One of the world’s premiere non-WSL big-wave events, the dramatically named Titans of Mavericks, is due to begin its waiting period on November 1 and has just announced a list of 56 nominees. Set to take place whenever a swell big enough brings the infamous right-hander to its meatiest and most intimidating, the nominees list features a host of familiar big-wave names alongside one or two surfers that are definitely familiar, but not necessarily in the big-wave realm.

Last year’s winner Nic Lamb (main shot above) is joined by the likes of big-wave legends such as Shane Dorian, Greg Long and Grant ‘Twiggy’ Baker, with young Hawaiian upstarts John John Florence, Albee Layer and Kai Lenny also in the mix. Impressively, four prominent female chargers have been nominated, with Hawaiian hellwomen Paige Alms and Emily Erickson being joined by Brazilians Maya Gabeira and Andrea Moller. CT veteran and winner of the 2016 Todos Santos Big Wave World Tour (BWWT) event, Josh Kerr, has made the list alongside former CT surfer and Californian local, Pat Gudauskas. But it’s the inclusion of Dane Reynolds, a guy more closely associated with generation-defining high performance surfing than big waves, that is arguably the most exciting name to emerge.

Tyler Fox is one of the Titans.

Since severing ties with Quiksilver and becoming a dad, Dane has been painfully absent from the surfing spotlight, with online sightings of him becoming increasingly rare and his once legendary web offerings seeming more and more like a thing of the past. But maybe this nomination will bring the iconic natural-footer out of hiding and into a whole new aspect of his career? Sure, this is only a preliminary list and in all truth it’s unlikely Dane will accept the offer, but it’s a nice thought. Imagine the guy decked head-to-toe in rubber, tackling 15-20’ Mavs on a monstrous board alongside all the other maniacs. How would he go? Who knows? Probably pretty good.

What we are more accustomed to seeing Dane doing.

As mentioned, however, this list is only a preliminary offering, and the nominees still have to be chopped down to just twenty-four surfers before the event can begin. Unfortunately, despite the exciting prospect of seeing some of these guys compete, it’s likely that the WSL’s bullshit sanctions on both its World Tour and BWWT athletes will see a lot of the list’s most exciting names pull the pin in order to avoid copping a fine.

How to be a crowd member at a big wave event.

Still, considering the chaos that went down earlier this year when the last Titans of Mavericks event ran, it’ll ultimately be the wave that decides just how compelling a spectacle the contest will be. And with the right conditions marching into Half Moon Bay on the right day, Mavericks is more than capable of delivering the heavy mince.

Full List of Nominees: (Eventually whittled down to just 24 competitors)

Nic Lamb

Kai Lenny

Jamie Mitchell

Travis Payne

Derek Dunfee

Mark Healey

Greg Long

Tyler Fox

Kohl Christensen

Anthony Tashnick

Danilo Couto

Zach Wormhoudt

Ken Collins

Colin Dwyer

Nathan Fletcher

Carlos Burle

Garrett McNamara

Paige Alms

Albee Layer

Frank Solomon

Koa Rothman

Matt Becker

Pat Gudauskas

Dane Reynolds

Grant Baker

Will Skudin

Francisco Porcella

Tom Lowe

Andrea Moller

Alex Botelho

Kealii Mamala

Maya Gabeira

Manny Resano

Nic Vaughan

Patrick Shaughnessy

Emily Erickson

Ben Wilkinson

Ian Walsh

Ryan Seelbach

Shane Desmond

Rusty Long

Alex Martins

Ryan Augenstein

Shane Dorian

Grant Washburn

Jamie Sterling

Makua Rothman

Dave Wassel

Aaron Gold

Alex Gray

Chris Bertish

Ramon Navarro

Josh Kerr

John Florence

Kyle Thiermann

Mason Ho

Honourable Mention:

Shawn Dollar

Savannah Shaughnessy