VIDEO: Gigantic wave sweeps over surfers in Half Moon Bay ahead of Mavericks

HALF MOON BAY, Calif. (KGO) -- It was a wild day for surfers in Half Moon Bay. Some say the waves at Pillar Point were as big as they'd ever seen.

RELATED: Mavericks has been challenging top surfers for 20 years

The blog, Surfline, says swells Thursday were between 35 and 50 feet. The World Surf League anticipated starting the Mavericks Challenge last Tuesday but had to cancel due to bad conditions.

The contest needs waves with 25-foot drops.

Photographer Tyler Schiffman captured the above video from out on the water near Mavericks. Event organizers elected not to hold the event today because of the less than ideal conditions due to wind and rain, however that didn't keep away dozens of big wave surfers and hundreds of fans and photographers.

Several of the surfers that braved the monster swells later posted on social media that today may have be one of the craziest days at Mavericks even without the contest being held.

The window for the challenge closes Feb. 28. An announcement could come at any point until then.

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