Albee Layer Bags Another 20-Foot West Bowl Jaws Barrel

When it comes to knifing 20-footers and stalling for triple overhead tubes, few have done it like Albee Layer. A highlight reel from one productive season at Jaws alone is an impressive specimen, and he’s been doing it for more than a decade.

While injuries (including a vicious concussion) have been a factor in recent years, this past winter Layer seemed to be in the right spot again and again. And the wave that kicked it off is the one playing above, which earned him a nod into the 2024 SURFER Big Wave Challenge.

It was a clear mid-October morning when Layer stroked into the wave at first light. As he’s done time and again, he flew across the west bowl before pulling into an easy 20-footer. Just to make it more interesting, the wave looks poised to clamp on the end, but Albee punches through the lip and whitewater at the trough. How you can shrug off that much water is beyond me.

Practically since he could paddle out at Peahi, Layer has long been vocal about his desire to raise the standard of what’s possible to surf with two hands and a big board. And he backs it up. Even after a great winter (even by his lofty standards) he still wants bigger and better.

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“I had a great year at jaws, almost perfect for the swells we had,” Albee wrote in his Instagram as a sort of post-winter wrap-up. “0 falls and got the best ones every day but somehow still just not that content. ‘I shoulda got a bigger one that windy day, shoulda soul arched my best one the first morning, and definitely shoulda saved money and been ready to run to Fiji!’

Big wave surfing is an addiction just like drugs or anything else except no one’s telling you to quit. Idk every spring I start editing footage from the year and just trip myself out a little. Both overwhelmed and underwhelmed by all of it.

Sorry if this sounds like complaining, I am incredibly grateful that even if I have no sponsors one day (thank you @rockstarenergy and @anetik_performance for continued support) my home is a couple miles from this wonder of the world. Owe so much to that. But yeah post winter depression is setting in hahaha.”

Here's to hoping Layer finds what he's looking for at his home break next winter. In the meantime, we'll watch these clips on repeat.