员被邀请来参加一次比赛：他们将驾驭一只窄窄的小艇在新西兰最大的浪头上冲浪。23岁的毛利小伙子丹尼尔·卡利欧帕是这次比赛中最年轻的选手之一，也是这里最出色的冲浪者之一。

丹尼尔∶实际上我从早上开始就很紧张。为这次比赛我一直在做准备。在冲浪的时候要全神贯注。从高拉克湾到中央岛的整个过程中，我一直在想，试试吧，开始感到竞争。

所有18位选手都是被认为有能力在惊险的条件下乘风破浪的。通常超过10英尺的浪就被称为“巨浪”，而比赛的组织者却希望南极洲附近的风暴能使浪头增至20英尺高。为此他们等待了近两周。
与其他只希望在这种巨浪中不受伤或弄破冲浪板的冲浪选手相比，丹尼尔所面临的危险更大。人们都注视着他。
丹尼尔这次要破釜沉舟。他有几年专业联赛的经验了，并且取得了不错的成绩，其中四次获得太平洋赛冠军。他需要新的挑战。他想在夏威夷的巨浪上冲浪，并希望获得罗斯·克拉克·琼斯的指导。丹尼尔所梦想的夏威夷巨浪太强大威猛了，在它里面划桨几乎是不可能的。这种被称为“拖式冲浪”的队伍与划式冲浪的队伍不同，每队两人用小型快艇把对方拖到夏威夷外围的暗礁上的巨浪。它是一种全新的运动，而丹尼尔希望向最优秀的冲浪者学习。他放出话来，说知道罗斯会以他今天的表演来做出决定。
今天的首场比赛就要开始了。先是海面刮起的一阵风吹起了涟漪，涟漪形成碎浪，海风又把碎浪变成了浪潮，浪潮开始移动。当它到达终点时，劈开的浪潮产生的力相当于60辆家用轿车的重量。这些排山倒海的浪被人驯服，一些人把这叫做勇敢，另一些人则说这是疯狂。
    丹尼尔开始了他的第一次冲浪，一阵阵强劲的风把浪头往回吹，令他很难接近巨浪，最后丹尼尔终于进入了状态。情况更加恶劣了，浪头仍然很大，扬起来高达15英尺，但是风势越来越大，丹尼尔开始了他的又一场比赛。丹尼尔充分利用恶劣的天气，他今天的总得分是50分，但是他的表演征服了评委。