Koa Smith Has 'Moments of Brilliance' While Surfing Firing Pipe

It's safe to say Pipeline's been having a good winter.

Early winter kicked off at Pipe with a huge swell that gave John John Florence birthday barrels and has been the muse for surfers and photographers creating seemingly endless epic footage since then.

Pipe's also made a few people pay their dues this year. Strider Wasilewski got eaten alive by a pretty mental barrel and more recently, Brazilian pro surfer Joao Chianca got knocked unconscious and recued by lifeguards.

It turns out the latest footage from barrel master Koa Smith was shot during the same session where Chianca wiped out. He captioned it:

"We all know how crazy pipeline is! The crowds, the waves, the most deadly wave in the world. Why do we do it? Because it gives us a feeling that can’t be experienced elsewhere and it takes a life time to learn it!"

The video opens with Smith freshly pumped up by a good meditation session he's following up with a Pipe session.

Smith is psyching and says:

"Pipe's firing. This is like the first real day of Pipeline, I've said that like three times. It's not like proper washing through, so it's gonna get hectic. But, we're dealing with pumping waves all day long so marathon session begin."

This isn't the first time we've seen Smith this winter. The Eddie alternate surfed big and beautiful Waimea Bay on Black Friday. After that, he was as excited as a kid on Christmas to unwrap his winter quiver.

The video above's got some beautiful POV footage of Smith getting back to back waves at Pipe.

Press play and enjoy.

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