Since the late 1990s Mavericks has been home to one of the few big wave contests in the surfing world- in which surfers are notified and asked to participate just 48 hours before the contest is to be held. Mavericks is a true big-wave venue that breaks every once in a while. Conditions have to be nearly perfect when groundswells cross a crescent-shaped reef and morph into well-formed waves three to four stories high!
Whats different about this years contest is something that’s super important to both Chica Brava and the female surfing world in general. For a contest that has been going on for almost 20 years, and has only opened the invite to men, they have finally decided to add a women’s heat. Supporters who lobbied the commission to add women included representatives from the Surfrider Foundation, the Committee for Equity in Women’s Surfing, the Coastal Protection Network, the Brown Girl Surf organization and San Mateo County Harbor Commissioner Sabrina Brennan.
Six woman (and an alternate) who have been surfing many of the big wave spots from Jaws in Maui to Teahupoo, Tahiti have been invited to compete. The female surfers selected for this year’s competition are Gerhardt, Jamilah Star, Emily Erickson, Paige Alms, Keala Kennelly and Andrea Moller. Biana Valenti, who has was picked as the first alternate.
The window for the contest can happen anytime between early November through the end of March.
Keep watch on the surfing world to see when the first ever womens heat at Mavericks will go down!