Gallery: Maui Local's Delight As Winter Waves Turn On
Over the last month, the action on the North Shore of Oahu has been going strong as events like the Pipe Masters and Backdoor Shootout scored some classic winter conditions, but there’s more to Hawaii than that. Way more. The outer islands have been having their days as well, and while Jaws rightly gets the lion’s share of attention on Maui, there’s a ton of high-performance talent around the island.
Between giant swells, the conditions recently turned on for a local’s only expression session featuring some of the island’s premiere surfers. From 2023 WSL Rookie of the Year Ian Gentile, to the whip-fast Imai DeVault, and high-flying Levi Young, even good, old country boy Torrey Meister took a break from Jaws and showed up to punt a few into the wind.
Steep and deep.
Speed, meet power and flow.
As lofty a frontside punt as you're apt to find anywhere.
"Outside!"
Warm, blue water and pocket rides, life's good.
Offseason rail work.
Grap with the wind.
Formed out, technique on point.
Not Jaws, but still fun.
Mind the landing.
In a couple weeks the WSL’s 2024 Championship Tour will kick off with the Pipe Pro. Gentile and DeVault are among three Maui surfers that will be on tour this year. They’ll be joined by Lahaina’s Eli Hanneman, who’s been spending most of his time on the North Shore lately getting ready for the season. Gentile’s coming off a breakout season last year and should roll into Pipe with a head full of confidence. DeVault is perhaps more mercurial, overcoming a low seed to start the season will be one of his initial challenges.
All told, the boys are looking rock solid right now. Spending the offseason on Maui affords the surfers the opportunity to step away from the spotlight and breathe, while still giving them plenty of time in the Hawaiian waters. As one can see by the still frames from photographer Matt Cibulka, the level of surfing in every session is through the roof and it’s only a few more short weeks before we see it on the world’s stage.
Gallery: It's Not All 50-Foot Surf On Maui's North Shore
With more than 25 years of writing about surfing, the ocean and action sports, Jake Howard continues to share stories, profiles and issues that shape the surfing world. One of the premier subject-matter experts in the field today, he's savvy in the ways of print, digital and social media, his breadth of work is expansive. Getting his start writing Surfline surf reports and recording the phone reports for 976-SURF in the late '90s, Jake served as the managing editor for Surfer Magazine in the early 2000s before moving on to launch RedBullSurfing.com and cover surfing for ESPN and the X Games. Over the years, Jake has also enjoyed time behind the edit desk at The Surfer's Journal, as well as the World Surf League, where he worked as the Senior Editor for a number of years. Beyond producing editorial content, Jake has served as a digital marketer and copywriter for iconic surf brands such as Quiksilver, Roxy and Rip Curl. Writing thousands of pages of copy for Surfline, he has deep SEO experience as well. The surf columnist for the San Clemente Times, Jake continues to dedicate himself to the culture and history of the sport through his involvement with the Surfing Heritage and Culture Center in San Clemente.