After four months that WOTW Head Judge Gerry Lopez described as a "once-in-every-30-years Pipeline season," the panel of Lopez, Pancho Sullivan and Ross Williams selected the top 10 waves of the North Shore winter. The surfers (shown in chronological order) chose their preferred video angle for final judging. Winners will be announced later this month. Photo: Jeremiah Klein

"I did a mid-face bottom turn/pump into the section and it projected me perfectly," Flynn said. "I set my edge and had so much speed off that pump that I just held my line. That wave felt extremely powerful because it loaded up on the First Reef. I thought I was too deep, but I held strong and it sucked in and I was skittering over the foam ball. Luckily it let me out with a huge spit." Photo: Ryan Craig, Video: Brandon Ells

"I thought it was gonna be a good one but I wondered if it was going to closeout," Torrey Meister said. "I felt like I couldn't get into it but I hooked it and it doubled up as it hit First Reef. It was a big tube and when it spit I couldn't see anything for a while. After I came out, I looked around and was like, 'Woah, I made that.' That was the biggest, best Backdoor wave I've ever gotten." Photo: Ryan Craig, Video: Nick Green

"That day had so many good waves," Reef said. "I always try and position myself as deep as possible out there because I don't like to stall. And that's pretty much what I did on that wave. I came from way behind the boil and let the board do the rest." Photo: Jeremiah Klein, Video: Fernanda Santos

"It felt like it was one of those waves where I was going to be too deep," JOB said. "But I had a good line and just backdoored the whole thing. I didn't let go of my rail because I knew it was going to backspit. But I drew the right line, it spit, I held on and got lucky. Then I saluted it." Photo: Ryan Craig, Video: Lachlan McKinnon

"That was my first wave of the afternoon session on the best day of the swell," Florence said. "I took off and kinda just stalled at the beginning to slow down a bit as the lip threw. When I was coming out, it went into a weird corner section and I almost nose dove. I was so psyched because the crowd was pretty thin and it was one of the best days I've seen in a long time." Photo: Trevor Moran, Video: Kaleu Wildner

"That day was amazing," Slater said. "There were lots of sets and a few waves in each one so even with the big crowd there were enough to spread the wealth pretty good. I had my best waves of the year that day, I think. Probably for the last few years." Photo: Hank, Video: Bruno Lemos

"It's been about 10 years since I had one that long," Sai said. "I knew it was going to be a long one and, sure enough, it was the perfect Pipeline wave. It had that extra long sandbar connection for a bonus. That was pretty much as good as it gets out there. Everyone got really good waves. Usually there are only a handful but that day everyone got a handful." Photo: Heff/Freesurf, Video: Kaleu Wildner

"The Christmas swell was a little smaller than the 20th/21st but one came in that reminded me of the other days," Mason said. "Except I got pounded on it. Then Jamie burned me on my next wave because I was a little too deep. But I stayed positive and got this one right after that. It looked like the closeout from earlier. I didn't think I was going to make it but it blew me out." Photo: Rafaski, Video: Kaleu Wildner

"There were some really good waves coming through but it was kinda wonky," Bromley said. "This wave popped up and didn't seem to be that incredible but it gave me a nice in. Next thing I knew, I was way behind the peak so I drew out my bottom turn and drove up into it. It was a pretty wild experience inside the barrel. It was the best wave I've ever had at Pipe." Video: Alex Perez