Surfer Albee Layer almost dies

For Albee Layer this was a near-death experience.

So the first wave was a decent pounding, but the second wave landed on my head right after I swallowed a little water. Was under for a while on that one.

Really violent and like coughing underwater to the point I felt going unconscious was probably not too crazy far away. When I came up I locked eyes with Barger and gave him an “I’m okay”. then turned to see I was in the worse place possible, the thought “if you were going to die out here this is exactly what you’d do” came into my head.

Being in front of rocks 6 feet tall out of the water not knowing what the wave behind was going to be. I dove under another one trying to stay away from the big rock. Then some how ending up perfectly dry docked after the 4th wave, which was a total blessing.

I knew I was out of a lethal situation but figured breaking a foot or wrist on the rocks was still a definite possibility (arms were going to be blocking my head) and stitches seemed inevitable. I jumped into the next wave perfectly and hit a few rocks but nothing too hard. I then got washed in to sit in the tide pools shaking in like a weird panic calm.

I saw Kai Barger paddling frantically in towards me looking petrified, I saw Jon Spenser taking his shirt off running from his camera to help and could hear Matt Meola, Roberson Brothers and Elliot Leboe (drone filmer) give a hoot from up top and I gave them the “okay” pat on the head. I didn’t want to check my body for wounds but when I did I almost literally didn’t have a scratch.

Which still blows my mind every time I replay it. If you did what I did a hundred times I think 10% you’d be okay 80% in the hospital for something from a couple stitches to like a TBI and 10% worse. I used up a life time of dumb luck in just under two minutes.

POLYLEMMA

Its been a minute since we got to cut a piece with both Matt and Albee together in one fine tuned edit. Stoked these two decided to double stack their footage into a blend of wizardry you typically only find in a Harry Potter novel. If you are still reading this stop wasting your time and watch the damn edit!

Filmed by // Dan Norkunas, Jon Spenser & Forrest Dein
Cut by // Albee Layer & Dan Norkunas
Extra Sauce by // Cody Carter

POLYLEMMA from TAKE SHELTER PRODUCTIONS on Vimeo.

Brrr…

Brrr... from TAKE SHELTER PRODUCTIONS

Brrr... is short story of a group of friends who grew up in Hawaii. During the long flat summer the crew decided to take a trip south. While most surfer's are heading to Indo, Fiji or Tahiti during this time of year, our crew decided to go further. Far on New Zealand's southern island the gang runs into many things working against them. From angry locals, iceberg lakes and no idea where to go, they do there best to capture the raw beauty of the place whilst keeping the laughs going the whole time.

Narrated by Kain Daly

Surfers:
Albee Layer
Kain Daly
Hank Gaskell

Cinematographers:
Dan Norkunas
Forrest Dein
Albee Layer

Edit/sound design:
Dan Norkunas
Cody Carter
Albee Layer

Music: "Live in the moment" by Portugal. the man
"Moose trot" by Harlow Wilcox
"Mustn't hurry" by Fever Ray
"A break up song" by Jon Toast

XXL Dungeons

Dungeons! feat. Albee Layer's Barrel from Otto Whitehead

In a twist of oceanographical fate, a five metre swell with an 18 second period surged over one of the world's most beautiful big wave reefs.

Dungeons (05.08.2013)

Featuring Twiggy Baker, John John Florence, Albee Layer, Frank Solomon, Mike Schlebach, Andy Marr, Simon Lowe and others.
___

Huge thanks to Steve Benjamin from Animal Ocean for taking me out there!
facebook.com/AnimalOcean

THE WARPED ETHOS OF ALBEE LAYER

Video from SURFER

Ethos, one of Aristotle’s ingredients for persuasion in the study of rhetoric, appeals to a subject’s character or credibility in order to make a point. Character? Albee Layer’s got lots of it. Credibility? How’s his massive Jaws barrel and a BS-540 last year? So the point is: Layer is an elite, well-rounded talent, and he’s padded his big-wave game and his air game with another skill: his media production game, working with his lifelong Maui crew and alongside filmmaker Dan Norkunas in the editing bay to create freesurf reels that routinely land on the surf world’s web mantle.

“None of us, even at a young age, were like, “I’m going to be a world champion.” [Laughs] That was a very far thought,” says Layer in the above interview. “The reason why [my friends and I] got into surfing was because we watched surf videos. Our dads would film us and we’d make shitty little iMovie edits. That little group all filming each other and making the videos was so cool. They were a representation of us, because they were completely made and filmed by us. That’s where it really started, getting into the editing side of making surf videos. Once we started making Attractive Distractions, myself and Dan made Take Shelter Productions. I’ve been learning, watching him edit for so long, and now, I can kind of do it myself.”

