The Best One Ever
If I asked you to recount the best wave of your life, frame by frame, which one would you tell me about? Do you remember every detail or does it live in your mind as a blurry gift from the ether? Did time slow down or speed up? Were there extenuating circumstances that heightened the experience? Did your friends see it or is it your little secret? When it came to you were you feeling fit or hungover? In a crowd or all alone? Had you been manic, dropping fins and stubbing toes in the lot before hand? Were you pissed off or totally at peace? The way we remember these fleeting, “best one ever” waves is a strange and mysterious thing. They are both crystal clear and hard to remember.
And what happens after? Do you paddle back out? Go into a state of shock? Belly in and bask in glory on the beach? Or sit on your board for hours floating around the lineup wondering how it happened? Did you ever consider walking off the beach wondering, “What more is there to do?” before never returning again like Shawn Briley did?
The answers we got from 25 of the best surfers in the world paint a cosmic portrait of how random and unlikely it is for even the most talented to stumble upon the wave of their lives at Pipeline.
Even more curious are the waves that standout to surfers like John John, Michael Ho, Mark Healey, Liam McNamara, Kalani Chapman, Tamayo Perry and Jamie O’Brien — guys who’ve caught what seems like a million waves of a lifetime out there — and can still snap right to a particular one that stands above the rest — well, except for Liam McNamara who said, “Best one ever? That’s like asking Michael Jordan his favorite dunk.” And we love Liam for that.
Sit back, put ‘em on a playlist and watch all 25 as you wait for the Billabong Pro Pipeline to return (Tuesday, we think). We had about as much fun making them (thanks Billabong, Evan Slater and WSL for the opportunity) as you will watching.—Travis Ferré
