Gerry Lopez - Biography
When you’re known as “Mr. Pipeline,” it’s pretty obvious you have clocked some heavy tube time. In fact, Gerry Lopez didn’t just ride the tube, he made the world re-evaluate the tube itself. The Hawaiian-born goofy footer made surfing the most dangerous wave on Earth look like an elegant dance with an angelic partner. Smooth, confident, and calculating; Gerry Lopez has redefined the life and art of surfing and re-directed the craft of surfboard building into realms unimagined.
Born and raised near Honolulu’s eastern edge where raw, windy east swells and clean south swells are a daily staple, Gerry attended the elite Punahou School and cut his teeth on the consistent reefs in the Aina Haina area before refocusing on the “town’s” heaviest bowl: Ala Moana.
With one eye on the smooth style of Paul Strauch and the other on the locals who spent their days getting as deep as they could in Ala Moana’s winding tube, Lopez became the Hawaiian State Champion at 14 and by high school began trekking out to the wilds of the North Shore.
Watching masters like Jock Sutherland, he slowly became more and more comfortable amongst the power of Hawaii’s most infamous wave: Banzai Pipeline . Meanwhile, Lopez studied architecture at the University of Hawaii but quit just in time for the winter of 1969 which would cement his surfing legacy.
Amid a constant barrage of epic surf that season, Lopez placed his Zen squarely in the middle nature’s most violent and beautiful spectacle. The surf world ate it up.
As the Shortboard Revolution took hold, Lopez illuminated the next realm…in the belly of the beast.
With his meditative vibe and widely acknowledged status as the world’s greatest tube rider, Lopez quickly capitalized. He partnered with surf judging stalwart Jack Shipley to form Lightning Bolt Surfboards (which were ridden by…well…everyone and became the sketching fodder for high school notebooks all over the world) and won the Pipeline Masters in 1972 and 1973. Soon, however, the Lightning Bolt company was in the midst of a collapse. Lopez sold his share and bought a 20 acre fortress of solitude on Maui from where he quietly set out to chart the map to surfing’s next frontier. He explored Indonesia’s unknown nooks and crannies from Uluwatu to G-Land and helped make these waves household names (in surfing households at least).
As if all that was not enough, Lopez stepped into Hollywood with a cameo role in John Milius’ Big Wednesday which led to work on other films like Conan the Barbarian, North Shore, and Farewell to the King.
But as a surfer, he was far from done. Back on Maui, he became enamored with the speed of windsurfing, began shaping sail boards, and opened a sailboard shop. Since then, he became involved with tow-surfing and paddle boarding, shaping boards for the first onslaught of these new additions to the surfing lexicon, before leaving the islands for Bend, Oregon in the early ‘90’s.
Now residing in Oregon far from the beach, he has remained relevant. Named Surfing Magazine’s”Shaper of the Year” award for his work on tow-in surfboards with Laird Hamilton and Darrick Doerner. Now an ambassador for outdoor gear giant Patagonia, “Mr. Pipeline” gets in more time on the slopes and in the water than almost anyone. Lopez wrote a book called Surf is Where you Find It.
Still surfing and creating in his 60’s, Gerry Lopez has proven that surfing is eternal. In a sport that values youth and the ever-dissolving moment, Gerry Lopez has defied the odds by remaining a valuable and relevant presence in today’s industry. As companies come and go and surfers step from their spotlight, Gerry Lopez has kept his eye on integrity and passion and remained both iconic and influential to this day. For that, we salute him.
Born and raised near Honolulu’s eastern edge where raw, windy east swells and clean south swells are a daily staple, Gerry attended the elite Punahou School and cut his teeth on the consistent reefs in the Aina Haina area before refocusing on the “town’s” heaviest bowl: Ala Moana.
With one eye on the smooth style of Paul Strauch and the other on the locals who spent their days getting as deep as they could in Ala Moana’s winding tube, Lopez became the Hawaiian State Champion at 14 and by high school began trekking out to the wilds of the North Shore.
Watching masters like Jock Sutherland, he slowly became more and more comfortable amongst the power of Hawaii’s most infamous wave: Banzai Pipeline . Meanwhile, Lopez studied architecture at the University of Hawaii but quit just in time for the winter of 1969 which would cement his surfing legacy.
Amid a constant barrage of epic surf that season, Lopez placed his Zen squarely in the middle nature’s most violent and beautiful spectacle. The surf world ate it up.
As the Shortboard Revolution took hold, Lopez illuminated the next realm…in the belly of the beast.
With his meditative vibe and widely acknowledged status as the world’s greatest tube rider, Lopez quickly capitalized. He partnered with surf judging stalwart Jack Shipley to form Lightning Bolt Surfboards (which were ridden by…well…everyone and became the sketching fodder for high school notebooks all over the world) and won the Pipeline Masters in 1972 and 1973. Soon, however, the Lightning Bolt company was in the midst of a collapse. Lopez sold his share and bought a 20 acre fortress of solitude on Maui from where he quietly set out to chart the map to surfing’s next frontier. He explored Indonesia’s unknown nooks and crannies from Uluwatu to G-Land and helped make these waves household names (in surfing households at least).
As if all that was not enough, Lopez stepped into Hollywood with a cameo role in John Milius’ Big Wednesday which led to work on other films like Conan the Barbarian, North Shore, and Farewell to the King.
But as a surfer, he was far from done. Back on Maui, he became enamored with the speed of windsurfing, began shaping sail boards, and opened a sailboard shop. Since then, he became involved with tow-surfing and paddle boarding, shaping boards for the first onslaught of these new additions to the surfing lexicon, before leaving the islands for Bend, Oregon in the early ‘90’s.
Now residing in Oregon far from the beach, he has remained relevant. Named Surfing Magazine’s”Shaper of the Year” award for his work on tow-in surfboards with Laird Hamilton and Darrick Doerner. Now an ambassador for outdoor gear giant Patagonia, “Mr. Pipeline” gets in more time on the slopes and in the water than almost anyone. Lopez wrote a book called Surf is Where you Find It.
Still surfing and creating in his 60’s, Gerry Lopez has proven that surfing is eternal. In a sport that values youth and the ever-dissolving moment, Gerry Lopez has defied the odds by remaining a valuable and relevant presence in today’s industry. As companies come and go and surfers step from their spotlight, Gerry Lopez has kept his eye on integrity and passion and remained both iconic and influential to this day. For that, we salute him.