Empty Pipeline, Hawaii

Its been an anticlimactic winter season in Hawaii. Plagued by flat spells, the North Shore only came alive for a few short periods at a time (one of these periods being the Pipe Masters contest, won by Frenchman Jeremy Flores.) Recently there was a surge in swell conditions, and Pipe started looking a little more cavernous than it has in recent weeks. Photog Ryan Miller, who hung around to see the new year in (Hawaiian style), says the lineup was unusually empty: “I stayed on in Hawaii for Christmas and New Years. It was way better than going home and getting my tiny little dick frozen off in New Jersey. Today was the first time Pipe really came alive since that first big swell in the beginning of November. The first few hours on this morning could have been anyone’s chance to get the wave of their life. The circus has left town and also the opening ceremony for the Da Hui Backdoor Shootout was this morning. All the heavy Pipe guys were at the ceremony and the lineup was empty.”