COMING THROUGH! Photo: YouTube//Screenshot
It’s amazing how fast conditions can change on the North Shore. It can go from playful and fun to a horizon blacked out by marching sets in the blink of an eye. Even the best can get caught off guard, and the only thing anyone can do when they realize those giant waves on the outside are coming inside is to hold your breath and get as deep as you can.
Case in point: this 15-foot set caught on camera by Off Da Lip. In it, we see (almost) the entire lineup wear a handful of waves that broke a little wider than anyone was expecting. For a few seconds there, the Pipeline lineup looked like a graveyard full of tombstones.
“The waves were non-stop this day and provided some iconic barrels,” Off Da Lip wrote. “However, there is also a dark side to surfing big pipeline perfection: second reef cleanup sets. They are unavoidable and unpredictable, but you know there’s always another one coming at some point.”
It’s a safe bet that each and every one of them was willing to take a beating on the off chance there was a solid Pipe tube on the other end of it. That’s what keeps them coming back, after all.
