You may have seen Mark Healey in the February 2009 issue of Surfer Magazine, surfing this new slab of a wave called the Yeti. You’ve probably seen him riding a bull, pictured here. BUT you sure as sh!t have have not seen him jumping! out! of! a! perfectly! good! airplane! Watch the here. Insanity. We caught up with Mark after being avid followers of his Quiksilver blog. So here goes…
DailyStoke.com: I noticed on Healey’s Weekly Waimea Update there seems to be a recurring question about how old you are, and when’s your birthday. Care to let the ladies know?
Mark Healey: Ha! I am 27 years old and my birthday is on Dec. 2.
DailyStoke.com: You recently asked some of the best big wave surfers in the world about the debate on paddle vs. towing, and it seemed like everyone agreed it was like two completely different sports. What are your thoughts on the matter? Do you think one out weighs the other, or are they equally important?
Mark Healey: Paddling and towing is really a very ‘apples and oranges’ comparison. I definitely think that paddling is the core of big wave surfing. It takes way more ocean knowledge, fitness, and courage than tow surfing does. Don’t get me wrong, I’m not a complete tow hater. I actually love towing when the time is right. The performance level on the wave is so much higher than paddling, and we are still finding out what is actually possible with every huge swell. I think that if you want to be a world class surfer you should be proficient in both. There are way too many clowns these days that pick up a tow rope and have never paddled into a 20 footer before.
DailyStoke.com: I saw the Jason Murray Yeti photos of you and the boys in Surfer Magazine having a go on this sketchy slab in North America, and there’s a shot of you kind of straightening out on a really thick one. (shot 15 on the Surfer Magazine photo set) I know this sounds silly, but it almost looks like you could of made that thing. Realistically, do you think that barrel is even ridable?
Mark Healey: That one was definitely rideable. All the other ones I caught threw really hard at that spot but that wave you’re talking about decided not to. The place sucks out so hard that I had
to point the nose of my board almost straight at the beach in order not to get sucked over in an ‘el rollo’ esc fashion. It’s kind of the catch 22 of that spot. You have to ride low in the tube (no high lines), but every wave that came in was totally unpredictable. A real mutant. So I’d just roll the dice and either get completely shacked or wear a lip to the head.
DailyStoke.com: Shot 19 is a super sick one too. The lip on that thing is like a house. Does seeing the photos of what’s happening behind you on some of these waves ever freak you out? How did that wave turn out anyway?
Mark Healey: It always gets me excited to see the photos later of what was really going on. When I see the havoc that was going on it just makes me want to go back and get a bigger one! This wave that you are talking about I am shoulder hopping. It is probable the most difficult place I’ve ever driven a ski at, as far as timing and getting your partner to the place he needs to be on the wave. This is one of the ones where our timing just wasn’t there.
DailyStoke.com: Could that session have been pulled off without a ski? Did you see anything you would have paddled into?
Mark Healey: On the dropping side of the swell there were waves that I thought were completely doable. There was a crew of the boys towing it, so we didn’t want to be party poopers.
DailyStoke.com: Has Kelly’s Pipeline board had any effect on your personal quiver? Are you interested in trying smaller boards like that in heavy waves?
Mark Healey: I actually have tried very similar boards in the past couple of years and loved them. I had a 5’10″ double wing diamond tail WRV from John Pyzel. It had a really straight rail from the mid point back and I used Future tow fins in it. Got some bombs on it at Pipe and loved it. Only thing is the lack of paddle speed makes positioning and timing a lot more important.
DailyStoke.com: I put your name into YouTube, and it brought up this Surfing China’s Qiantang River Tidal Bore thing in Hangzhou I guess. What was that wave all about? Were you thinking about ping pong the whole time you were riding it?
Mark Healey: The China trip was the most surreal and one of the best trips of my life. Riding a wave that doesn’t end in fresh water is a trip. The only time I thought about ping pong is when the Chinese people I was playing were wooping my ass.
DailyStoke.com: When it gets on the kind of level you’re surfing at do you ever have those times when you’re about to drop in on a thick one, and at the last moment you’re like “f#ck that!” and pull back? Then the regret of not going eats away at you for like the next two days. At Pipeline this might sound ridiculous because of the limited amount of waves you get a shot at, but maybe somewhere else?
Mark Healey: I hate pulling back even when it ends up being a fairly good decision. It’s just my nature.
DailyStoke.com: What was the best thing you got to witness during this year’s North Shore contest season?
Mark Healey: I don’t go down to Haleiwa much, but it was pretty much the best I’ve evre seen it during the final day of the contest.
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did you see him spearing fish at guadalupe island .with whiteys all around him.its on bloody decks.hes one badass mofo.
Yes- I did see. In fact I was there- Think that was crazy?
Just wait… because it is what you haven’t seen from the trip that really shows that this guy is a stud.
I just saw the footage from when Mark Healey cut the nat geo critter cam from a white shark. It did not release and he freedove to around 60 and cut it off. Incredible.
Mark- if you happen to see this – I am looking for your emaill. Look me up and I will give you the scoop on what was put together. IT LOOKS SICK. You will want a copy of that one.
Capt Chris Wade