Mavericks Surf Contest

San Mateo may be a generally sleepy county, but the California coast has the best of the mainland states for surfing. The annual Mavericks Surf Contest has a new winner.

San Mateo County is usually a pretty quiet place. Sure, you've got the annual Pumpkin Festival in Half Moon Bay, where folks can get a little stirred up about winning the pumpkin weigh-in contest, and you've got the Pigeon Point Lighthouse, one of the tallest lighthouses in America. Generally, however, people walk slow and things don't much happen in this sleepy county just south of San Francisco.

Once a year though - BAM! It's the Mavericks Big Wave Surf Contest, and surfers come from all over the planet to compete for the $75,000 purse. This year, the winner of the Mavericks Surf Contest is himself from California: Greg Long, from San Clemente, competed (and won) against around 24 other top-notch surfers. With waves that get up to four stories tall, the Mavericks Surf Contest is the equivalent of the Super Bowl for the surfing subculture - they wait for ideal surfing conditions in Northern California, and are prepared to get to the surf contest in 24 hours. All these surfers from around the world, converging on Half Moon Bay for a day or two, crashing in local hotels or sleeping in their cars - it's enough to almost (almost) put the Pumpkin Festival to shame.