Owen Milne had the best seat in the house during the recent Code Red swell at Teahupoo, and he nearly paid for it with his life. He gives us the best rundown yet of what it was like to be staring mutant slabs in the eyeball from close quarters. Spoiler alert: it was absolute mayhem. Wipeouts, jet ski near misses, paddling and tow surfing clinics, and Doug Silva getting sucked up the guts of a catamaran and nearly turned into mince meat by twin propellers.

Owen's raw account of the swell is one of the better depictions of what goes down at Teahupoo when it's 20+ foot and maxing. You can watch it here.