When people ask me why I choose to cover action sports, I should simply show them photos from my most recent reporting trip. (And then ask them to recall the football games taking place the same day. Minnesota roof collapse, anyone?) Each November/December, the ASP World Surfing Tour heads to the North Shore of Oahu for its final events. The final stop on the men’s–and for the first time ever, the women’s–tour is the Pipeline Masters, a 40-year-old event that takes place on one of the most famous and most dangerous waves in the world.

GREEN BAY IN DECEMBER? NO THANK YOU …

There is really nothing like Pipeline Masters, and it is an event I feel truly honored to attend. So much history lives at that break … you can almost feel it. This year, although the waves weren’t as big as everyone hoped they’d be for the Masters, there were still a few very notable moments.

For the first time ever, the women competed at Pipe Masters. This was due to the fact that Billabong pulled out of the final Triple Crown stop and Vans had to scramble to figure out a way to complete the Triple Crown for the ladies. So they invited the top four women in the Triple Crown standings after two events to surf a one-heat final at Pipeline. I would have liked to see more than four women surf in that event, but the four who did put on a good show. Steph Gilmore, the reigning four-time world champ, won the event and her third-straight Triple Crown title.

In Hawaii, there is a law stating that no man-on-man heats may take place during surf contests. It’s deemed a crime against nature to have so many wonderful waves and only two men out to surf them at a time. But this year, for the first time in 10 years, the Triple Crown organizers filed for a permit to use man-on-man heats during the semis and finals. The guys who made it to the final two rounds got quite a treat–an empty break at Pipeline.

SURFING’S VERSION OF TAILGATING …

The final heat was an unexpected one: Aussie Kieren Perrow vs. Frenchman Jeremy Flores. In order to make it to the final, Flores had to knock out local heavy Ian Walsh, defending champ Taj Burrow and 10-time world champ Kelly Slater. It was Flores’ first WCT win and he is the first European to win the Pipeline Masters. And he did it in the final two minutes of the 40-minute heat. It was a pretty exciting finish.

WIN OR LOSE, SLATER IS THE BIGGEST DRAW ON TOUR. WILL WE SEE HIM BACK NEXT YEAR?

After the event, it was all I could do to tear myself away from the beach, take off my lei and drive to the Honolulu airport. Until next year …