Mason Ho’s North Shore, Honolua Dreams, And Why Sandals Inside Equals Suicide

“I was going to call it the “No Contest” cut, but I guess, technically, it’s the Pipe Masters cut!” Mason Ho tells us, as his old pal Martin tightens up his handsome dome, in the driveway beneath his childhood home. 

Mason Ho, getting trimmed up beneath his legendary Backyards abode. Photo by Sam Moody.

With the Vans Triple Crown in full swing, and the whole international circus in town for the Pipe Masters, Mason was kind enough to toss us in his under the radar Audi, and give us a look at his daily December routine: a drive-by of his beloved Pupukea Grill, where “the sweetest ladies in the world” sling fresh food to the world’s finest at a truly impressive pace; a thorough survey of the myriad food trucks that are always shuffling locations between Kahuku and Haleiwa; and to his favorite neighborhood haunt since boyhood, Ted’s Bakery, forsaking the chicken katsu or kahlua pork plate lunches, in favor of some sweet relief. 

“I eat this pretty much before and after every surf,” Mason jokes, popping open a half-dozen pillow-soft donuts, half dusted with cinnamon and sugar, the other thoroughly glazed. 

Thirty minutes later, after a brief communion with some resident birds, Mason was back in the pack at Backdoor, picking off beauties on his fish, with a belly full of sugar and chocolate milk—forever a Surf Rat, and thank goodness for that.

Italo Ferreira, Off The Wall. Photo by Trevor Moran.

Michel Bourez, Backdoor. What’s a rule Michel always remembers in Hawaii? “Aloha also means goodbye, you know?” Photo by Trevor Moran.

Also, for this episode of No Contest, our ongoing series with our friends at Red Bull, we survey the international cast of characters, Seabass and Dusty Payne, Carissa and Caroline, Ace and Sage: Is there any wave scarier than Pipe? What’s the most important unwritten law in Hawaii? Maui or Oahu?

While their answers vary as surely as their nationalities, Filipe Toledo nailed one of the North Shore Commandments on the head. “No sandals in the house!” he told us, “I think that might be heavier than burning someone at Pipe.” 

After a classic Pipe highlight reel, and a Day at the Bay, we leave Waimea and the North Shore, and island hop to Maui, a trip local stud, Rat Pack veteran, and 2018 HIC Champ, Kiron Jabor likens to “taking the bus.”

“Some people have to drive further just to go surfing in California, than I do to get to Jaws,” Kiron says.

We hear a first-hand account of Kai Lenny’s very exciting 48-hours during the Pe’ahi Challenge, and the Tow Session Seen ‘Round The World, perhaps the most impressive live streamed contest cancellation since the Fijo Pro SNAFU in 2012. 

A short drive down the road, we close out this episode, and the year, with a gorgeous send off at Honolua Bay, with Sage Erickson, Caroline Marks, Carissa Moore, Alana Blanchard, and an all-female constellation light Maui up. 

And with that, No Contest 2018 is a wrap. We’ll see you at Snapper. 

Honolua’s Queen, Carissa Moore. Photo by Ryan Miller.

Hawaii’s winter don’t really start til the Bay sees a day. Three gunslingers shooting for the Waimea shoulder. Photo by Trevor Moran

Kolohe Andino, drawing lines on his backyard playground. Photo by Trevor Moran.