“I am anything but satisfied with the surfing I’ve done here in my lifetime,” Albee Layer concludes at the end of his recent work, “Less Than Easy”. “I’m not even close to being done with what I want to do.”
Albee’s got one helluva motor. An internal drive that has sustained him as one of surfing’s foremost big-wave names and aerial aficionados for well over a decade. I remember reading a Surfing Magazine article in 2013 about an outspoken 21-year-old landing the first double alley-oop one week, then packing Peahi by hand the next. Now, at age 34, Albee is still on the same track.
In some ways, “Less Than Easy” is like a lot of edits from the Valley Isle (Remember how good Rainbows in the Rearview was?). Some tricky, cuppy, dry-reef waves that are better left unnamed. Wedges that allow Albee to launch himself into the tradewinds. A strong and tasteful soundtrack.
But then comes the final section — the five straight days of building swell at Jaws last December. “You never imagine that you’re going to get five days at Jaws, back to back,” Albee said. “I’ve never heard of that since I’ve been alive. The fact that happened this year and each day basically was progressively bigger than the day before was something else. That last day was like nothing I’ve ever seen before. And who knows when I’ll get to see it again.”
Imagine the psychotic vision Albee saw while at the bottom of the monster that comes through at the 13:15 mark. Or while chipping in late at 11:30. The edit captures those waves and many more from water, land and drone angles. It’s an impressive and captivating surf cinema. Less than easy for Albee, too easy for us to watch.
Related: Big-Wave Surfers Go On a 5-Day Jaws Bender (Gallery)