Mark Visser – riding Jaw at night was only the beginning…

30-40 foot waves ridden in complete darkness at Jaws, off the coast of Maui, was only the beginning…

Mark Visser Rides JAWS at Night! from Fortrus Sports on Vimeo.

Professional Adventure Athlete, 28 year old, Mark Visser announces the “9 Lives” Project, a series of “world first” adventures, which will form a documentary collective. “9 Lives” will be distributed internationally in early 2012.

The ‘Night Ride’ at Jaws off the shores of Maui on 20th January, made big-wave riding history, and is the first of an exclusive series of “world firsts” Visser is planning during 2011 for the “9 Lives” Project. The “ 9 Lives” project is truly unique, as each project will see Mark engage in a different extreme discipline each time, making each a “world first” within its own field.

The ‘Night Ride’ was achieved with specially engineered LED lights built into his buoyancy vest and modified into his boards in an attempt to push the limits of physics. The Night Rider is a true world first – no one has attempted to ride and capture big waves at Jaws, Maui before in total darkness.

Just after 2am local time, on 20th January, Mark and his team entered the infamous big wave break just prior to the peak of the swell.

“It wasn’t until I saw the pictures I realized how big it was. This project has been two years in the planning and it was the scariest, but most exciting thing I have ever done. Riding in complete darkness meant I had to go off feeling. I had to zone out from how you normally ride and just be part of the wave. I am so pumped to achieve something that no one thought possible and that I was told was couldn’t be done.”

Mark Visser by Maxum

The Australian native, adventure athlete is pushing the limits of what he can do. He has a burning desire to not settle for the norm, a self-described ‘outright passion to push himself’. Visser has dedicated training programs to give him the skills to be able to chase his dreams and do things that most people thought were impossible. He wants to inspire others by showing that anything can be achieved

“I want to push myself beyond what people think is possible,” says Visser of the series of firsts he will aim to complete. “I know there are things that haven’t been done yet in our sport. It is a personal goal and really all about doing things that make me go beyond the norm.”

Mark’s past achievements include: Top 10 in the 2006/2007 APT tow-in tour event (Chile), top10 in the Nelscott Reef Big Wave Paddle In event (USA) and runner up in the 2008, 2009, and 2010 Oakley ASL Big Wave Awards. Visser also had several waves entered into the XXL awards for biggest wave ridden in only his first year of big wave competition.

Continue to follow Mark Visser to find out more about the series of events for the documentary: http://www.markvisser.net/