In just a matter of seconds, the giant wave starts to violently explode onto the shoreline, sending the 38-year-old racing through the chaos at speeds of almost 100 kilometers per hour . Set against these watery-monoliths of Mother Nature, Steudtner looks totally vulnerable, but it’s a brief moment in time when the surfer feels most at peace. “It’s complete chaos and you would think, as an outsider, it’s terrifying,” the big wave surfer tells CNN Sport.
“Life’s a risk, right? The only thing that’s guaranteed is that we’re all going to die one day, so I believe taking risks is important,” Steudtner says, explaining his coping mechanisms. “I’m not stupid. I’m not taking unnecessary risks. I would say I’m very calculated. Whenever I get scared and whenever I have fear of something risky that I’m doing, then I face it, I work my way through it, I take the responsibility for minimizing the risk.