How a Portuguese fishing village tamed a 100ft wave

It was a clear day in September in the Portuguese beach resort of Nazaré. The sun sparkled off the cornflower-blue ocean, which broke gently against the foot of the rugged cliffs of its North Beach. The 16th-Century fort that sits atop the cliffs was dotted with a handful of tourists posing for pictures in front of its bright-red lighthouse. It couldn't have been a greater contrast to the scene that would unfold in just a month's time.

When the first swell of the big wave surfing season, which generally runs from October to March, rolls in, the road to the fort and the cliffs surrounding it fill with thousands of people. All of them are hoping to catch a glimpse of the world's best big wave surfers attempting their profession's ultimate feat: risking everything to ride the monstrous, skyscraper-sized waves generated by Europe's largest underwater canyon.

Nazaré locals always knew their waves were big, although for generations they had no idea of their dimensions. On stormy winter days, they'd drive to the lighthouse to soak up their power. The whole area would feel like it was shaking, the thunderous sound reaching the mountains. While local surfers would surf at Nazaré up to a point, they knew when it was time to get out. They certainly wouldn't dream of tackling the monsters that came in with the big swells.

In fact, until recently, surfing professionals didn't believe it was possible. In 2004, a group of big wave surfers came to recce the waves but aborted their mission after just 90 minutes. At that time, there was no funding in Nazaré to buy the jet skis that are needed to tackle waves of this size, which are too big to paddle surf. Even if they had them, they thought, the prospect of falling in these conditions, with huge waves coming from all directions, was too dangerous. A year later, local surf club member Dino Casimiro contacted another surfer known for his daredevil nature, American Garrett McNamara, but he wouldn't even make the trip.