A-frame

Aaberg, Denny

Aaberg, Kemp

Abberton, Koby

Abbruzzi, Sid

Abellira, Reno

Abubo, Megan

academia and surfing

Adler, Tom

advertising and surfing

Aeder, Erik

aerial

Aguerre, Fernando

Aichner, Scott

Aikau, Clyde

Aikau, Eddie

Aipa, Ben

air-drop

airbrush

Airshow

Ala Moana

Alabama

alaia board

Alaska

alcohol and surfing

Alexander, Kala

Alexandre, João (Dapin)

Allen, Chuck

Alms, Paige

aloha shirt

Alter, Hobie

Alvarez, Pepe

Ancell, Kevin

Andaman Islands

Andersen, Lisa

Anderson, Craig

Anderson, Simon

Andino, Kolohe

Angel, Jose

angle

Angola

Angourie

Antarctica

Apocalypse Now

Arabian Sea

Aragon, Janice

Arakawa, Eric

Archbold, Matt

Arena, Eduardo

Ashton, Juan

Association of Surfing Professionals (ASP)

Atlantic Ocean

August, Robert

Aurness, Rolf

Auster, Ken

Australia

Avalon, Frankie

Azores

backdoor

backside

backside attack, Pipeline

backwash

bail out

Bain, Rob

Baja California

Baker, Bernie

Baker, Grant “Twiggy”

Baker, Tim

Bali

Ball, John “Doc”

Ballard, Bill

Ballard, Rochelle

balsa

Baltic Sea

Banks, Jim

Barbados

Barilotti, Steve

Barland, Michel

Barreda, Sergio “Gordo”

Barry, Michael

Bartholomew, Wayne

Baxter, Jackie

Bay of Bengal

Beach Boys, The

Beacham, Debbie

beachboys

beachbreak

Beachcomber Bills Grand Prix

Beachley, Layne

beavertail

Becker, Phil

Bedford-Brown, Stuart

Belgium

Bells Beach

Bendall, Ma and Pa

Bennett, Barry

Benson, Becky

Benson, Blanche

Benson, Linda

Bermuda

Pedigreed goofyfooter from San Clemente, California; a world-class aerialist early in his career, then a fearless rider of big, dangerous waves. Fletcher was born (1974) in San Clemente, the scion of an influential surf-world family that includes older brother Christian, the sport's heavy metal aerial pioneer; father Herbie, longboard maestro and surf accessories manufacturer; aunt Joyce Hoffman, twice world-champion; and grandfather Walter Hoffman, big wave original and textile magnate.

Fletcher learned to surf as a toddler, was riding serious waves on the North Shore at age eight, and starring in surf videos not long after. At 16, tired of the public scrutiny that in part came with the family name, Fletcher quit surfing to focus on snowboarding, motocross, and skateboarding, and over the next five years achived high-competitive-level proficiency in each. In 1998, he jumped back into the surfing limelight with a gutsy performance at the Gotcha Tahiti Pro, held in bone-crushing conditions at Teahupoo.

Though Fletcher had been known primarily as an aerialist, he soon began appearing in photos and videos riding oversized waves in Hawaii, Fiji, and Central California, and helped spearhead the big-wave paddle-in renaissance in the mid-'00s. In early 2009, Fletcher broke his femur while surfing in Hawaii, and was out of the water for seven months; nonetheless, later that year, he won

 magazine's Heavy Water Award. In October 2011, photos of Fletcher getting swallowed whole by a backless Teahupoo monster during the "Code Red" swell—the "heaviest wave ever ridden," according to 

turned up on seven different surf magazine covers worldwide, all in the same month. Asked how he survived the ensuing wipeout, the normally reticent Fletcher told 

 "things just went the way they always do for me, which is fantastically incredible."

In 2012 he walked away with the Billabong XXL Ride of the Year Award for his Teahupoo monster a few months earlier.

Fletcher, Nathan

Subscribe or Login

Encyclopedia of Surfing

History of Surfing

Interviews

Videos

Encyclopedia of Surfing

History of Surfing

Interviews

Videos