ALPHA MAGAZINE ARTICLE

Alpha Magazine June Issue

Check out Mark's latest interview in Alpha Magazine where he uncovers more on the Night Rider project! 

Alpha Magazine (June 2011 Issue)

"They said it couldn’t be done, but Mark Visser surfed a 12m wave in the dark anyway."

Why surf a 12m wave at night Mark?

It comes down to pushing myself and wanting to get the best out of myself in the most ultimate way: by going after the best wave in the world.  After having the idea the challenge was whether I could actually achieve it.

What made you believe you could do it?

After 4 years of unsuccessful testing and thinking it couldn’t be done, we had a breakthrough that changed everything.  In the early stages we faced the lights (on the board) forward and that idea was a complete write-off because it picked up all the mist.  We thought about getting the lights higher up on a board on a tripod or a stand, but then it was too dangerous, because if I fall off I’m going to run into that stand, so we positioned the lights on my back – with padding for protection – and on the board facing backwards.  We tested that and the theory worked, so my legs acted as a tripod and I could handle the load on my back.

What training did you do?

It involved my free dive coaches taking me out to sea and making me free dive 100ft (30m) in the dark.  They built underwater caves and blindfolded me and put me upside down and showed me how to get out of them; they took me out to sea miles and miles away in the middle of the night and told me to find my own way back; there was a support boat nearby that was meant to keep an eye on me, but they lost me straight away…They probably did it on purpose to play tricks on me! It took me 4 hours to get back to the beach.  It was all done to make sure I was OK to be out there shitting myself in the dark.

How much was going on behind the scenes?

So much.  Drivers pulled out, because no one wanted anything to do with it. I was getting so frustrated I just wished I could do it myself, but there was so much going on in the lead up to it that by the time it was 2am on the night and we were down at the boat ramp we nearly stopped the thing from happening. I reckon I nearly lost about 20 years off my life stressing out in the week before the run, because it was so intense.

What’s the view like when a mental wave like that starts to take shape at night?

It was a feeling, because I couldn’t actually see that much.  I could just feel that I was going super fast and I could see the shadows and had to judge whether that shadow was a huge westy coming at me or whether I needed to highline at it.  I had to react to what I thought was going on.

So you don’t actually see what’s going on?

Yeah that’s the biggest misconception, because I rode 12 waves in total and only the last 2 waves had the helicopters shining their lights down, but all the other waves were ridden in complete darkness.  When the helicopters shone their light I wiped out because they blinded me.  The difference between that and riding during the day was like a dream really, because I couldn’t control what was happening, you had to go with it.  In the day you can see what’s happening and you react to it, whereas there you had to be a part of it and you were at its mercy because you had to go with it.

What do you do after surfing a 12 m wave at night?

I was just gob smacked for about a week after and it’s still something to this day that I haven’t comprehended.  It was like I was finally at peace. It was like I’d been chasing something all my life and now I had finally killed the beast – I was humbled and silenced. I came in and I couldn’t speak, I could have sat quietly for a week afterwards. I’m just starting to see new footage and new angles and it really makes you appreciate it.

Is it obvious to say that Jaws was the gnarliest wave you’ve ever ridden?

There’s no scarier moment in my life. I’ve ridden scary waves before, but there’s no way I’ve ever been as scared in my entire life.

You wanted to push yourself and you did that – what’s next? Snowboarding down an avalanche?

Well the next project is extremely left field and it’s all about a series.  The night ride was part of a series called “Nine Lives” – that’s a documentary based on the concept of a cat having nine lives and there’ll be a release soon on the next project. It’s hush-hush at the moment, but I can definitely tell you that I was more scared training for that and going through the process of the second life than I was through Night Rider.  Each one is completely different and scared the absolute living shot out of me.

Are you still motivated to get up on a Sunday morning to go through some half meter chop down at your local?

Yeah, I go for a surf before I go training.  And if I’m training outside the water I always go for a surf afterwards, so I surf 2 or 3 times a day, even if it’s in 2 foot crap.  My attention span is probably only half an hour, whereas when I was younger I could stay out there for hours.  At the end of the week I’m so buggered and smashed it’s not funny, so I get a half days rest on Saturday and a full day on Sunday.

These projects are time consuming. Do you get any time to do anything else?

That’s the thing; my girlfriend is having a hard time dealing with it because I’m never around. I like to play golf, I like spear fishing and cruising around in fast cars.

A sedentary office job isn’t really your cup of tea then?

No, it’s in my nature to be massively high energy.  If I told you how a normal day pans out you’d probably think I was tricking ya! (Laughs) I get bored of it still.

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