Peter Mel

Peter Mel is an American professional surfer, born on 24 November 1969 in Santa Cruz, California. He began surfing at Capitola before moving to Santa Cruz and is the son of John Mel, a four-time national surfing champion. During the 1990s he competed on the domestic and qualifying circuits before finding his place in big-wave surfing during the El Nino winter of 1997 to 1998. In its third season he was crowned Big Wave World Tour champion after winning the Billabong Pico Alto Invitational. He appeared in the films Step into Liquid, Riding Giants and Chasing Mavericks, and works as a broadcaster for the World Surf League. After the 2013 season he retired from the regular tour and served as the first commissioner of the Big Wave World Tour for its 2014 to 2015 season, before returning to compete while running his surf shop.