Highlight Reel: Historic Swell Blasts Big-Wave Hotspot Jaws

Dashel Pierson
·2 min read
1

When a big swell hits, there’s a lot to unpack.

Especially when it’s something historic, when there’s multiple surf spots and sessions (and islands) involved, and when there’s countless moments to relive and rewatch.

Swells like the one that hit Hawaii on Black Friday. From Oahu, there were Outer Reef hero sessions, rogue waves flooding lifeguard towers, and closeouts at Waimea Bay.

But what about Maui? What about Jaws?

Of course, we already saw some crazy stuff from Kai Lenny. (Shocker.) He pulled a barrel roll on a 20-footer, and also went over the falls trying to save his surfboard.

But what about everything else? Like, the “biggest wave ever ridden by a 15-year-old," “Baby” Steve Roberson; Albee Layer pushing the limits and hunting west bowl tubes; or futuristic hydrofoiling from Basque Country charger, Matthieu Extebarne.

Anyway, all of that went down. And more. And now we’ve got a highlight reel featuring all the chaos and glory, wipeouts and successful rides, from filmmaker Tucker Wooding.

Here’s what Tucker had to say about the session:

“A huge swell (21 feet at 20 seconds) hit the Hawaiian shores late on Thanksgiving Day. The next morning, we woke up to huge and crazy conditions at Jaws.

“First wave of the day Kai Lenny fell on a 60-footer, then went back out for more. Albee Layer proved once again that even on the trickiest and sketchiest days out at Jaws that he can get still get barreled.

“Less than 10 waves were paddled into during the session. Strong winds came up and it became too hard to paddle. 15-year-old 'Baby' Steve Roberson got whipped into the biggest wave of the day.

“I'm claiming it's the biggest wave ever ridden by a 15-year-old. From Matthieu Extebarne foiling to Kai Lenny taking waves on the head. There were so many crazy moments during this swell.”

This is gonna be one to remember. Helluva start to the season.

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