You know what’s great about surfing? The ocean will always be humbling, no matter how good you are at surfing. Sure, the best in the world get humbled a little less frequently, but when the ocean wants to let you know that she’s the boss, she’s can do it. Take, for example, Koa Rothman’s latest YouTube offering.
Pipeline has been looking pretty dang good as of late, and all the Pipe experts are taking full advantage of the conditions. It was a long summer, so they made sure to be on it when winter reared its head. Jamie O’Brien was out. John John Florence was out. Koa Rothman was out. “It’s maxing,” Koa says. “Second reef Pipe. No one out. Winds are good… I just looked at the cam, and it is bombing. It might be a little bit too big.”
The sand wasn’t quite perfect yet — it never is after a summer of doldrums — but with a few more swells, the reef that makes Pipeline so perfect will be a little more exposed. While many looked at the forecast and decided to go to Jaws, Koa figured he’d stay on Oahu and see what Pipeline did.
“I know there’s going to be a window this swell where Pipeline gets good,” he explains, “so that’s kind of the reason I didn’t go to Jaws. I thought Jaws was going to be really crowded. It’s always windy… I really, really just want to surf Pipe because I’ve been thinking about it for so long.”
When Koa got down to the beach, Pipeline was indeed firing. Not absolutely perfect, but the size was certainly there. When there’s size, there’s power. And when there’s power, you’re running the risk of getting caught inside. Which is exactly what happened for a long time. It’s very likely that anyone who surfed at Pipe on the day you see above went to sleep that night with a set of incredibly tired shoulders. The juice, however, was worth the squeeze.
“It was really, really difficult to find a good one,” Koa said from the beach. “But it was fun just being out there.”
