It's an interesting time to watch the progress of surfing - from tow-ins, to throwing yourself out of a plane to tow-in, from tropical reef passes, to polar slabs, from waiting a month to hear about a contest to watching live in your bedroom. Yep, things have come on a hell of a lot since I was a grom.
One thing stays constant in this, though. Behold: the one, the only, the never to be surpassed in terms of the ulitmate proving grounds - Pipeline.
Maybe one thing has changed - the name. Does anyone still call it 'The Banzai Pipeline' anymore? Or are we just so familiar with it we can drop the formality? So, it's got its full name, but you can call it Steve or Jerry or Daz or whatever. It doesn't mind. Or does it? I got into the habit of referring to Jerry Collins as Mr Collins just in case he was within earshot and thought I was being disrespectful. Remember: This is still the world's most deadly wave.
And it must be the most beautiful and deadly as well - a coral version of a supermodel assassin. I googled 'pipeline' to see what came up. 3rd on the list, if you're curious - with the Banzai moniker attached. click on images, and about a full on 1/3 of all images are of this belter. The remainder are mostly of tubes of oil gushing through what would otherwise be pristine desert or tundra whatever fills the space between oil reserves and humanity.
I remember hearing Lance Slabbert talk years ago about Hawaii and the light there - particularly on the North Shore. And that combined with the brutality of it is what makes the most photographed wave in world. You will get savager (more savage?) barrels elsewhere, but you will struggle to do it so photogenically. And that is why Pipeline will always be the ultimate proving ground.
And I chose Pipe as today's theme because everyone's getting quite excited for the Pipemastes later this week. There's quite the forecast. I'll be settling in for a webcast and few beers for this one.
Shot to Surfers Village for the pic. Sion, we miss you man. Hope you're charging hard on the other side.
One thing stays constant in this, though. Behold: the one, the only, the never to be surpassed in terms of the ulitmate proving grounds - Pipeline.
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| Sion Milosky, doing what he did best |
And it must be the most beautiful and deadly as well - a coral version of a supermodel assassin. I googled 'pipeline' to see what came up. 3rd on the list, if you're curious - with the Banzai moniker attached. click on images, and about a full on 1/3 of all images are of this belter. The remainder are mostly of tubes of oil gushing through what would otherwise be pristine desert or tundra whatever fills the space between oil reserves and humanity.
I remember hearing Lance Slabbert talk years ago about Hawaii and the light there - particularly on the North Shore. And that combined with the brutality of it is what makes the most photographed wave in world. You will get savager (more savage?) barrels elsewhere, but you will struggle to do it so photogenically. And that is why Pipeline will always be the ultimate proving ground.
And I chose Pipe as today's theme because everyone's getting quite excited for the Pipemastes later this week. There's quite the forecast. I'll be settling in for a webcast and few beers for this one.
Shot to Surfers Village for the pic. Sion, we miss you man. Hope you're charging hard on the other side.
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