Many things have changed in the world of surfing. There is much talk about the loss of spirit of an activity that is torn between being an Olympic sport or an energetic activity; between being a mainstream audiovisual product followed also by Facebook users in Kyrgyzstan or something shared only by those who practice it; there is debate about whether the Tanner and Michael fight should be left as a regular thing on the North Shore or if it should be resolved in the Hague Tribunal.

Amidst this turbulence of debates and changes, there are some things that remain the same and that are appreciated, that excite, that change agendas, that for many are much more important than the Boca and River final, or the World Cup final or any other event on the planet.

Today one of them begins: The Pipe Masters. Of course, the event and everything surrounding it has a lot of the convulsions mentioned in the previous paragraph, but the wave is the same and that millisecond in which, when the bomb hits, the surfer decides to turn around, paddle with his heart and throw himself into the precipice, makes everyone's pupils narrow, their hearts grow and their breathing stops... That remains the same.

They say that at the first Pipe Masters in 1971 – which was held in one day – Californian surfer Corky Carroll tricked wave specialist Gerry Lopez and called him to tell him there would be no event that day. The wave king spent the rest of the day doing something else and the event was eventually won by Mister Sunset, Jeff Hakman.

The next two, Lopez did not trust Carroll and won.

In these 47 years, on that wave, legends were born, careers ended, surfers died, hundreds were injured, and at each start of a tournament, what the championship always had was ignited: The queen of the waves with the best surfers and a tradition of balls combined with class, fundamental factors to surf well there.

The Pipe Masters begins today and thousands of surfers have it very much on their agendas and in their hearts.