For all the curveballs 2020 threw our way, fewer people traveling around the world and a halt on any in-person public gatherings (like big-stage surf contests at Pipe) made us all expect a quiet winter on the North Shore. And yes, things have certainly been different this season but it feels like all the repositioning and jostling to adjust just created an entirely new kind of hustle in Hawaii.
Enter the 2020 Vans Triple Crown of Surfing — an all-digital rendition of one of Hawaii’s most celebrated events, adjusted specifically to curtail the roadblocks the Coronavirus pandemic threw in front of every other attempt at holding professional surfing last year. Competitors were tasked with submitting their best waves via video, all surfed during the contest window. Now, instead of a few days of everybody putting on jerseys to surf heats at Haleiwa, Pipe, and Sunset, they’d get a three-week marathon surf session.
Now, pair all of that with the fact that the Pacific Ocean churned out swell after swell after swell for a little over a month and what promised to be a “mellow” winter in Hawaii just turned into a once-in-a-generation scramble. When Jaws promised to turn on, guys like Eli Olson hopped over to Maui to chase down rhinos. But, of course, that meant hustling right back to Oahu and continuing the Triple Crown grind.
So, what does that weeks-long grind look like — surfing Pipe, Haleiwa, and Sunset nonstop?
