Boom! That was the sound of the biggest three days in surfing in years—and it’s not about to end. On Monday, legendary tow-in spot Jaws on Maui saw the wildest, cleanest surf in a decade. On Tuesday, Greg Long won the Quiksilver in Memory of Eddie Aikau big-wave event at Pipeline on the North Shore of Oahu in massive waves 25 years to the day after the first Eddie was held. Today, Steph Gilmore locked up her third world championship in a row by winning the Billabong Pro Maui (also for the third consecutive time). Also today, the Billabong Pipe Masters was postponed because the surf was too big and closing out the Bay.

Much of the energy was courtesy of the El Niño-fueled, bomb-throwing swell that hit Hawaii, one of the five biggest ever to crash the North Shore, said Sean Collins, head forecaster for Surfline. Check out the video above for Monday’s mega-session at Jaws–and stick around to the end of the clip to see the Mack-truck sized barrel.

The swell was an early holiday gift to the Eddie, a prestigious, invite-only big wave contest, which, because its rules require a minimum wave height of 20 feet, has only been held eight times–particularly so coming exactly 25 years after the first Eddie held in Waimea Bay was won by Clyde Aikau, Eddie’s brother. Contest organizers said it was the biggest sustained swell in 40 years. Check out the Adventure Life’s gallery of insane images here (all images courtesy Quiksilver). And the best overall coverage I’ve found so far comes via Surfer Magazine’s Sean Doherty–if you want all the deets, click here.

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More into mayhem? Take a peek at the worst wipeouts from the event…

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Meanwhile, it’s no surprise that 21-year-old Steph Gilmore pulled down the Association of Surfing Professionals hat trick–the girl’s been on fire all season. Starting with the Roxy Pro Gold Coast, she finished first, second, second, fifth, second, third, first. Total prize winnings for the year: $57,100. Earlier this year she put together a playlist of tunes for the Adventure Life. Check it out here.

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What’s next? The Pipe Masters was postponed at least until Thursday. “The swell is still too big for Pipeline today so we’ve called the event off,” Randy Rarick, Vans Triple Crown of Surfing contest director, said. “We’re expecting conditions to drop slightly and clean up so it’s looking likely that we’ll begin tomorrow.”

The forecast, courtesy of Surfline:

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Tagged as: oceania, surfing