As the countdown continues to the April 23rd climax of the Tenth Annual Billabong XXL Global Big Wave Awards presented by Monster Energy, additional nominees have been announced in the wipeout and best all-around performance categories.

Billabong riders Laurie Towner and David Scard put the USA tow surfer contingent to shame by paddling into two of the craziest waves ever seen at the famous cloud break.
Video courtesy of ASL Surf Magazine in Australia / Talon Clemow

Josiah Shmucker may have missed a finals berth in the annual Billabong Big Waves Awards, but he has still managed to land a prized catch back home. The sets peaked around 12 foot, with Laurie Towner pulling into one of the waves of the day. The session turned out to be the best of the Adventure Division's journey down to South Australia, an area regarded as one of the surf world greatest untapped resources.

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With a building El Niño weather condition, surfers throughout the Hawaiian Islands have been anxiously awaiting the arrival of extra-large surf -- and today the Pacific Ocean delivered the biggest waves seen there in years.  At famous breaks like Waimea Bay on Oahu and Jaws in Maui, the world's top big wave riders challenged the mammoth swell, spawned by an intense low pressure system which formed northwest of the Islands over the weekend.  

At Waimea Bay, thousands of spectators jammed traffic on Kamehameha Highway as locals and tourists alike stopped to see surfers paddling in to towering 30 to 40 foot breakers on a gray and ominous day.  Meanwhile, big wave riders and onlookers in Maui were treated to a beautiful sunny day with even larger surf, well suited to tow-in surfing using jet-powered watercraft in waves reaching the 50-foot mark.