from The Washington Post

The famed Mavericks surfing contest drowned in acrimony. Can it be saved?

By Les Carpenter

On a foggy day on Mavericks Beach, surfers look out over the waves. (Melina Mara/The Washington Post)

HALF MOON BAY, Calif. — The wave roars like a dozen cannons as it climbs four stories high, casting the few bold enough to surf its crest into a teeming pit of frigid, shark-filled ocean. It costs nothing to paddle the half-mile from Pillar Point through surging sea and up a liquid mountain that has slain two of the most gifted men to ride a surfboard. Daring death has no price tag, even if people keep trying to find one.

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