After a strong winter storm in the North Pacific, waves at Mavericks routinely crest above 25 feet and can top 60. The break is caused by an unusually shaped underwater rock formation. NOAA sea-floor maps from 2007 showed a long, sloping ramp that slows part of each wave, so that wave energy from the full width of the ramp is squeezed into a U- or V-shaped wavefront that collapses in a small area with huge force.
The spot was named in March 1967 after Maverick, a white-haired German Shepherd who swam out after his owner’s friends. In 1975 local teenager Jeff Clark rode it alone, and after a 1990 magazine photo the world’s top big-wave surfers began to come each winter.
In 2001 Carlos Burle won an award for a 68-foot wave there. Mavericks is a winter destination.
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