Greg Long: I do feel fear,

but that fear is actually

one of the underlying motivators of why...

I ride big waves.

How are we ever meant to truly grow in our lives,

if we don't occasionally step out of that comfort zone?

The feelings of fear...

I open my arms and I welcome them.

( applause )

Greg Long: Thank you guys, very much.

I'm Greg Long.

I'm a professional big wave surfer.

I have dedicated my life

to following the greatest ocean storms around the globe,

in pursuit of riding the biggest waves in the world.

As you continue to ride larger and larger waves,

the stakes at play in order to do so,

continue to escalate.

Eventually, you get to a point,

where you've begun walking a fine line.

It's a line between riding that next greatest,

biggest wave of your life,

or possibly dropping down the face

of the one that could end it.

For over a decade... I walked that line.

Until one day,

I stumbled over the other side.

Thankfully, I'm still here today

to share with you guys, my big wave journey.

One that has literally taken me to the edge and back.

( music )

With a playing field that is constantly in motion

and always changing...

It is very easy to make mistakes.

( music continues )

And the consequences...

they are very real.

But when you reach deep within yourself,

bringing your mind and body into momentary sync,

with the rhythm and power of the swells,

and for brief moment, seemingly defying nature,

and successfully riding one of those waves.

For me,...

there's no other feeling in the world like it.

( music )

( applause )

Greg Long: Thank you.

So, I grew up

in the small beach town of San Clemente,

in Southern California.

It is a popular surfing destination

known around the world, but not for its big waves.

It's known for its small perfect

cobblestone point breaks

that allow your average surfer to go out there

and just really have a fun and joyous time.

When I was 14 years old,

I started seeing these photographs in the magazines.

Photographs of the newly exposed big wave break,

by the name of Todos Santos.

And Todos Santos is on an island

off the coast of Northern Baja.

And, it was renowned immediately as

one of the best big wave breaks in the world.

And at 15 years old, I got to go down

and surf this wave Todos Santos.

At the same time I was competing competitively

in the amateur series, in the Progressive Surfing,

doing the turns in the small waves.

That's what I grew up surfing.

And I had a very decent amateur career, and actually

won... was the National Amateur Championship title.

And immediately I had

all the surf industry taking notice saying,

'Okay, he's the next kid we need to sponsor'.

Well, I was 18 years old, and I used that opportunity

to sign my first professional contract,

but in doing so,

I knew that's not where my heart was.

I could've cared less about these contests.

I wanted to ride these big waves.

So, in signing up professional contract,

I was allowed a travel budget that I could use

to go to the contest, or as I figured,

at my own disposal.

( laughter )

So I turned my back on competitive surfing

and I set off on this life of adventure.

It became an obsession of mine...

beyond the passion, obsession.

I'd pack up my bags, and I would go,

and I would live down in Cape Town, South Africa,

the bottom of Africa.

And during the most torrential storms

of the Roaring Forties, all in hopes of waiting

for a wave by the name of Dungeons to awaken.

It's called the Cape of Storms

for a good reason.

And it seemed like every single week,

we were constantly battered with another storm.

And an opportunity to surf these big waves.

You have all of these

incredible harsh elements against you and then

sometimes the most daunting of them all...

was the real locals.

( laughter )

I wouldn't surf with these locals.

( laughter )

But all those elements,

they hardened my Southern California ass up real quick!

( laughter )

And it gave me this confidence,

that I could then take to any other break

around the world...

which is what I did. Sometimes, it was Mexico,

it was one of my favorite destinations,

wave called Puerto Escondido.

West Australia

all of South America, Chile and Peru

South Pacific, Tahiti, Fiji.

Now people often ask me,

'Greg, do you ever get scared?'

I do feel fear,

but that fear is actually

one of the underlying motivators of

why I ride big waves,

why I choose to put myself out there.

How are we ever meant to truly grow in our lives,

if we don't occasionally step out of that comfort zone?

And that's what big wave surfing has taught me,

and one of the greatest allures of it,

is embracing that fear in a positive light.

