Introducing The Totally Reimagined 2022 Vans Pipe Masters (With An Emphasis On Giant Airs) - Stab Mag

Live Now — Episode 3 Of Surf100 Challenge Series Presented By Pacifico

808 Views

Introducing The Totally Reimagined 2022 Vans Pipe Masters (With An Emphasis On Giant Airs)

A vigorous shake of the Banzai tree.

news // Aug 31, 2022
Words by Ethan Davis
Reading Time: 4 minutes

The Vans Pipe Masters is returning this year on December 8-20

Spoiler alert: There are major format changes that should make this the most exciting and innovative Pipe Masters contest model since its inception in 1971.

This year, we’ll see an invite-only, WSL-sanctioned contest, meaning World Tour surfers can surf in the event — however, their Vans Pipe Masters results will not factor into the CT or CS rankings.

The WSL’s Pipe Pro event will run later in Hawaii’s winter season, per the 2023 CT schedule.

Here’s everything you need to know. 

Trevor Moran
Stage = set. Photo by Trevor Moran

‘We want to change the face of surfing Pipeline’ 

This year, Stab partnered with Vans to reimagine the way Pipe is surfed in competition. In the past, Pipe has been all about tube-riding, largely to the exclusion of everything else. With the new Pipe Masters format, surfers will be incentivized to look at Pipeline in a new light, testing what’s possible not just in the tube, but also on the face and above the lip at the world’s deadliest wave.

That is not to say folks will be shying away from Second Reef cathedrals. Rather, they will be equally rewarded for eying up Pipe’s inner ledge and launching above the horizon like Nate Fletcher in 2020, or driving their rail through 10,000 sq. liters of Pacific juice like Tom Carroll in 1991.

On top of increasing entertainment value and expediting surfing’s progression, this could lead to a big change in the type of equipment used at Pipeline, as surfers will be attempting massive airs and turns on waves that would’ve been unthinkable only a decade ago. 

Air sections, anyone? Photo: Arto Saari

Invitees

  • We’re bringing together 60 of the world’s best air and tube surfers (40 men, 20 women) handpicked by the most influential voices in surfing.
  • 50% of the field will consist of local and Hawaiian surfers.
  • All invitees must be 16 and above.
  • You’ll see World Champs, CT surfers, previous Pipe winners, freesurfers, aerialists, and local heroes (we’ll keep you posted).

Format

  • The will be three preliminary rounds — 4-person heats, 30 minutes apiece, no losers (every competitor gets 90 minutes at Pipeline with three other surfers in the water).
  • Each surfer will count their top 3 scores from the preliminary rounds. A surfer’s top three scores can come from one round, all the rounds, or a combination of rounds. 
  • Scoring is done in a leaderboard format, so surfers are competing against everyone in the draw — not just the three other people in their heat
  • Each heat in the preliminary rounds will feature two surfers from Hawaii and two from elsewhere.
  • Heats will be seeded by a panel of Pipeline experts who are not competing in the event. Surfers will be combined into interesting match-ups, which they will remain in throughout all three of the preliminary rounds
  • After all the competitors have surfed in their three preliminary round heats, the top-4 men and top-4 women on the leaderboard (based on their top 3 waves) will advance to their respective finals
  • There is no priority. Should a surfer interfere with or drop in on another surfer, they will lose half of their top wave score. The penalty sticks with a surfer throughout the event, even if they get their best wave before or after the interference is called. Ie: Their top scoring ride at any point of the competition will be halved from the moment the interference is applied.

Prize Money

  • The event winners will take home $100K with men and women getting equal prize money.
  • $420,000 will be splashed across the event in potential earnings, not including the $20K OTL Awards or trophies.

Prize Money Breakdown 

Prize money is the same across the Men and Women’s divisions:

  1. $100,000 
  2. $60,000
  3. $35,000
  4. $15,000
Blink and you still won’t miss it. Photo: Arto Saari

How To Watch

In case it’s not already clear, the event will be hard to miss. You’ll be able to watch the live action and more at VansPipeMasters.comStabmag.com, YouTube, and a variety of other channels. Keep an eye out for more Vans Pipe Masters coming between now and the event on Stab.

For more information, head to VansPipeMasters.com and check back Thursday, October 6th, for the first episode of the Vans Pipe Masters Pre-Show.

Comments

Comments are a Stab Premium feature. Gotta join to talk shop.

Already a member? Sign In

Want to join? Sign Up

Advertisement

Most Recent

Watch: Rip Curl Mobilises Its Teenage Army In ‘Dunno’

A 30-minute surf film by Vaughan Blakey and Nick Pollet.

Jul 14, 2025

There’s A New Number One Surfer In The World

And it feels so right.

Jul 13, 2025

Controversial Opinion: No One Needs To Yoga In Boardshorts

8 Trunks for the traditionalist.

Jul 13, 2025

Stab Edit Of The Year: Sam Piter Stars in ‘Rogue DNA’.

French blood, thick water.

Jul 13, 2025

Matty McG Skydives Into CT Heat, But Jordy’s Still The Main Event

A full day of heats at J-Bay, and only one shark warning.

Jul 12, 2025

Correction: J-Bay All Foreplay, No Climax

Slim pickings on Day 1 of the Corona Cero Open J-Bay 2025.

Jul 11, 2025

What Do Hollywood, Surf Lessons, Michael Jackson And Traction Pads Have In Common?

A Stab Interview with Teva Dexter, the man behind surfing's hardest new hardware brand —…

Jul 10, 2025

Surf100 Challenge Series Presented By Pacifico: Episode 3

"The tribe has spoken," Dane Reynolds pronounced, and a surfer's torch was snuffed.

Jul 10, 2025

How Josh Ku Nearly Died Trying To Cross From Ulus to G Land by Hydrofoil

“If someone finds me dead at least they can find my phone and know what…

Jul 10, 2025

Expect No Kiss, All Climax At The “World’s Most Perfect Pointbreak”

A Corona Cero Open J-Bay 2025 preview.

Jul 9, 2025

SEOTY: Liam O’Brien stars in ‘Friction of Perception’

"Hopefully I don’t come across like too much of a peanut."

Jul 8, 2025

10 Shapers To Watch In The Next 10 Years — Part One

“It’s like a drug empire, man. Cut the head off the snakes, and more will…

Jul 7, 2025

Mason Ho Joins Ritual Vision, Releases Remix Of Greatest Hits

Dion Agius riffs on the eyewear brand’s U.S. expansion, Ritualistic Tendencies, and the new stars…

Jul 7, 2025

Is It Time For A New Judging Format?

We have a modest proposal — a WSL head judge disagrees.

Jul 7, 2025

Luke Thompson Turns Last Year’s Priority Disaster Into Ballito Gold

+ earns himself a wildcard into Jbay.

Jul 7, 2025

Fiji Has Its First Professional Surfer, And He’s Unbelievable

16-year-old James Kusitino’s incomprehensible tube lounging leads to a deal with Former.

Jul 6, 2025

Laird Hamilton on The Limitations of Being a Purist, Invention vs. Ownership + Why He Never Had a Sticker Deal 

Untold stories from his How Surfers Get Paid interview.

Jul 4, 2025

When Surfer’s Eye Is Actually Cancer

Erin Campbell's brutal journey from surf camp dreams to chemo drops, cryotherapy, and surgical horror.

Jul 3, 2025
Advertisement