Scotts Valley local Savannah Shaughnessy was recently involved in the WickrX Supersessions multimedia project, an invitational event dedicated to following and celebrating women in the big-wave surfing community.
Shaughnessy grew up in Scotts Valley and has surfed waves up and down the Santa Cruz coast since she was 16 years old.
In September, she was invited to take part in the multimedia project, along with 13 other big-wave surfing women from around the world.
All 14 women received an iPad mini in the mail that displayed an invitation to the project when the device was turned on.
Those who accepted the invitation were given a GoPro camera and contributed video content — such as interviews and live surfing sessions — onto the WICKRX website.
“It’s sort of like a community project that is bringing the women of the big wave community together so we can form camaraderie and progress the sport,” Shaughnessy said.
In mid-December, the project came to a close after the participants met in Half Moon Bay to surf different spots up and down the coast simultaneously. During that time, the surfers formed a closer bond by staying in the same hotel and eating dinner together every night.
“There has never been anything like this in the history of surfing — men or women,” she said. “So I think that what they (the WickrX Foundation) are doing is pretty special.”
This opportunity came at the perfect time for Savannah, who recently moved to San Francisco to attend nursing school beginning in January.
She said she knows it will be difficult to surf during school and plans to practice her favorite sport whenever she can, especially on weekends.
San Francisco is close to Mavericks, one of Shaughnessy’s favorite surf spots.
“I have been doing it for a long time now and, for me, it’s special because of the people that I get to share it with,” she said. “My brother and I have been surfing big waves together since we were 16 — that’s when we sort of started — and we still surf Mavericks together.”
Live interviews, surf sessions, and profiles can be viewed on the WickrX Foundation’s website at www.wickrx.org
