Family man. Patagonia ambassador. Eddie competitor. Pipeline weapon. No matter how you slice it, it’s hard not to root for Eala Stewart. The 29-year-old Hawaiian is not the biggest name in the surf world, but if you paid attention this winter, you know he got one of those Pipeline waves that is talked about from Turtle Bay to Haleiwa Joe’s.
Today, it was announced that Eala had just won $10,000 after a public vote hosted by Blak Bear Surf Club deemed his Pipeline gem the 2024-25 Wave of the Winter. Blak Bear, the North Shore-based apparel and surf accessories company, hosted an online vote that featured three finalists: Eala, Shion Crawford and Koa Smith. With much respect to the latter two, Eala’s second reef bomb, ridden on a borderline Black Friday swell in November 2024, is truly absurd. He’s impossibly deep and comes out with a geyser of foam and glory.
Gracious as ever, Eala thanks the organizers and the voters for the honor. Raised in a small Waikiki apartment on the South Shore of Oahu, Eala has had to clock his hours on the North Shore’s most famous wave like so many other batters. He’s earned respect for charging horrific Pipeline airdrops and sending it at the last Eddie Aikau Big Wave Invitational.
According to Eala, just a nomination into Wave of the Winter was welcome. Less than a week before he was surprised with the news, Eala reflected on how meaningful it was to him just to experience that remarkable moment so many surfers strive for but never attain.
“This wave really meant a lot- after a lot of super close makes, & winning wipeout of the season (airdrop) the prior winter, my goal was Wave of the Winter this year,” he wrote on Instagram. It’s always been a goal of mine, season after season. Even just being nominated is big to me. Growing up watching all the past winners’ waves has always been so exhilarating. Crazy how many different waves come in but how few of them really stand out.
“This one came on the first pipe swell of the season. Black Friday swell. I had been waiting for a really special wave, for what felt like a couple years and when I came out of this one I remember feeling such a rush of pure love & joy – so proud of myself. I remember @landon_mcnamara saying, ‘Eala set the bar, now we all gotta go reach it.’ It was an action-packed winter with excess amount of West swells. Pipe broke proper & consistently the most I’ve ever experienced in my life. So to have my wave stand the test of time against all the amazing waves that were ridden means a lot to me. Regardless of what happens this was the Wave of my Winter.”
Well Eala, the people have spoken. It’s the Wave of the Winter. Congratulations.
Related: Watch: 33 Members of the Blak Bear Surf Club Dominate the North Shore