Big-wave surfer dies in the water at Maverick's

Sion Milosky, a surfer in Hawaii of growing repute, died late Wednesday afternoon at the famed Maverick's surfing spot off Half Moon Bay in Northern California. Waves of 25-40 feet were not especially large by Maverick's standards, says outdoors writer Peter Thomas, but they were sloppy. Fellow surfers brought Milosky to shore where a paramedic attempted treatment, but Milosky became only the second surfer known to die at Maverick's. Milosky, 35, leaves a wife and two young children on Kauai.

Milosky was "not a top-level pro and held a real job, but had begun to attract the interest of sponsors," Thomas posted today. Last winter, Milosky rode what some considered the largest wave ever paddled into, off Oahu. A video piece on that: