The North Pacific is transitioning from summer doldrums to powerful storms. Koa Rothman surfed his first Pipeline session of the season a few weeks ago and has been keeping a close eye on conditions at the North Shore’s most famous wave.
A month out from the Pipe Masters, it’s still early in the season. The beach at Pipeline is wide, with loads of sand still sitting on top of the reef. It makes for trickier conditions, shiftier waves, more closeouts — but still the odd tube if you know the spot as well as Rothman and Nate Florence.
On one such recent fall morning, Rothman eyed a window of opportunity at Pipe and called up Florence. While Rothman said there were a lot of bad waves, he still got tubed in what he called “challenging” conditions.
After tubes at Pipeline, Rothman went for a few surf sessions down the beach at Rocky Point, fine-tuning his railwork and tube technique as the season gets underway. With a record El Niño still scorching the Pacific, it’s likely going to be an action-packed season of surf in the Pacific Ocean. Just cross your fingers that Pipeline shapes up well over the next month for the Championship Tour’s final stop.
