"The crowd factor is off the charts. The danger factor as well. It truly is a modern gladiator pit. Truly No Country For Men.”
It is very difficult to complain about a visually stunning eleven-minute short that documents adrenaline-pumping Pipe antics by pec-flexing alpha males.
On the eve of the Vans Pipe Masters, a controversial event that would deliver in spades despite its myriad doubters, Mason “Little Lulu” Ho stuns at the famous wave, riding a seven-foot-six surfboard proudly painted in the colours of trans-and-queer inclusion.
As Mason’s surfboard shaper Matt Biolos said after watching,
“Surfing is the only sport/activity/endeavor where one must compete just to get a chance to simply participate. Unless you’re in a wave pool, or possibly in the Arctic Circle, just catching a wave usually requires competing with others, for positioning and priority. There’s no finer example of this than out at the Banzai Pipeline. Mason and Rory’s latest edit hammers that home, pretty clearly. The crowd factor is off the charts. The danger factor as well. It truly is a modern gladiator pit. We often surf in similar crowd density down at Lowers, but geeze, it’s in mushy, head-high waves, with zero consequence. Halfthe surfers are intermediate, one quarter are old and soft (like me) one eighth (or more) are little kids and finally one-eighth might be pro-level fast and fit surfers. But, this Pipeline crowd is insane. One hundred fast, fit, strong and psycho, expert to pro-level surfers, hucking themselves over and under the ledge….and no taking turns. Ruthlessly Competing. Truly No Country For Men.”
Essential.