Balaram Stack scores big in Hawaii

Five-months after he became the hometown hero during the Quiksilver Pro New York, Point Lookout resident Balaram Stack scored big against some the world’s best surfers at the Volcom Pipe Pro competition in Hawaii on Jan. 31.

The 20-year-old pro surfing rookie accomplished a rare feat, organizers said, when he scored a perfect 10 surfing in swells of 15 to-20-feet. Stack has been surfing in Hawaii for the past several months in one of the world’s most revered — and feared — surfing spots: the Banzai Pipeline.

“It’s the first time I’ve ever surfed a contest out here and it’s definitely a dream I’ve had for a while,” Stack told the Association of Surfing Professionals.

According to Jodi Wilmott, a spokeswoman for the event, Stack was up against one of Pipeline’s most respected riders, Kalani Chapman, 29, and a pair of rising Hawaiian stars in Granger Larson, 21, and Tonino Benson, 22. He had a nail-biting start and a short tube-ride almost knocked him off. But none of his challengers were fairing much better in the rogue lineup and Stack surprisingly took a slim lead.

With three minutes to go, however, a huge A-frame peak pushed through and Stack, sitting deepest, swung and stroked over the ledge. He dropped weightlessly, set the rail of his surfboard on edge and pulled up into a gaping, hollow barrel, arms outstretched. When he exited in a plume of spray and whitewater, Wilmott said, he was standing casually with hands held behind his back... in disbelief.

While defending champion John Florence, of Hawaii, ultimately maintained his title when he won the event on Feb. 1, Stack also scored a bonus $1,000 as part of the Electric Perfect Ten bonus awards and was among the final 32 surfers left in the event.

“It’s what I’ve always wanted — to have a heat out there in pumping waves,” Stack told the Association of Surfing Professionals. “I just thought that if the wave came, I was going, if not, I’ll regret it forever. I knew the waves were firing and there were only three other guys out. That never happens, so I was just hoping I would get a wave. The stars aligned. I got one.”

“It was pretty nerve-wracking just being out there,” he added. “All I was hoping was to make another heat and make it to the next round, but now I don’t even care if I make the next round, that was the best thing ever.”