Pro surfer and Jamie O’Brien was raised right at Pipeline.
Earlier this month he replaced Kelly Slater on team A New Earth Project during Da Hui’s Backdoor Shootout.
For guys like O’Brien, contests at Pipe aren’t just a chance at a new trophy and a few bucks. It’s a chance for something even more valuable— surfing perfect Pipe with just a few people out—rather than a crowd of 100-plus like in his new vlog below.
O’Brien captioned the edit above:
“Pro surfer almost dies at Pipeline! Craziness.
“This vlog has the best waves at pipeline so far this winter! Hope you enjoy our best video yet!”
The video’s just over 15 minutes long, covering a Pipe session and surf school footage.
Opening the video, O’Brien says:
“Good morning Pipeline.
“There are sets and it is on today. It’s crowded. It’s almost 7 a.m. and there’s like 100 guys out but there’s some good waves.”
O’Brien sucks down some coffee and offers up some words of wisdom.
“Make sure you always wax your board before you paddle out, it’s always a good idea.”
Noted.
On his way to the water, he’s still analyzing the surf, as surfers are prone to do, saying:
“It’s a little busy but it’s a little on the big side. It’s probably, maybe 10 feet.
“All the sets I saw all morning were eight feet, so it’s only getting bigger which is not necessarily a good thing, but it’s gonna make more consistency of the medium big ones which would be the eight-footers.
“That’s what I’m looking for, eight to ten footers. No second reefers.”
He surfs, he scores, he “gets smoked.”
Post-session, he says:
“Just wrapped up a sesh, super fun, feeling good. Back on the winter grind, Pipeline is on fire once again.”
He’s happy.
Press play above to watch O’Brien score during an insanely crowded session.
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