O’Neill’s vantage Point series is all about a surfer and a filmmaker getting together to create a shared vision and communicate a story unique to them. If that story is about the fact that Russell Bierke is one of the hard-out maniacal chargers that Australia has ever produced, then this clip is right on the money.
From the very first wave, in which Russel swoops from the lip of a Shipstern monster to launch over an already broken step of whitewash, it straight mugs you. Kicks you in the teeth and doesn’t let up. The ominous drone provided by Electric Sheep Music scores the footage to perfection, and the edit from Andrew Kaineder is first class.
The clip covers two sessions, one at Shipstern Bluff as previously mentioned, and the other during a recent swell at home on the South Coast, both as heavy as the other. It’ll leave the blood running cold and no question about Russ’s place among Australian big wave royalty.
