The world's premier big-wave surfers spend most of each year traveling to wherever the waves are largest--and the past 12 El Nio-supercharged months have featured a steady supply of some of the largest swells in recent history.

Though most of these athletes are paid by corporate sponsors, they're driven strongly by the mere desire to experience the thrill of riding these monstrous swells.

But deep down they're competitors, too, and they also try to outperform each other and earn recognition that comes during the big awards ceremony each spring.

That show is the Billabong XXL Global Big-Wave Awards, which on Friday night at the Grove Theater in Anaheim, Calif., will honor the sport's bravest and most accomplished participants by offering cash awards in various categories.

To win in any category surfers must be at the right place in time, but they must also be willing to take off as deeply on the shoulder as possible; to place themselves on the part of the wave where the most power is generated.

To underscore the precarious nature of this business, Hawaii's Shane Dorian, a finalist for the most prestigious ride-of-the-year award as well as the best-overall-performance award, is also a finalist in the wipeout-of-the-year category.

His best and worst waves--based on video evidence--seem to have been ridden on successive February days at Maverick's near Half Moon Bay, Calif.

The best, on Dorian's first-ever trip to Maverick's, featured a 50-foot drop followed by a brief barrel ride amid cheers from other surfers.

"I just got lucky," he said. "There's no other way to explain it. If the tube wasn't there I wouldn't have gotten tubed."

The worst, a day later, involved getting pummeled by several tons of water on an explosive Maverick's breaker, then being sucked over the falls and forced underwater for about 30 seconds.

South Africa's Grant "Twiggy" Baker, a finalist in the same categories as Dorian, endured a wicked over-the-falls wipeout on a massive wave at Jaws off Maui.

The wipeout-of-the-year category does not reward winners with cash because contest organizers don't wish to encourage surfers beyond what they're already doing, in a sport that involves potentially deadly consequences.

Though surfers have died trying to ride big waves, nobody associated with the Billabong XXL contest, which is in its 10th year, has met with the ultimate fate.

The categories and their payouts: ride-of-the-year ($50,000 to the winner); biggest wave ($15,000); monster paddle (paddle-in-only, with no use of personal watercraft; worth $15,000); monster tube ($5,000); best overall performance ( $5,000), and women's best performance ($5,000).

Finalists in the ride-of-the-year category, besides Dorian and Baker: Hawaii's Mark Healey at Waimea Bay; Chile's Ramon Navarro at Maverick's, and Tahiti's Raimana Van Bastolaer at Teahupoo in Tahiti.

--Photo: Sebastian Steudtner of Germany leans into a bottom turn at Jaws off Maui. Credit: ErikAeder.com/BillabongXXL.com