New Todos Santos Contest Only Big Wave Event To Run In Pacific This Winter

Sitting on a bluff above the water on the outskirts of Ensenada, starring out at Isla Todos Santos on the distant horizon, big-wave pioneer Gary Linden's thinking about the winter to come. It's early November, El Nino is on the horizon, and Linden is about to share a new format for big-wave surf contests with the world. Two months later, the dream would be realized with the inaugural running of the Thriller At Killers. 

"The thing is to take advantage of the swell and conditions," Linden explains. "Big wave contests as they are now take all day to run. The problem with that is at some point the swell peaks and starts to drop, the wind comes up, or something. It's very hard to get a full day of big-wave surfing in."

Instead, Linden's developed a format that's part video contest and part live event. The field of competitors is comprised of invitees, wildcards and surfers that have submitted clips from the prior season at Todos. It's designed with the idea that when it comes to big, bombing surf, time is of the essence. 

As it is now, the Thriller At Killers only features 12 men and 6 women, meaning there aren't endless rounds of heats. There are two semifinal heats and one final for the guys, as well as a final for the ladies. All told, the Thriller At Killers took about three hours to run.

"The video component and wildcards means the contest can be a platform for these surfers to get more visibility and get discovered," Linden explains. "From there they can hopefully elevate their profile, attract sponsorships and create a career riding big waves."

Case in point, Katie McConnell, who won the contest in February. Raised in San Diego's North County, Linden has been a mentor to her since she decided to start chasing big waves and has provided her with plenty of sagely advice over the years.

"He's so thoughtful and so caring, and he's seen it all," McConnell says. "He understands both what it takes to chase big waves for a living, because he's still living it, but at the same time has run so many events he knows what it takes to make a big-wave contest successful."

In part because of Linden's advice, McConnell has been posted up on Maui the last couple of years and dedicated herself to Jaws. Obviously the water time in Hawaii paid off as she took out well-established chargers Paige Alms and Bianca Valenti at Todos.

The format was even appreciated by the water safety. Charged with keeping everyone alive, a 12-hour day on the water is draining for even the most seasoned lifeguards and ski drivers. The Thriller At Killers format allowed them to stay hyper vigilant and focused throughout the event.

"It was great, really efficient, a really smart way to run a big-wave contest," said Frank Quirarte, who's was part of the water safety team at Todos and heads up the Maverick's water safety program. 

Running any contest for the first time is always a wildcard, introducing a new format to a big-wave contest, even more risky. But with the first live running of the Thriller At Killers in the books, Linden and his team and rest easy knowing they just created something very special for surfing.