Every time a massive swell is forecast, Santa Cruz’s hard-charging, big wave surfer Alessandro “Alo” Slebir can hardly contain himself.

"It was something that I had never seen before out there," Alo Slebir, a veteran of large swells, tells PEOPLE Johnny Dodd is a senior writer at PEOPLE, who focuses on human interest, crime and ...

Santa Cruz big wave surfer Alessandro “Alo” Slebir, right, holds hands while praying with tow-in partner Luca Padua before they head out to surf during a historic swell at Mavericks, located ...

Alo Slebir during a recent surf trip to Ireland (left) and while riding a potentially historic wave in December off the coast of California. Surfer Alo Slebir, 24, rode a gargantuan wave estimated ...

SANTA CRUZ – Every time a massive swell is forecast, Santa Cruz’s hard-charging, big wave surfer Alessandro “Alo” Slebir can hardly contain himself. Several times each winter, Slebir ...