Surfing's Dark Side on the North Shore | The New York Times
Surf 15 years ago 578,057 views
A gang of surfers called the Wolfpak police the break at Oahu's famous Banzai Pipeline on the North Shore of Hawaii. Subscribe to the Times Video newsletter for free and get a handpicked selection of the best videos from The New York Times every week: http://bit.ly/timesvideonewsletter Subscribe on YouTube: http://bit.ly/U8Ys7n Watch more videos at: http://nytimes.com/video --------------------------------------------------------------- Want more from The New York Times? Twitter: https://twitter.com/nytvideo Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/nytimes Google+: https://plus.google.com/+nytimes/ Whether it's reporting on conflicts abroad and political divisions at home, or covering the latest style trends and scientific developments, New York Times video journalists provide a revealing and unforgettable view of the world. It's all the news that's fit to watch. On YouTube. Surfing's Dark Side on the North Shore | The New York Times http://www.youtube.com/user/TheNewYorkTimes
10. comment for Surfing's Dark Side on the North Shore | The New York Times
20. comment for Surfing's Dark Side on the North Shore | The New York Times
30. comment for Surfing's Dark Side on the North Shore | The New York Times
50. comment for Surfing's Dark Side on the North Shore | The New York Times
And beating down on a Hoale just for paddling out is Not Respect. It's prejudice.
People dont understand the Hawaiian people are a warrior people. If you can't handle the heat.......
I could point at my house from the line up, according to our beaches "local boys" you're good right? Wrong, they'd still try to intimidate me.
Just a bunch of bad people in this sport.
Black shorts is all I wear.
100. comment for Surfing's Dark Side on the North Shore | The New York Times
Your violence is par for the course.
LMFAO!!!
What happened to the natives of Australia? The natives of South Africa? America? New Zealand? Exactly.
I'm white btw, just saying that these guys are absolutely right to keep the visitors firmly in check, yet welcomed if they behave.
If they had a softer line, Hawaii would be worse off than it is now.
Boo hoo.
Yes, I thought so.
Party Wave!
Surfing is our culture, we should celebrate past present and future!
Alo'Ha!
Its haole, not hoale. The guy that paddled out during the contest wasn't even PART of the contest. He just wanted to surf because the waves were nice. Doing that puts him in danger, it puts the lifeguards who would have to risk their lives to go out and grab him with a jetski in danger, and it puts the surfers that are participating in the event in danger. You say youre from the north shore, then you know that the beach gets shut down when theres an event... not by da hui, by the state and the organization that is running the event. No ones allowed out in the water unless theyre part of the event. It wasn't about the guy being haole, it was about the guy going out when there was an event going on that he wasn't participating in. And can I just say, people who think da hui picks on haoles, Eddie IS haole. Pure haole! Not a drop of Hawaiian blood. So the haole founder (one of the founders I should say) started a club thats racist against other haoles? That makes no sense. Now THAT'S a joke. Respect... its the foundation of island life. Give it... receive it... show it... get it. When you say "everyone knew what da hui and "Fast Eddie" Rothman was about"... the problem with that statement, is who is this anonymous "everyone"? You cant speak for "everyone", and the fact that you used that word, instead of "I knew what da hui and eddie were about", means you never had any altercation with them YOURSELF, otherwise you would have mentioned THAT rather than rumors started by other people (aka "everyone") who got salty that they were put in their place when they tried to act dumb at the beach.
The guy just cracked the hoale for paddling out in a contest. no dropped in.
I have grown up surfing NS. Im Hapa. I moved over to Ehukai cause Pipe is now Private.
In the 80s everyone knew what Da Hui and "Fast Eddie" Rothman was about. it wasn't about making surfing in the NS fair. That's a joke.
Is not family, friends, and hot girls theyre giving waves to.... its LOCALS (of ANY ethnicity & gender).
If youve been to the north shore, youd know theres a ton of people trying to get on a wave. Add to that the tourists who come and try to bully people into giving up waves to them. Add to that the people who are being dangerous & risking hurting others (have you ever been hit by a rogue surfboard? Cause that $h!+ can break bones). These guys protect locals. They protect the north shore. I thank them. I wish there were enough of them to be on all of our beaches. Kala is actually a pretty chill guy, nice, very friendly, always helpful... but hes passionately protective of his people, his land, the ocean, & the north shore. I feel bad for him when people say he's racist... he's not. He has lots of haole friends, hes dated haole girls. Its strictly about locals vs outsiders. That being said, ive seen them step to locals as well if theyre acting dumb or putting people in danger (thats locals of ANY ethnicity, even Hawaiian)... it just doesnt happen often because locals usually have beach etiquette.
It breaks really close along the rocks at the bottom of the embankment that leads up to Pacific Coast Highway, the wave and its circumstances can take your board any time.
There were 10 people out including myself, solid 8' stacked to the horizon. Dane was with 4 other big Hawaiians and as expected they ran blocks for Dane, They would paddle in front of you making it impossible to catch the wave, which is an extremely late take off anyways . This happened for about an hour until Mickey 6'5" 250lb (local at Malibu) who was a wacko anyways told them how we do it here in California, by that time there were 35, 40 out in the water and only 4/5 were Hawaiians. They got the message and Dane broke his board on the next wave and they took off. They expect respect but rarely give it.
Mickey told them in a polite way that we
Dane sho
And what about people from Europe, Aussies,etc or like one of the comments above a Blondy from the nextdoor. Be honest not enough wave a locals stupid locals just hate when other surfer is better than them, and getting some waves
No one ignores that Hawaiians surfed in the past. Everyone knows that modern surfing came from Duke K, who taught Californians and East Coasters to surf. With Californians then teaching Australians, South Africans, etc.
