Ghost Wave: The discovery of Cortes Bank and the biggest wave on Earth

‘A remarkable story that will appeal to those who ride a board and those who have never set foot in the water alike.’ NEWCASTLE HERALD

In GHOST WAVE, Chris Dixon dives deep into the fascinating history of Cortes Bank and the motley brotherhood of argumentative, damaged, brave and quirky margin walkers who discovered and scaled the tallest mountain in the sea. Along the way, he’ll show how these pioneering wave-addicts changed our very understanding of the science of surfing, while giving sea-level credence to environmentalists’ fears that the weather is indeed going haywire.

GHOST WAVE is the result of extensive interviews not only with these surfers and those close to them, but also with psychologists who provide insights into their strange addiction to deadly waves. Dixon draws on the knowledge of oceanographers and meteorologists as well as emulating his own experience as a lifelong surfer.

‘The object of my obsession for the past few years has been a sunken island 100 miles off the southern California coast called the Cortes Bank. On just the right swells, in just the right conditions, the three foot deep summit of this mile-high mountaintop produces the biggest surfable wave on the face of the earth …