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Winter closed its door on the three-month holding period of the Quiksilver In Memory of Eddie Aikau big wave event today. An active season kept elite big wave riders entertained on Oahu's North Shore but failed to produce the solid day of 20-foot-plus surf at Waimea Bay that ‘The Eddie' mandates.

With the calendar about to roll over to February - the final month of the Quiksilver In Memory of Eddie Aikau holding period - winter swells continue to pulse through the Hawaiian Island chain with regularity.

Contest Director George Downing has called another swell to almost the hour and the size. He had the swell peaking early this AM with an occasional 20 footer on light.

Organizers of the Quiksilver In Memory of Eddie Aikau say that they are NOT planning on running the event tomorrow.

It's a rare international sporting event that can have no set date, be held just eight times in a span of 27 years, and still gain strength. But the lifeblood of the big wave Quiksilver In Memory of Eddie Aikau lies in what one man's life represented: the best that surfing and Hawaii have to offer the world.

It might take a massive swell for the Quiksilver In Memory of Eddie Aikau to be called "ON", but the event that pays tribute to the legendary Hawaiian and his powerful legacy takes place every year, without fail: The official Opening Ceremony.

The Quiksilver in Memory of Eddie Aikau proudly announces the 2011/2012 Competitors.

Surfing doesn't dodge Mother Nature's bullets; it seeks them out. It takes a special brew of energy from Mother Nature to even rouse athletes for The Eddie, and the heavier the storm, the greater the likelihood of a green light.

What makes The Eddie special are the years it doesn't go. In 26 years there have been just eight days of surfing, but the Eddie's stringent guidelines are what guarantee one of life's ultimate experiences when Eddie is a “GO” – for both surfers and spectators. If the surf at Waimea isn't at least 20 feet, of good quality and consistent, The Eddie will not go.