Watch: Mason Ho And Company Take On 30-Foot Waimea Bay
The master of good times in the ocean, what’s easy to overlook about Mason Ho’s surfing given how much fun he appears to be having all the time is how hard he charges when the conditions call for it. Case in point, his Black Friday spree at Waimea Bay. For a few hours during that swell the Bay was the place to be, and nobody shone brighter than Mase.
As surf fans, we get so used to seeing him infuse a little levity into his sessions. He’s probably the only person on the planet that can make the dry reef on the inside at Rocky Point actually look inviting, but such is the man’s talent. But with his deep roots in Hawaii, he also seems to be able to such just as much enjoyment out of a heart-pounding season at 20- to 30-foot Waimea. With his father, Michael’s constant counsel, guidance and inspiration, and the angle of his late brother, Derek, riding on his shoulder, Mason was in his element on Black Friday.
Riding a 10’2” Bay Slayer model from …Lost Surfboards and Matt Biolos, the shaper he’s been working with throughout his career, Mase describes it as “one of my favorite boards, by far.” Going with the four-fin quad setup, his equipment looks on point for the season.
And for Mase, as with a lot of big-wave Hawaiian surfers, there’s something sacred about being out at the Bay. A sacred site for pre-contact Hawaiians, there’s a unique power and draw to the place.
“I feel like everyone today is always searching for glory. They want that glorious clip. If the waves are big or gnarly or whatever, they’re probably going to be at Off The Wall, or Pipe, or maybe even Haleiwa trying to get the craziest video clip,” he explained in an interview. “But there’s something about getting out there on a big board, when you get a good one, you’re just like, ‘Fuck yeah!’”
Watch: Hawaii's Giant Black Friday Swell With Mark Healey
With more than 25 years of writing about surfing, the ocean and action sports, Jake Howard continues to share stories, profiles and issues that shape the surfing world. One of the premier subject-matter experts in the field today, he's savvy in the ways of print, digital and social media, his breadth of work is expansive. Getting his start writing Surfline surf reports and recording the phone reports for 976-SURF in the late '90s, Jake served as the managing editor for Surfer Magazine in the early 2000s before moving on to launch RedBullSurfing.com and cover surfing for ESPN and the X Games. Over the years, Jake has also enjoyed time behind the edit desk at The Surfer's Journal, as well as the World Surf League, where he worked as the Senior Editor for a number of years. Beyond producing editorial content, Jake has served as a digital marketer and copywriter for iconic surf brands such as Quiksilver, Roxy and Rip Curl. Writing thousands of pages of copy for Surfline, he has deep SEO experience as well. The surf columnist for the San Clemente Times, Jake continues to dedicate himself to the culture and history of the sport through his involvement with the Surfing Heritage and Culture Center in San Clemente.