Pipeline is a place that has a very high ratio of great surfers. But even the best surfers wipeout at Pipeline, just as they wipeout anywhere else. It’s just that the beatings that Pipe dishes out can be a little worse, and the crowds there are… crowded. Any time a big swell rolls though, the shiniest gem on the North Shore’s Seven Mile Miracle attracts a whole lot of surfers. There’s a pecking order, yes, but you know who stands at the very top? Mother Nature.
Pipeline’s an interesting place. Everything is set up just perfectly to create a wave unlike anywhere else on Earth. The reef is just so, Hawaii’s placement is just right — it’s a place that pumps out waves that are the benchmark for all other waves. Nathan Florence, of course, knows it like the back of his hand. But no matter how well anyone knows the wave, the only thing that’s certain is that they will be surprised.
Florence recently uploaded a half hour of POV raw footage from Pipeline, and it includes a heavy crowd getting ruled by Pipeline. It’s a reminder that no matter who you are, no matter how good at surfing you get, you’re always below the wave in pecking order.
