Watch: Pipeline Is Open For Service, Who’s Coming To Eat?

 Opening day at Pipeline. Each year a splendid affair. 

Last week, there was much speculation as to whether this week’s swell was big enough, and strong enough, to clear out the enormous sand berm that had formed the last few months from Rockpiles to Pupukeah. 

After a couple days of backwash, and two nights of thorough west swell pounding, by yesterday morning the berm had been trimmed almost to Ehukai Beach Park, and between some wobbly moments, Pipeline fired from sun-up to sunset. 

The Stab crew has been staying in the the little Volcom House at Pipe, and woke at 4:30 in the morning to the Stone’s newest recruit, Joao Chombo, aka The Childish Chumbinho, aka MilkGrom, bright and wild-eyed, sleepless with the ground moving beneath him with the new swell’s arrival. 

First light, Joao was out and on it, the nineteen-year-old packing a few of the morning’s best pits before most houses had put on their industrial coffee makers. 

While many North Shore standouts were shackled to their Sunset guns with the HIC Pro On, the lineup swelled with talent thropughout the day. Kalani Chapman packed a few ridiculously beautiful pits on a 7’6″ Brewer-Chapman Pipe cleaner. 

East Coast hearththrob-turned Pipe Specialist Cam Richards, as well as San Diego studmuffin Skip McCullough stuffed two of the day’s most talked about bombs, real mind-melters for so early in the season.