"A voodoo wave." "The Everest of the ocean." What surfer in his right mind would choose to surf Maverick's with its 50-degree murky water, 60-foot faces, punishing rock bottom, and shifting Central California currents over riding the warm, blue, big waves of Hawaii? But Maverick's presents a surfing challenge like no other. Each winter, starting in October, an elite corps from around the world journey to Maverick's to test themselves on its cold, forbidding wavesbecause challenge, above all else, motivates the big-wave surfer. With heart-stopping photography and an exceptional, driving text, Maverick's tracks the 1/2ve most dangerous days in the break's history, including its first casualty: big-wave celebrity Mark Foo, who died on the morning of his very first visit. Surf journalist Matt Warshaw weaves into this vivid record the complete and unconventional history of big-wave surfing, from its ancient Hawaiian origins through to the modern drama of tow-in surfers. Like Into Thin Air, Maverick's promises to transcend its core audience, appealing to the huge armchair market that is enthralled by the sporting life lived at the extreme of danger.