Video: Surfer Falls 20 Feet Over Shallow Pipeline Reef

The wipeout is one seen pretty often at Pipe. Rivero is paddling his hardest into a bomb. He’s committed. But at the last second, right as he is about to pop to his feet, and take the drop, he realizes he’s too late. So, he hits the eject button.

As a result, Rivero was sent falling down the face of a 20-footer. And beneath him, his landing zone, is the dreaded, razor sharp, hard-as-concrete Pipeline reef.

Captioning the video, Off Da Lip wrote:

“Perfect Pipe Conditions doesn't mean you'll get a perfect barrel. Sometimes it means that you have to bail from the top of the lip and fall 20 feet over a shallow and unforgiving reef. Here Kalani Rivero gets a perfect pipe pit, but also selects a wave that forces him to bail at the last second.”

Although different, the wave is reminiscent of Eala Stewart’s recent airdrop of doom at Pipe. On that one, Stewart didn’t eject; he made it to his feet, fell from the sky, then went splat in the flats. Like Rivero, Stewart was wearing a helmet, too.

“First time wearing a helmet this morning out at Pipe,” Stewart wrote on social media following the wipeout. “Stoked I had it for this one, blew out both fin boxes. Gotta pay to play. Been itching for a really special one… 3rd times a charm?”

Good time to buy stock in surf helmet companies?