Just after we all rang in the New Year, a run of enormous swell smashed into California. It lasted for a few weeks and lit up Maverick’s. By the end of it, everyone who surfed there was exhausted and full of war stories. None, though, stack up to Grant ‘Twiggy’ Baker’s Maverick’s wipeout. It was January 10, 20201. The buoys were hovering around 20 feet at 20 seconds — incredibly big. It was just a few days after Peter Mel caught the wave of a lifetime, and the adrenaline was running high for everyone in the lineup. Twig chipped into a 50-footer, got to his feet, and looked down to see the bottom of the wave was dropping out. He fell, and he fell hard. It was what happened next that was truly frightening, though. Wave after wave poured through, leaving Twig just a gasp of air between each one.