Worn Trails: Pipe Masters Recap

It has been an epic month on the North Shore this year. Changes to the tour, new winners, Triple Crown is back in Hawaii..Lindsay Lohan shows her face at the Pipe Masters (even though I thought she was supposed to be in jail). Too much to mention. But this years Pipe Masters: In Memory of Andy Irons was nothing short of monumental, probably, in my opinion, the best contest of the year and one of the best Pipe Masters in history. From start to finish, massive waves and the pro's were saying the best waves in decades at Pipe. Sitting in my apartment, with my finals approaching, I could not turn away from the webcast. I, as well as millions of other people, watched almost every heat. How could you not turn away when local wildcards knocked people off tour or veteran Shane Dorian put on a jersey again and made it to Round 5.

Day 1 proved to the world the shear madness that these surfers embrace. Charging 20 foot Pipe that breaks on a few feet of water onto rock hard reef. Boards constantly breaking, injuries, blood - it had it all. It was amazing watching the locals who were allowed to surf the contest doing what they do every day and showing that they are the best surfers at Pipe.

Day 2 brought the same excitement as the first day. Once again the locals eliminated surfers on Tour and knocked a few off Tour for next year. JOB, John John, Kelly all proved that they are insane and went mad. Again, I couldn't turn away. My girlfriend was getting mad, but I'm sure I wasn't the only guy out there.

On the Final Day, 8 surfers had their eyes on the prize, the coveted Pipe Master's Champion of 2011. Each of the quarter-final heats were jaw-dropping. The last remaining wildcards (JOB and Evan Valiere) were taken out as well as North Shore local and favorite, John John Florence, who was ripping the entire event, as well as in the other contests and winning at Sunset. WCT rookie Gabe Madina was also eliminated by Kieren Perrow in his first ever Pipe Masters. The semi's were action packed; Kelly vs Parko and Bourez vs KP. Kelly and Parko's heat was action packed; each were dropping in on bombs and making un-makable waves makable. In "The Spartan" Michel Bourez and Kieren Perrow's Semi Heat 2, KP wanted the win more than anything and it showed, from the start he took the best waves and beat The Tahitian 12.00 to 4.07.

In the heat that everyone was waiting for, it was Parko vs KP. Parko, who is a 3-time winner of the Triple Crown, but opted not to compete for it again this year, already had a win this year at Bells with a second place finish in San Fran and was looking for another one. KP, who is winless in his almost 10 years on tour. He was in this same position last year at Pipe but lost out to Jeremy Flores. KP won this time, marking his first ever ASP World Tour Victory. It was emotional for everyone, but mostly him. As the surfers representative to the ASP, it was a long overdue and well deserved win. Ironically his first win comes to Pipeline; duct taped up and bruised, Kieren Perrow surfed his way to the podium in surfing most prestigious event. It was as inspirational as it was awesome.

Here are each days highlight video's and a few pictures. Now starts months of no surf contests. Can't wait until next year. Many questions still loom as to whether or not Kelly will return. What we do know is that there will be new faces on tour that will bring new moves and excitement to the contests. Among these new surfers are Kolohe Andino, CJ (who was knocked off tour earlier this year) and Yadin Nichol. Notable exits from the Tour are Dane Reynolds, Freddy P and Chris Davidson.

*ALL FOOTAGE FROM ASP AND PHOTOS FROM SURFLINE