Pipeline

The Largest Surfing Encyclopedia

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A-Z: A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z

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With death or glory you can almost touch, Pipeline is surfing's ultimate arena. Plenty of surf spots are longer, many are bigger and some are even gnarlier, but Pipe offers the greatest 10 seconds on Earth, making it the most coveted and recognizable wave on the planet. It is the yardstick by which all other breaks are measured.

Located midway along Oahu's North Shore, the Pipe has become surfing's annual winter nucleus. Swells from distant Aleutian storms march through the Pacific and meet the Islands with open-ocean speed. As they near shore, they focus on reefs that amplify their size and energy. The ideal Pipe swell comes from the west; the more north in the swell, the uglier and deadlier things get.

Depending on size, Pipe breaks over one of three reefs. First Reef breaks more often and has the most impact, handling up to 10 feet with the perfect cylinders that gave Pipe its name. The extreme shallowness -- only a few feet in some spots -- translates to a bounce off the craggy, cement-like reef with each wipeout. Second Reef is a bit farther out, fringing in the 10- to 18-foot range as it regroups into a First Reef bomb. Third Reef, which starts to come alive at 20-foot-plus, breaks a good half-mile from shore and is rarely surfed. The right, called 'Backdoor', is also a First Reef favorite, sometimes even more competitive when north and northwest swell conditions warrant.

Prior to the '60s, Pipeline was considered too dangerous to ride, although a few hearty North Shore watermen had bodysurfed Second Reef. While there are stories of undocumented attempts to surf it, Californian Phil Edwards is noted as the first to ride it successfully in 1961. Filmmaker Bruce Brown captured the wave from shore, and by the time Edwards was back in his car, three other guys were out. The vault had been cracked, and it was open season at the Pipe. (This same winter also produced it's now infamous name. Formerly called Banzai Beach, California surfer Mike Diffenderfer noted the pipeline being put in on the Kamehameha Highway and suggested they call the break Pipeline. The two names were combined at first to "Banzai Pipeline." Over time the modifier disappeared, becoming "The Pipeline" and, ultimately, "Pipeline" or even just "Pipe".)

As the crowds multiplied, standouts quickly emerged. John Peck's backside. Greg Noll was glorified for one massive Third Reef bomb in 1964. But in the early years at Pipe, it was Windansea's Butch Van Artsdalen who defined the approach. Van Artsdalen's navigation behind the curtain was without equal and led to his nickname, "Mr. Pipeline," a mantle that would be passed to subsequent icons. By the end of the decade, Jock Sutherland assumed the throne, gaining such a level of comfort that he began to toy with the wave.

In the '70s, Pipe met its soulmate in Gerry Lopez. He approached the wave like none before him and set the standard, casually sliding through gaping barrels. He became indelibly linked to the spot by dominating with Zen subtlety and lifting the Pipe experience to a true art form.

Meanwhile, contest organizer Fred Hemmings had created surfing's ultimate spectacle in 1971: the Pipeline Masters Jeff Hakman won the initial six-man event with little fanfare, and the idea stuck. Hemmings quickly brought in ABC's Wide World of Sports to cover the event, which soon became Lopez's showcase. Spearheaded by the backside maneuvering of Shaun Tomson, Mark Richards and Rabbit Bartholomew, regularfoots made huge advancements in the mid-'70s, but it was still a goofyfooter's domain. By the end of the decade, Pipe had become surfing's foremost proving ground, and the subsequent overcrowding led to a dramatic rise in injuries. Everyone wanted a piece of the Pipe.

Derek Ho inherited Lopez's mantle in the mid-'80s, emerging from deeper in the tube than people thought imaginable. In 1993, he became Hawaii's first professional world champion, clinching the title at none other than Pipe. Equally impressive were Ronnie Burns and Australian Tom Carroll. While Burns died tragically in a motorcycle accident in 1990, Carroll began manhandling the place, claiming three Masters crowns and infinite respect. In 1991, during a Pipe Masters heat, he pulled one of the most memorable turns in the history of the sport, a vicious snap in the heart of the beast.

Not long after the spray had cleared from Carroll's gouge, Kelly Slater began to turn Pipe into his public playground. His backside pig-dog barrels defied reason and set a new standard in tube-riding, and he attacked the lip as if he were goofing off on a 3-foot day at Sebastian Inlet. B

Between 1992 and 2008, Slater earned six Masters victories with impossible last-second heroics. Along the way, the break would become the site of come of two of his most lasting career moments: a 1995 victory where he slapped fives with Rob Machado in the semis on the way to steal his third world title; and his 2003 loss to Andy Irons.

The latter set up a dramatic rivalry that would continue through the years. Meanwhile, a new generation of chargers showed they too could rule Pipe. Not just 'CT pros like his brother Bruce, but a crew of diehard locals who made it their life's purpose to dominate this most competitive of lineups. Surfers like Braden Dias, Mark Healey, Tamayo Perry, Danny Fuller, Flynn Novak and Jamie Sterling ripped and regulated hear after year.

But of them all, it's Jamie O'Brien who would inherit the mantle of Mr. Pipeline. A regularfoot who literally grew up with Pipe as his playground, O'Brien reigned over both Backdoor and Pipe-- often swtichfooting lefts for fun -- to win an amazing three WQS events, one Backdoor Shootout and a Pipe Masters crown by the age of 27. As he said after taking the 2010 Volcom Pipeline Pro, "I just like surfing this wave. It's my goal to win as many Pipe contests as I can."

Throughout the decades, the dangerous break has been the site of tragedy as well. More than one brave soul's lost his life surfing there - including Tahitian standout Malik Joyeux in 2005 and Japan's Moto Watanabe in 2004 - and injuries are commonplace, even among the most experienced pros. Aamion Goodwin and Nathan Fletcher both destroyed their legs there; and Steve "Beaver" Massfeller, left a piece of his skull in the reef in 1984. In December 1998, 30 surfers were injured in a single day.

Yet, some purists might argue that the biggest casualty may be Pipeline itself, and its rootsy appeal as rogue gladiator pit, as the winter pro surfing invasion now runs most of the winter. In fact, were you to ask who owns Pipe now, you'd have to say the industry. Between 2000 and 2010, buying a piece of property became de rigeur for the biggest companies, spending millions of dollars for a piece of beachfront. Today, Quik and Billabong both have "Hawaiian HQs" barely an overstretched legrope from the paddle-out spot; while Volcom owns two -- one on each side of the pathway -- including the legendary Pipe House once inhabited by the likes of Gerry Lopez and Herbie Fletcher.

But nobody can buy the wave itself. And whenever Pipeline breaks, it remains a jumble of bodyboards, bodysurfers, photographers and pro wanna-bes -- all trying to squeeze into the barrel. The crowds exponentially increase the inherent danger, turning an already heavy situation into a high-risk nightmare. The empty lineup that greeted Phil Edwards back in 1961 is long gone. Still, every bigheaded surfer should paddle out there at least once, otherwise, the next time your homebreak gets good, you're likely to commit the ultimate sin by telling someone, "It's just like Pipe out here."
-- Jason Borte (updated, December 2009)

Click here to find all the Pipeline photos and editorial on Surfline.