Bottom line, the brown-skinned Polynesians, I think, are some of the coolest and ballsiest people on the planet, IMO. Crossed thousands of miles of open ocean in outrigger canoes with no modern navigation or safety equipment. Simply on faith.
But cool that everyone can enjoy surfing today.
i hope the tourist stop going there and they are left to fight over the last coconut
If you want to beat go to boxing
His methods, like Kalā's, may have been unorthodox, and Da Hui, like the wolf pack may have been made up of young, kinda scrappy, local guys, but they have a point. I didn't grow up on the north shore, but I grew up a stone throw away from Makaha Surf beach, and I gotta tell you the guys out there are the same. It's their water, their families have surfed there for generations, and so they feel like it's their home. It's like if someone walks in my house with their shoes on and makes my floor dirty, I freak out, because it's my house. You go to their beach and drop in and hurt someone, or leave rubbish around, or say bad things about them or their ohana, they get nuts...
They are human, and surfers tend to be more human than most. What I mean is, they are deeply invested in surf
you show respect by knowing the rules of the surf. guy closest to the peak has right of way. when paddling out the guy riding the wave has the right of way make way and suck it up and duck dive instead of trying to paddle around causing the rider to adjust. every wave isn't yours ect... stuff like that. these rules apply to every break not just the north shore. showing respect doesn't mean to kiss though.
Study the spot (be it Pipeline or ANY surf spot), spot the locals (they know each other, you'll hear them chatting about how it was yesterday or the last good swell), IF you decide to paddle out, be patient, let the first couple of sets go (people have been waiting, it's not your turn), don't even paddle for a wave that a local is paddling for, DO NOT drop in on anyone!
SURF SAFE! Know your abilities. If it's too big - watch & learn, don't ditch your board when you're caught inside (it floats better than you, hang on to it), don't scratch for the shoulder of a wave somebody is on - learn to duck dive or turn turtle on a longboard.
If outsiders can demonstrate safety and respect, things usually go well (there's still the occasional grouch). At least that's how it works at my local spot, and how it's worked when I've travelled. Smile in the line up & have fun!
Actually, Hawaii would be under the rule of a different country. There's no way those islands would be left alone. Geographically speaking, it is the most strategic location in the world.
3:45 time to get down
Not that he is wrong in any of the opinions he expresses, but where I come from, "warrior culture" escalates to death, normally the killers the smallest kids that wouldn't stand a chance without a weapon.
Lucky you nobody ever came back and shot you in the back, ruining many lives including their own, because "emotions got the best of you:"
Maybe a little humanity would be more efficient, be Gandhi not Hitler.
Every child knows, but forgets as they grow up :No matter the reason of war, peace is more important.
But with that said, a person has to earn their line-up rights.
There are no free rides, and there are way too many kooks at certain spots, and they are way under-gunned for a position in such line-ups (Brazilians sic').
And I'm a BIG fan of the 'Easter Egg Hunt', any time, any place; I'm bringin' it!
You mean fun, enjoyable and carefree?
-haole
Nobody would have said, "christian from Philly" so why jew from philly?
The whole point was that he isn't a Hawaii native, it has nothing to do with religion.
Nothing in this video surprises me at all. I feel the same way when film companies close off streets in my neighborhood so they can make a useless movie that none of us are going to watch.
I'm not saying snake everyone and cut in on other surfers but I don't need to ask anyone permission to surf the ocean that I love.
The beatings can go both ways.
You may think, "Well, how are you supposed to learn!?!"
We're talking about Pipe here, not Waikiki. Wolfpak doesn't patrol shitty breaks, and shitty breaks are where you learn and slowly work your way up.
Pipe isn't for everyone and is arguably the most elite break on Oahu, with it better come an elite level of surfing.
Surfing isn't like skateboarding. Anyone has access to the same breaks that the pros have access to. Where do you find that in any other sport? Pros get their own private training facilities but in surfing you think you can just paddle straight out to where the pros are and say, "We all have to share! I'm a human being!" come on.
Wolfpak doesn't just go beating up anyone they don't recognize. They're enforcers, so they make sure no one is out that shouldn't be that will be jeopardizing everyone else's safety while throwing a wrench in the system.
I am commenting on this as a haole that grew up in Hawaii and surfed all over Oahu, including Sunset, Pipe, etc. I NEVER had a problem with locals, although I've seen others have problems with them. Let me tell you, if you go out and are respectful, know your limits, and don't get in any one's way you'll be just fine.
I'm tired of hearing about "territorialism", I hear so many people throwing the term around, yet I've never been targeted for surfing a new break. What the uninitiated interpret as territorialism is almost always just a donkey that shouldn't be out and someone else checking them.
I agree with respect, taking turns, but your actions just prove your a bunch of morons, lunatics. waaaaaaa
You don't want to offer that, you'll probably pay a price.
Now he acts like a Hawaiian.
What a joke
What a difference they were to the Aussies I first met in SoCal in the early-60s. They were great guys ... guys like Midget Farrelly. Then surfing itself had become more aggressive by the late-60s. And by the time the Aussies were breaking down doors the whole surfing ethic had change, But I don't think behaving like thugs solves anything.
the pack is a bunch of A holes. Its a public beach. take turns, yell, have fun, and get along instead of acting like low life A holes. The pack makes a lot of surfers look like fools. so does sloppy writing