The ninth-annual Billabong XXL Global Big Wave Awards presented by Monster Energy is off to an all-time start thanks to numerous major swells all around the surfing world over the last seven months. The brand-new Billabong XXL event website is brimming with both video footage and still photos of some of the biggest waves and best rides in the history of the event.

The format for the 2008/09 Billabong XXL Awards remains consistent with last year, with the top prize in the XXL Ride of the Year category going to “the individual surfer who—based on review of available video images by a panel of experts - demonstrates the most advanced and committed level of big wave surfing performance during a single successful ride during the annual event period.” The winner is decided by a vote of a large “academy” of experts including top surf magazine editors, photographers, videographers - and the surfers themselves.
Last year, the $50,000 Billabong XXL Ride of the Year Award was captured by Shane Dorian of Kona, Hawaii for his remarkable near-disaster backside tube ride at Teahupoo, Tahiti.
The Billabong XXL event features over $130,000 in cash and prizes in an array of categories and is open to all qualified and invited surfers at every big wave break around the world, based on the photographic evidence.