How dangerous is pipeline?

Question

I don't surf, but i don't see why people say it is so dangerous, besides drowning how can you get injured in water?

Answer 1

A wave crashing down on you with the force of a freight train can fracture bones.  This is before you hit the bottom, which can be covered with bone smashing rock, or worse a lascerating and bacteria infested reef.  If your board and/or fins hit you the wrong way, you'll need stitches.  Just hitting the bottom can give you a brutal sand burn.  Shark attacks are always a possibility, but I've known dudes that have been bitten and hurt by large baitfish, stung by stingrays, jellyfish, man-o-war, etc...  But to dudes like us the pain and risk is worth one perfect tube, or maybe just a perfect sunrise over the water...

Answer 2

the pros make it look really easy, so do I, but each time u ride the pipe, your puttin ur life on the line. if the wave breaks on you, that is several tons of water landing on you.

Answer 3

very dangerous

Answer 4

people have died and became paralyze in pipe

besides drowning you can hit bottom and get knocked out,

you wouldn't understand what its like being held down by sets that are relentless

Answer 5

Very dangerous . If you have to ask ...... don't go out .

Answer 6

Eh Blah! Stop lipping already! You still talking smack to all these people. Tell the truth, you never surf pipe unless its under 2 feet!

For the question:

Get plenty waves in all Hawaii that would kill you haole, so my words of wisdom are stay home and master your homebreak and be happy with that!

Answer 7

its so shallow and theres crazy sharp rocks on the bottom so if you wipe out its gonna hurt

other than that its not that bad

Answer 8

pipeline is considered one of the most dangerous waves in the world.  even after the discovery of many new big wave spots, pipe still maintains it's status as one of the most dangerous waves.  for starters, it is shallow!  most people who surf pipe on a regular basis have a laundry list of injuries that have sustained, from various cuts and lacerations to fractures, blown ear drums, and concussions.  also, the reef at pipe is very inconsistent and filled with various crags and holes.  oftentimes, your lease can get wrapped around the reef and hold you down or you can get stuck in a cave and not find your way out.  i am not sure what the mortality rate is but every season people get injured and it is not uncommon to hear of a fatality.  although the life guards at pipeline and the north shore are the best in the business.

Answer 9

Judging by the way you phrase your question, it is quite obvious that you are not familiar with the ocean and the power it has.   Any surf spot can be dangerous when big.  But, during high surf, what separates Pipeline from other surf spots is the very high level of respect that the elite class of surfers show for it.  It is a spot where even the best of the best (surfers with excellent ability, physical and mental conditioning, and power) get seriously hurt and even drown at Pipeline.  

The danger comes in a number of ways: 1) The crowd.  Because of its reputation and exposure, there are a lot of novice surfers who are in the water that get in the way of the better surfers and present an obstacle as well as lose their boards that spear other surfers both on and off the wave.  These novice surfers are out there so that they can tell people they surfed Pipeline.  90% of the crowd don't even catch a wave.  They just sit in the water and are out there to survive.  2)  The wave is very powerful.  It comes from deep water to shallow water very quickly, so it hits a very shallow reef with huge force.  Imagine a runaway truck that hits a gradual ramp and slowly comes to a stop versus a runaway truck that has to stop in a short distance and has to plow into a barrier to stop.  The reef at Pipeline is not like a gradual ramp, the reef becomes suddenly shallow which would be similar to a runaway truck plowing into a barrier to stop.

3)  The takeoff points vary, so even the best get caught in the wrong spots and take awful wipeouts on the shallow jagged reef.

Bottom line is that the topography of the reef coupled with the force that the swell hits it along with the varying conditions that make Pipeline dangerous.

Answer 10

its extremely dangerous if you dont know what you are doing

Answer 11

The main way that people die at Pipe is hitting the reef and blacking out. Look at pictures of Pipeline....the reason why the barrels are so big is because you have a wave that's over 15-20 feet tall breaking over a sharp reef in about 6 feet of water.

Pipe is relatively shallow, so you don't really have to worry about  getting held under too long. What you have to worry about is getting knocked unconscious after wiping out and hitting the reef, and then getting swept into the underwater coral reef caves...