Biggest Paddle Awards Nominee - Trevor Carlson

Nazaré, Praia Do Norte, Portugal, December 17, 2016

The 29-year-old Hawaiian surfer and lifeguard Trevor Carlson has been on a mission to ride the biggest waves he can find, and has been traveling the world to do just that. Being a super-fit lifeguard, Trevor trains relentlessly, only changing his fitness and nutrition regime as dictated by the weather patterns and seasons. If he's not surfing, he's training. If he's not training, he's surfing. Big waves.

A former paramedic student, Carlson now works as a successful roofing salesman, a trade that leaves him time to get out there and chase the storms when they start spinning. He is always the most prepared, the most clinical, and extremely knowledgeable with regard his equipment and all the different variables at all the big-wave locations around the world.

At the Nazaré Challenge -- the contest that shook up the world of big-wave surfing -- Carlson was charging. In fact, he managed to surf all the way to the Semifinals, but it was this wave that came in as an official nominee in the WSL Biggest Paddle Award category.

The lefts at Nazaré are the waves with the big bowls on them, while the rights seem to fade or soften. The lefts are also the waves that look so incredibly intense in film. In this wave Carlson paddled hard, battled his way into it before throwing himself down on giant face.

It's a big one -- one of the Nazaré monsters that are still quite hard to believe -- and Carlson is firmly in the running for this category.