Pipeline at its biggest is not a place to fool around with. When it’s feathering over Second Reef, it’s serious business — sure, it’s fun for the surfers who like that kind of thing, but it’s a different kind of fun. A fun that mingles with fear, producing that funny exhilaration that only occurs when one feels as though they have just survived something they shouldn’t have.
On New Year’s Eve, Pipeline turned up the volume. Many of the best surfers were there to meet it. There were a lot of deliciously terrifying waves, some made and some not. Kohl Christensen, one of the best at big Pipeline, fractured his skull (the wave and subsequent rescue can be seen at 10:12) and wound up in the operating room. He’s expected to make a full recovery, but it’s a reminder of just how wild things can get at one of the world’s best waves.
