The most recent swell to hit Hawai’i was the Thanksgiving gift that kept on giving. While there’d already been rumblings from the start of the winter season for over a month, the swell that finally hit on Black Friday was something to behold. Even Pipeline vets like Koa Rothman balked at the sheer ferocity of the waves on display. It’s been a week since then and footage is still pouring in.
It probably comes as a shock to no one that Jamie O’Brien was among the chargers who lined up to greet the beast. After all, Pipeline is basically his back yard and he can make light work of even the most serious waves. However, while he’s normally known for his lighthearted demeanor in these videos, this swell had him sticking strictly to business. Jamie left his massive foam board collection behind in favor of an honest-to-goodness fiberglass craft and donned a helmet to tackle the maxing conditions. The resulting video is pure Pipe at its best: no monologues to camera, no psych counter, no coffee in the parking lot, just 20 minutes of thundering waves and cavernous tubes. And Jamie at his best.
