This is the moment a 75-meter chunk of ice falls off a towering glacier in Alaska. The tiny speck waiting in the water to surf the ensuing wave? That's Garrett McNamara.
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(CNN) -- Imagine this: Floating in freezing water for 20 hours a day, over seven excruciating days, beneath a 90-meter iceberg which may or may not collapse on you, crushing you to death.
Why would anybody to do this? To surf a wave, of course.
The man crazy -- or brave -- enough to dream up such a challenge, is Garrett McNamara. The same man who surfed the world's biggest wave -- a 24-meter monster -- off the coast of Portugal in 2011.
It would be too easy to describe the 45-year-old American as an "adrenalin junkie." Instead, McNamara's addiction to "the rush," as he so frequently describes it, is so all-consuming it's practically the life-giving blood pumping through his veins.
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It's also the reason the father-of-three risks his life in one of the most dangerous, and jaw-droppingly breathtaking, extreme sports on the planet -- glacier surfing.
Glacial gladiator
In 2007, McNamara became the first person to surf a glacier wave -- a wave created when a 75-meter chunk of ice broke off from a massive glacier in Alaska.
As the block of ice plummeted into the Copper River, it created a two-meter-high wave which McNamara surfed -- the first and probably only person ever to ride such a swell.
"It was the closest I've ever come to death," said the man who has surfed nine-story waves on the most rugged coastlines in the world.
"I was up to my neck in water, looking up at this 90-meter tall glacier, waiting for the ice to break off and hoping that it'll fall straight into the water -- because if it falls flat you'll be squashed under it."
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McNamara spent a week camped out at the glacier, spending up to 20 hours a day in the freezing water, waiting for the ice to break off and give him the most exhilarating ride of his life.
"I wanted to go home after the first day," McNamara admitted.
"But it's fun to be the first to do something. It's a totally new experience -- no one can tell you what it feels like, what to expect."
Tiny terror
Even as a child growing up in Pittsfield, Massachusetts, McNamara was always testing the boundaries of danger.
"My brothers said I was always the craziest, always pushing buttons," he said. "When I was five-years-old I was jumping off two-story buildings."
When McNamara was 11 years old his family moved to Hawaii, where he replaced his hobby of skateboarding with surfing -- "From the very first day, I fell in love with it," he said.
By 17, he was competing in the prestigious Hawaiian Triple Crown and for the next decades traveled the globe as part of the professional surfing circuit.
"I really just want to get beautiful barrels," he said. "You're in your own world. It's a place where time stands still, where all you can hear is your heart beat."
Big wave hunter
Then in the 1990s came one of the most revolutionary developments since the sport began -- tow-surfing.
For the first time, surfers could be towed out to the biggest waves in the world with a jet ski -- and McNamara was quick to jump on board.
"Danger is real. But fear is something we create," he said. "We create fear when we think about the future and what could happen -- I'm in the moment."
Each year, international surfers compete on Qiantang River, riding the "Silver Dragon" wave, which flows through the city of Hangzhou.
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Watching McNamara in action, a tiny speck skidding down the towering face of a nine-story wave, is enough to make your stomach drop. But he remains almost nonchalant.
"If you look at the statistics, it's a lot more dangerous to ride down a highway than a big wave," he said.
"If you don't make the wave, the jet ski will come get you. In 2000 we started using life jackets, so as long as you can hold your breath under water for long enough, you're OK."
Record breaker
It's perhaps that practical attitude which has seen McNamara smash surfing records.
In 2011 he rode the biggest wave in the world -- a 24-meter monster in Nazare, Portugal. Earlier this year he returned to the same spot to ride another huge wave, that may have been up to 30 meters high.
"I'm looking for the rush," McNamara said. "But lately I've had a really hard time finding it.
"When I surfed the glacial wave it was mind-bending, it was the heaviest rush. But since that day I've found it difficult to get that rush in the ocean. It made me realize how comfortable I feel on big waves."
McNamara's describes his obsession with that elusive rush as "like a monkey on my back." Though he chuckles as he adds: "I think the monkey's starting to lose his grip."
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In 2007, McNamara became the first person to ride a glacier wave. But the 45-year-old American is better known for surfing the biggest ocean waves in the world -- including a reported 30-meter monster off the coast of Portugal earlier this year.
The father-of-three already broke the Guinness World Record for surfing the biggest wave ever -- a 24-meter swell in Nazare Portugal -- two years earlier. Nazare features a 5,000-meter-deep underwater canyon, churning up some of the largest and most dangerous waves on the planet.
"Chasing big waves around the world means you never know where you'll be next -- birthdays, holidays, everything has to be dropped at a second's notice," said McNamara.
McNamara says he couldn't have had such a successful career without the support of wife Nicole (pictured). "She's on the cliff with the walkie-talkie guiding us where to go. She's been a part of it all, so she seems very comfortable with it."
"Fear is a thing that stops us living our dreams. It keeps us in our little office cubicle or in a job we're not happy with," said McNamara.
"I had no fear of dying in big waves before I had my children. From the day I had my children I figured I had to be here for them. So I have to be prepared," said McNamara, adding: "We all have instincts we should listen to."
Each autumn, the nine-meter tall tidal bore -- a continuous wave which travels against the current -- surges along the river.
The Qiantang River is just one of a growing number of inner-city surfing spots around the world. Munich's Eisbach River (pictured) has been a popular surfing destination for more than four decades.
The German river is nestled in the heart of Munich's English Gardens, attracting surfers late into the night and a steady stream of onlookers.
Here, surfer Alex Foerderer waits for a train to Eisbach. It was illegal to surf the icy brook until 2010, when the city of Munich allowed experienced surfers to ride the one-meter waves.
Land-locked Switzerland might also seem like an unlikely surfing destination. But popular snowboarding spots have provided an ideal training ground for the next generation of surfers.
Many villages in Switzerland overlook a river, with thrill-seekers now lining up to take the plunge in gushing brooks across the country.
Having enjoyed a pro career in which he became surfing's most celebrated figure, Slater is now defying age barriers at the top end. He became the sport's the oldest champion after claiming the title in 2011, aged 39.
The 11-time world champion still competes at the highest level, often taking on surfers who weren't even born when Slater won his first title. Aged 41, he was a quarter finalist in the Billabong Rio Pro, in Brazil, on May 18.
In a rare interview, he told CNN about his "lifelong" commitment to furthering his ability: "I want to surf better tomorrow. I want to surf better in 10 years. When I'm 50 I want to be a better surfer than I am now."
As a child growing up on the waves at Florida's Cocoa Beach, Slater never imagined surfing would be a career. By 1992, be had become the youngest world champion, aged just 20.
Slater is also a golf enthusiast. He is pictured at the 3M Celebrity Challenge in Pebble Beach, California, February 2011.
Slater has lost friends to drowning and still faces the dangers of surfing every day. But he is defiant: "It makes you think about what it's worth. But what's life worth? Life's worth experiences and it's worth the people in your life too," he said.
For Slater, surfing is more than just a sport: "Surfing is my religion, if I have one."
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