I may be mistaken, but I was always taught that waves were measured by the back side - which would make the ‘face’ of the wave 124’ feet?
Help me out, Freepers...
They used be be, but some time ago (not sure when), surfers started using the face. Makes sense. The article wave was a mid-ocean rogue wave that probably didn't have much difference between front and back.
The pic above is a surfer riding what was estimated to be 80 feet on the face. Think it was somewhere off Africa or another nation and fairly recent. It was not off an American coast.
However, there is break about 100 miles at sea off San Diego that gets around 60 feet, but only for a few days once a year if conditions are right. Saw it on a Discovery channel. All big wave riders have cojones of steel. They have to be towed in by ski-jet just to catch them.
That said, anyone who surfs the Pipeline on a big day is practically suicidal. It has huge amounts of water/energy for a 15-18 footer and breaks in 3 feet of water just above a sharp coral reef in places. The Pipeline has caused more deaths than any other wave in the World, IIRC. Yes, I used to surf.
I think you’re right. That’s the way surfers measure them, at least.