Sounds straightforward, right? Hardly.

“I think that’s a common misconception of Maui: that we go out and we have these sessions where we nail all our clips,” Layer continues. “A good day for airs, you’ll get only a handful of good sections. For us to get a lot of clips to make a part, it’s just working at it every day. You lay out your footage at the end of the year – maybe you get two waves from this session, two waves from that session – and you see that, Oh, we did get good clips from this year. We got enough.

“When you think of surfing and its roots, it’s like an art form. Not to get all spiritual, but that’s what surfing means to me. It’s like an art form, an expression. The root of surfing isn’t competition for me. That’s not where it came from. It’s more of an expression type of thing. Myself and my group of friends will do everything we can to make it look as cool as possible. We want that opportunity for the next generation: to pursue whatever part of surfing they want, not to just be forced in this competitive box. Surfing is your interpretation. It’s up to you to decide what it is.”

ALBEE LAYER // IN BETWEEN GIANTS

ALBEE LAYER // IN BETWEEN GIANTS // Infinity Surfboards from InfinitySURF
Thank You @TakeShelterProductions for the clip!

Albee set two goals this year, one was to stay healthy through a Jaws year and the other was to land a backside 540. Not sure if either goal went the way it was planned. Regardless it was a winter to remember, and this edit proves that Jaws wasn't the only thing worth surfing on the Valley Isle.

Edited by: Albee Layer // Dan Norkunas
Filmed by: Dan Norkunas // Cody Carter // Jon Spenser

Music Nico Vega Coal Miner's Song // Death from Above 1979 // Physical World

ALBEE LAYER // IN BETWEEN GIANTS

ALBEE LAYER // IN BETWEEN GIANTS from TAKE SHELTER PRODUCTIONS
Albee set two goals this year, one was to stay healthy through a Jaws year and the other was to land a backside 540. Not sure if either goal went the way it was planned. Regardless it was a winter to remember, and this edit proves that Jaws wasn't the only thing worth surfing on the Valley Isle.

Edited by: Albee Layer // Dan Norkunas
Filmed by: Dan Norkunas // Cody Carter // Jon Spenser

Music Nico Vega Coal Miner's Song // Death from Above 1979 // Physical World

BENDING JAWS

Video from TAKE SHELTER PRODUCTIONS

SURFERS: PAIGE ALMS // ALBEE LAYER // MARCIO FREIRE // DANILO COUTO // KAI LENNY // RICKY WHITLOCK // FRANCISCO PORCELLA // TANNER HENDRICKSON //

CAPTURE & EDIT BY: DAN NORKUNAS

ADDITONAL CLIPS BY : JOHN DECESARE // JON SPENSER

MUSIC: RUELLE // UNTIL WE COME DOWN

THANKS TO: MATT SMITH // COCO WILL // JACE PANEBIANCO // POSSUM TORR

Tribute to Peahi Jaws

Tribute to Peahi Jaws ~ Webpisode 10 from ALVARO MALPARTIDA
THE FILM - EYES WIDE OPEN " Surfing Temples" Available on Vimeo On Demand - vimeo.com/ondemand/surfing
SURFERS In Order of Appearance ~
Alvaro Malpartida, Miguel Tudela, Lucas Silveira, Landon Mcnamara, Luke Shepardson, Mikey Redd, Dege O' Connell, Tyler Larronde, Albee Layer, Trevor Sven Carlson, Seth Moniz, Danilo Couto, Shane Dorian
Swell Date - February 10 &11 / 2016
Production / Thruster and Line Up Magazine
Film / Jose Plaza & Agustin Muñoz
Thumbnail / Tai Vandyke
Track - Headphone Activist ASAP

THE HABITAT

A mini series, by a collection of Maui based surfers, including Albee Layer, Matt Meola, Kai Barger, Tanner Hendrickson, and Imai Devault. Recollect this past winter with us as we stay home and search Maui for its finest moments.

Music: Dreaming Bull, No Use & The Faint, Evil Voices

Part 1: Highlights the crew cruising the Island in search of air waves. This past winter was one of strange west swells and opposite wind directions. Some of our typical spots weren't so typical, opening the doors to new waves and spots. After months of trying enough clips were stacked to place together part 1 of The Habitat, enjoy.

Filmed by: Dan Norkunas & Jon Spenser

Edited by: Take Shelter Productions

Two Islands

Two Islands is the second episode of My Road Series an Informal Surf Documentary directed by Dinis&Gustavo, featuring Nic von Rupp, Vasco Ribeiro, Maxime HUSCENOT, John John Florence, Albee Layer, and many more... Relax and Enjoy!!

Nic Von Rupp