shoot the pier

Riding a wave from one side of a pier to the other by threading the pilings. In their 1962 hit "Surfin' Safari," the Beach Boys sang "At Huntington and Malibu they're shooting the pier . . . ," and in fact the pier shot is a regular part of surfing at dozens of breaks around the world. At times, shooting the pier has a practical side—it can be safer to get through the pilings while riding, compared to kicking out before the pier and then getting swept through the next wave—but for the most pa...