2024 Paris Olympics: Surfers take on the 'Wall of Skulls' ... one of the most dangerous waves in the world

Paris claims world-class status for its cuisine, its architecture, its art and museums. Paris does not, however, offer world-class surfing. So when the Olympics returned to Paris, organizers had to look south — many thousands of miles south — to find an appropriate surfing venue.

As gymnastics, swimming and athletics take place all over the City of Lights, surfing Olympians will compete for gold nearly 10,000 miles away, in the French territory of Tahiti. Starting on July 27, Olympic surfers will challenge the waves of Teahupo’o, one of the most revered, and fearsome, surfing spots on the planet.

The village of Teahupo’o — which means “wall of skulls” or “pile of heads,” a reference to a grim Tahitian legend of grotesque revenge — is an ideal location for a surfing venue, a backdrop of lush green mountains rising above black sand beaches and brilliant blue curls. The combination of South Pacific swells and an underwater trench near the beach makes for spectacular waves.

“It’s probably one of the most rewarding, dangerous waves in the world,” Team USA surfer Griffin Colapinto told Yahoo Sports earlier this month. “You can either get the best ride of your life or you could die, but the place is absolutely gorgeous.”

Teahupo’o, is also called “The End of the Road,” and for good reason; there’s little in the way of civilization this far from France, and that means there’s very little to come between the surfer and the ocean.

“Tahiti is so far out and at a reef pass in the middle of the ocean, and so there's going to be no beach spectators,” Team USA’s Carissa Moore, the defending shortboard gold medalist, said in April. “There'll just be people in boats, and there can only be so many boats in this small channel.”

A unique combination of wind, geology and oceanic currents makes Teahupo’o one of the most challenging surfing locations on the planet … and that’s without even considering the treacherous reefs just underneath the waves.

“If you hit a coral head, they're like little knives, basically,” Colapinto says. “You hit one of those and you're guaranteed to get cuts. You hit your head on one, it's not going to be a good thing.”

While surfers have challenged the heavy waves of Teahupo’o for centuries, those in the know didn’t reveal the island’s secrets. The first organized competitions weren’t staged there until the late 1990s, and Teahupo’o’s occasionally treacherous waves quickly gained legendary status. A “Code Red” swell during a 2013 competition was so fierce that the contest was delayed to protect surfers’ safety:

Teahupo’o’s waves are generally two to three meters with heavy barrels — the tubes of water that occur when the wave’s crest crashes down upon itself. Riding a barrel is a transcendental experience … and a treacherous one.

“It's a wave that deserves that respect, that deserves that time,” Moore said. “You can't just show up and blow up there. … The best surfers out at that wave, they've spent years, years of getting pounded, years of falling down, years of being lagooned and ending up on the other side of the reef. Eventually, all of that adds up to what you see, which is, it looks effortless.”

What’s it like riding a barrel at Teahupo’o? Let Tahiti’s Kauli Vaast — who might have the shortest distance from home to venue of any Olympian in history — take you inside:

Teahupo’o’s wave can be humbling, even dreamlike in its power. For surfers who see their relationship to the water in very different terms from, say, a basketball player to a court, Teahupo’o offers a chance to touch the spiritual. Teahupo’o, surfers say, demands respect, rewarding those who show it and humbling those who don’t.

“We have all probably witnessed Mother Nature's power and Mother Nature's mana, as we say in Hawaii,” Moore said. “You can't mess with that. It's very, very humbling. The minute that you don't respect Mother Nature, it's going to swipe you off your feet, because it'll be like, hey, no, you've got to take your time, pay your dues, and be present. … If you're not present, if you're not respectful, then you're not going to get that wave, and you're actually going to get really pounded.”

The sheer remote nature of Teahupo’o means few spectators will see the competition in person. Visitors will watch from nearby boats, while judges will observe from a hotly debated new tower sunk into the reef. The village fought back hard against plans to bring new roads and new housing to the community for the Olympics, hoping to maintain Teahupo’s idyllic character. When a barge bringing construction materials to the area damaged a reef in December, local activists forced Olympic organizers to reconsider their plans and scale back overall development.

Surfing is part of the island’s character, and Teahupo’o’s residents embrace surfers — so much so that some Olympians will be staying in private homes all over the island. Others will be based in a cruise ship just offshore.

“The people there are super humble, incredibly welcoming,” Colapinto says. “It’s so far from anything that we’re used to, because usually it’s just, like, oh, get an AirBnB, and we’ll never even meet the family that owns the house. But there you’re actually staying with the family together on their property. You just want to make sure you’re being a good guest, take the trash out and keep it clean and organized.”

Moore will be staying with a family that’s become close friends. “We have like the most beautiful view of the venue from their front yard,” she said. “I’m really, really grateful. All of the families there are lovely. The people are just amazing. It reminds me a lot of home, that they all have the Aloha spirit and really, like, welcome you in. … It’s the best way to experience a place, through a local's eyes and local food and in their home.”

Colapinto and Moore both concede it’ll be a little strange being so far away from the Olympic pageantry, but they and their host families plan to do a little Olympic celebration of their own.

“I heard rumors that maybe we will do a whole little parade just for the surfers at the End of the Road,” Moore said. “I don’t know what’s going to happen, but regardless, I’m getting dressed up.”

“You think of the Olympics, and you think about so much going on, with Opening Ceremonies and all that, and all these different athletes all over the place. But we’re totally, like, isolated from all that,” Colapinto said. “It seems like it might not feel like the hugest thing ever when we’re there, because we’re just kind of on our own little trip. But through the lens, it’ll probably look crazy and, like, the biggest deal in the world.”

“We'll definitely be having some sort of stream going so that we can keep up with the Games,” Moore added. “That's what we did in Tokyo as well. We didn't get to go to the Opening Ceremonies there, but we all got dressed up and we did, like, a full little ceremony at our house. Then we watched everybody on the screen, so I really want to watch some swimming, some track and field, obviously gymnastics.”

Surfing is scheduled to run from July 27 to July 30, with the following six days reserved to allow for the best possible conditions. While Colapinto will be in Tahiti for the duration, he does have a plan to head to Paris.

“I was thinking if I win gold,” Colapinto says, “I'll go.”