Last Ride

A big-wave star dies at the Banzai Pipeline

ON APRIL 29, 2003, Malik Joyeux rode a barreling 40-foot wave, the biggest anyone had ever seen at Teahupoo, Tahiti, one of the most treacherous surfing sites on the planet (right). The ride earned him the Billabong XXL Tube of the Year award and a Surfer magazine cover. Last Friday, surfing a smaller wave at the notoriously dangerous Banzai Pipeline in Hawaii, he wiped out violently. When his body was pulled from the water--about 15 minutes later--the 25-year-old, who was one of his sport's most popular competitors, was dead. "[Joyeux was] a very positive and happy person, always stoked," Laird Hamilton told the Los Angeles Times.