Posts Tagged ‘bodyboard’

It is known as the most famous wave in the world, the wave that all other waves are measured against, and this wave is Pipeline. Gerry Lopez, a surfer who built a surfing career from Pipeline, sums up Pipeline as, “A matter of precise timing, strong paddling, and mostly a lot of luck.” In the surfing world, Lopez has earned the nickname of Mr. Pipeline and has been one of the most influential surfers to ever surf Pipeline.

Located on Oahu’s North Shore, Pipeline has provided the arena in which the world’s surfers travel to in order to prove their worthiness in some of the world’s best waves. Pipeline is known for being one of the most dangerous waves in the world. Having a shallow coral reef and a lack of continental shelf to break up the open-ocean swells, throw a mix of large crowds of wave riders all trying to get a piece of the action, and what Pipeline provides is an extremely dangerous, extremely entertaining show every year.

Pipeline breaks in the winter of the Northern Hemisphere, when storms from Alaska send groundswells towards the North Shore of Oahu from thousands of miles away. The waves are able to travel in great distances across the northern Pacific Ocean, and in this, they become shaped or “groomed”, keeping their powers concentrated. With Oahu having a coast directly exposed to this part of the ocean and a lack of a continental shelf, the waves here explode near the beach with an extreme intensity that is not found in most places on earth.

Every year, thousands of surfers and bodyboarders travel to Oahu in order to ride the North Shore — Pipeline being the main attraction of this attraction. Coming from all ends of the earth, wave riders test their skills at this famous spot. It is a wonderful thing that many great wave riders come to Pipeline to ride, but here’s the catch: Pipeline only breaks consistently in the months of November to March. Not only does it not break most of the year, shortening the window of time in which wave riders can take it on, but the people who do surf here are amongst the best in the world. This adds a very real and very dangerous aspect to surfing Pipeline.

It is quite impressive that Pipeline is a perfect wave that breaks in a few feet of water, but when taking into consideration that there are 50 of the world’s best wave riders riding the same spot, and in an area of a basketball court, it becomes more than dangerous. “These guys nowadays are so fearless. It’s such a competitive thing out there; they get a chance at a wave, and even though it’s not a good wave, they’re just going to go,” adds Mr. Pipeline.

Pipeline earned its reputation early on because it is simply a perfect wave. Depending on the day, one may go in either direction on the wave. The right is known as Backdoor and the left is called Pipeline. A person can drop straight into a wave, like a vertical drop into a smooth bottom turn, resulting in a loss of speed just enough for the throwing lip of the wave to cover the rider.

Jeff Hubbard, a graduate of HPU, currently working on his master degree, bodyboards Pipeline often, and has been featured in a HPU commercial. Hubbard, who was the winner of the 2006 Pipeline contest as well as the world title, explains, “My favorite wave in the world has to be Pipeline; I love it. I have the most fun out there than anywhere else, and it’s in my backyard, even better.”