Surfer Profile: Jason Ribbink

Highlights:
3rd Red Bull 2000, Finalist 2003, Biggest Tube 2006, Vodacom4U Biggest Wave Performance Awards 2004, first South African invited to the Quiksilver Big Wave Invitational Event at Waimea Bay, Hawaii, winter 2007/2008.

 Jason believes in long and regular gym sessions, long and regular surf sessions, and everything in between. Ever since his over-the-falls at Dungeons at the inaugural event, Jason has been in the coalface of big wave surfing in South Africa and recently on an international level. Jason has surfed Jaws and has surfed Waimea, and has impressed at both. He has attempted to surf monstrous ocean waves off the Transkei coast, and has searched up and down our coastlines in search for the biggest waves on offer. Relentless in his search for bigger and heavier situations, Jason has also always been a stand-out at Dungeons.

The session that went down at Dungeons when Jason got the winning wave in the VodacomU Performance Awards was a wild one, with rogue 50-foot waves breaking in the channel, and some serious lumps of water bearing down on the surfers, and the photographer’s boat. When the sea mist had settled it was a 45-foot wave that won Jason the award, up to that point the biggest wave ever ridden at Dungeons.

The Transkei mission was even more outrageous, with Jason and Gigs jumping out of a helicopter in search of a mythical giant ocean wave that occurs once or twice a year. That mission never came to fruition, but the very idea of jumping into a wild ocean miles from the shoreline to catch a possibly breaking ocean wave is enough to give the fear to any surfer.
When Jason was invited to the Quiksilver Big Wave International in memory of Eddie Aikau, he was the first South African surer to ever be invited to this prestigious event, and that prestige and accolades were testament to his previous performances at Dungeons. On top of this he’s a Banana Boy.
While the Cape Town boys have their big waves on their doorsteps, Jason has to go the extra lengths to be on every single swell. Carefully studying the charts with his surfing partner Gigs Cilliers, as well as his international network of experts from all over the world helps Jason make decisions as to where to go looking for the  big ones, and when they will arrive.
All the extra hours t into research has revealed to Jason a few secrets within the big wave genre in South Africa. at some stage, when the time is right, these secrets will be revealed, and when they do, they will blow minds around the world. until that day, Jason has a goal in mind on doing the best he can at the 2008 Red Bull Africa, along with 23 like-minded other surfers.