Is Anybody Going to Talk About Albee’s Wipeout?

The cbdMD Jaws Big Wave Championship is well underway. A glassy morning has since transitioned into a choppy afternoon, curtesy of howling offshore winds. The surf is giant. We are witnessing a new era of big-wave surfing, and with every made wave, there seems to be at least two cringe-worthy wipeouts. As someone watching the competition from my computer screen, the wipeouts are often as (if not more) entertaining than the makes. Each one naturally accompanied by a few squeamish sounds and an occasional “ouch,” followed by a quick slow-motion analysis of where the surfer went wrong. With this being said, not all wipeouts are created equal and commentators like Brian Keaulana, Peter Mel, and Joe Turpel tap-dance over potentially life-threatening situations with clearly suppressed excitement.    

But there is one wipeout in particular that I (unlike seemingly everyone else) want to focus on. This wipeout was just slightly brushed over with comments and air-time. Yet, it was the heaviest wipeout of the day, and probably the gnarliest one I’ve ever seen in my life. Albee Layer, stroked into the biggest wave of the morning and, ultimately, wore it on the head. I literally let out a verbal yelp from my cubical at work, my stomach knotting and heart sinking into my chest. I simply could not believe what I had just seen.

The commentators hardly reacted. I believe someone said, “that’s going to leave a mark.” Somehow, there was just a single replay (not even in slo-mo). As the heat rolled on, I waited and waited for someone to acknowledge what had just happened. Nobody mentioned it. Nobody even mentioned that there were only five surfers in the lineup instead of six (Albee never made it back out). It got the point where I started to wonder if I was simply imagining things. Did the set of the day not land on top of Albee’s head? Finally, after a few hours of confusion, we got an update from Albee via Instagram. He had, in fact, gotten smoked. And the wave was, in fact, fucking huge. Albee was concussed, throwing up multiple times from the channel and seeing stars the entire time. He actually tried to paddle back out, but was ultimately forced to throw in the towel after throwing up even more.

Why weren’t we updated on the situation? Why did it take an Instagram post to even acknowledge that the near-death event even happened? Why aren’t more people talking about this? Albee Layer should go down in history for having the heaviest televised wipeout on record. But I fear that the easily distracted commentary and production crew of the WSL have inadvertently swept it under the rug. Through both his big-wave barrel riding prowess as well as his highlight reel wipeouts, Albee has done so much to elevate the sport of big wave surfing to where it is today. Ignoring this contest-ending wave does a complete disservice to everything that Albee has scarified, both for his career as a big wave surfer and for the sport as a whole.