Carving Pipeline
NORTH SHORE, Hawaii -- Kelly Slater, nine-time world champion surfer, carves Banzai Pipeline with a frontside cutback Dec. 12 at the Billabong Pipeline Masters surf competition. Slater shredded his opponents on his way to the finals before he lost to Australia?s Taj Burrows. Slater, from Cocoa Beach, Fla., has won 41 Association of Surfing Professionals wins, an unprecedented nine world titles, six Pipeline Masters championships and an Eddie Aikau victory. He is the youngest and oldest world champion in professional surfing history. (U.S. Air Force photo/Staff Sgt. Mike Meares)