Simply acknowledging it as a space

where I can grow in my life.

Now, over the course

of my surfing career in my later years,

there was one wave that captivated me

beyond comprehension.

And it is called the Cortes Bank,

an underwater seamount that sits

100 miles off the coast of Southern California.

It's mainly recognized as a maritime hazard.

But to big wave surfers...

it's our Mount Everest.

Cortes Bank has the ability to produce

the largest rideable waves of anywhere in the world.

But it also has challenges and dangers

that no other big wave break has.

Your horizon line,

it extends 360 degrees around you.

There's no landmass in sight. No reference point,

as to where you're going to actually can sit and lineup.

There's no continental shelf.

So these open ocean swells are travelling

at speed upwards of 50 miles an hour.

That's twice as fast as your typical big wave.

The currents out there are moving at the pace

of an easy flowing river,

so it is impossible to stay

whatever it is that you want to

without paddling incessantly.

And then the lineup, it spans over the course

of about three football fields.

There's no rhyme or reason

as to how and where these waves actually break out,

there on the seamount.

Then, in late December 2010,

another massive low-pressure system forms off

the coast of California.

I see that there's an opportunity

to go out to the Cortes Bank.

And I had one goal.

All I wanted to do was paddle into

the biggest wave of my life.

I'm out here in the lineup.

And here it is before me.

I turn around, I put my head down

and I paddle my heart out.

I go,

I go,

I go... right over the front of my board

and on to my face.

I bet that story didn't end

the way you guys thought it was going to.

( laughter )

They usually never do.

Well, I was the happiest man alive.

( laughter )

Why you may ask.

Well, one, I was okay.

Two...

that was the opportunity that I'd been waiting for.

I would've rather have gone on that wave,

and eaten ****, wiped out, than not.

And sat there and wondered for the rest of my life,

'Could I have made it?'

I paddled back out and I wanted to do it again,

not wipe out.

( laughter )

I wanted to make one of these waves.

So, after about an hour, back in the lineup,

and I see a great set approaching.

Lineup the wave that I like,

just like I had done so many times before,

I put my head down and I go.

Further on the shoulder I was joined

by fellow suffer, Garrett McNamara

and together we take

the plunge down the face of this wave.

We get to the bottom and we both immediately realize

that we've misjudged the speed,

and our distance to the shoulder.

And we are immediately overtaken

by this mountain of white water.

Now, I've ridden bigger waves in my life.

I'd wiped out in much more dramatic fashion

in my life before.

But there was something about this wave.

The way that it hit me...

with the power and the force.

It's like nothing I'd ever experienced.

It was like a five-story building

of white water being dumped on my back.

I was immediately pushed... into the abyss.

And I'd been down so long running the risk

of what's called 'the two-wave hold-down',

where you don't actually make it to the surface

before the second wave passes over you.

But I still have the time

to probably swim to the surface

and get that breath before it hits.

And as I am about ready to penetrate

this aerated water and get that breath...

that second wave, towering wave,

four-stories tall,

lip comes pitching down

and it lands right on top of me.

My body instantly felt like it was torn in two pieces and

shaken in this violent state of semi-paralysis.

But even worse...

all of the wind that was in my lungs...

was immediately expelled out, knocked straight out of me.

But as that wave, that lip hit me,

it pushed me right back down

to this place... 30 feet below the surface.

My body was begging me to breathe,

to re-inflate my lungs. But I knew that I couldn't.

And if I didn't, I would most certainly

drown in that very instant.

So, my thoughts go a little something like this,

'Well, you've really done it now, Greg.

But don't worry, just relax.

You are going to make it to the surface.

You are going to be okay.'

At the same time, the turbulence

from that second wave that had hit me began to subside.

As I started to think about swimming for the surface,

I heard and I felt the third wave

pass over the top of me.

And I immediately go back into those cartwheels and spins,

caught in the turbulence of it,

and realize that, you know, these full body convulsions

began to slowly settle down.

Hands began to tingle.