There’s no one way to wipe out at Pipe that looks easy on the eyes. They should all make you cringe. So let’s forget for a second how much we celebrate the incredible things that are accomplished by the people who surf its waves, how about we just acknowledge the near-miracle that is surviving there?
North Shore reefs are their own brand of sharp. They’re not made to accommodate thin or fragile human skin. Or bones. And Pipe, the crown jewel of all her waves, explodes onto those reefs with a ferocity and beauty like nothing else we see in the rest of the world. It’s why the lineup is so packed and aggressive; the inescapable lure of not just catching one of the most incredible rides of your life, but making a name for yourself in this surf world by doing so. Everybody wants one — more than one, really — so getting your chance to shimmy into a set wave can often be a stroke of last-second luck wrapped around what is actually an impossible closeout, a takeoff that’s too steep, or just a closeout one suddenly wishes they’d recognized a split second earlier. To surf Pipe is to wipeout at Pipe.
So wipeouts are inevitable here, we know that. And here are a little over three minutes of them that will make you cringe while also making you wish that Northern Hemi winter would swing right back around again.
