Stab High is the world’s most extraordinary surf contest. It’s held in a wave pool. It’s all about airs. And, performance-wise, the China edition is likely to be our best one yet.  The format eliminates awkward waiting periods, extended lulls, and safety surfing. Instead, it’s just two days of surfing’s least risk-averse individuals going as large as they can, on demand.

The event hosts an atmosphere that more closely resembles a music festival than a sporting event. Despite it feeling far from a traditional surf comp, Stab High sets the benchmark in competitive aerial surfing.

Stab High features four divisions: Pro Mens, Vans Pro Womens, Vans Ladybirds (15-and-under girls), and Bottle Rockets (15-and-under boys), presented by YETI. Additionally, the Monster Air will be won by the surfer who performs the most impactful air of the event, regardless of division.

Each surfer gets multiple chances to land their best air, and each division boils down to a four-person final. It’s judged by some of surfing’s most opinionated characters, all of whom have CVs to back those opinions up. They don’t always agree, and we think that’s a good thing.

The Pro Mens Final and Pro Womens Final will consist of 5 surfers. The Bottle Rocket and Ladybird Final will consist of 4 surfers.

Previous editions have taken us to Waco, Texas; Shizunami, Japan; Sydney, Australia; and Virginia Beach, USA. 

And now, we head to China. Powered by PerfectSwell technology, Riyue Bay Surf Resort is home to what is widely considered the world’s best artificial air section. 

We don’t know what exactly will go down, but we can’t shake the feeling that it’s going to be bigger than anything we’ve seen at Stab High before. 

Should be fun. 

There will be 36 surfers in the Pro Men’s division, 8 Ladybirds, 8 Bottle Rockets, and 4 Pro Women’s contestants.

Pro Men

Vans Pro Women

• Sky Brown

• Sierra Kerr

• Milla Coco Brown

• Zoey Kaina

• Isla Hardy

Vans Ladybirds

• Mali Adam

• Patti Zhou

• Zoee Bradshaw

• Teagan Meza

• Carla Morera de la Vall

• Miller-May Berg

• Nahia Calderon Zabala

How do we decide who’s best in the air? We’ve grappled with this question since 2018, and have come up with a variety of answers over the years (head to the History tab for some backstory).
The World’s Best Aerialists Are Split Into Four Divisions:
– Pro Men
– Pro Women
– Ladybirds (Girls, 15-and-under)
– Bottle Rockets (Boys, 15-and-under)

Qualifying Round: Pro Men’s
– 6-man heats
– Two rights, two lefts each
– Best single air in each heat advances to semis
– Two best airs that didn’t win their heats advance to Semis (leaderboard style)
– Remaining 28 surfers go to Sudden Death round

Sudden Death: Pro Men’s
– One wave in direction of choice
– Top 2 airs advance to semis
– Leaderboard format: surfers against entire field

Semifinals: Pro Men’s, Bottle Rockets, Ladybirds
– Three rights, three lefts each
– Best single air counts, top 4 advance to final
– Leaderboard format: surfers against entire field

Finals: Pro Men’s, Pro Women’s, Bottle Rockets, Ladybirds
– Three rights, three lefts each
– Best single air wins

Online
If you’re a Stab Premium member, you can watch Stab High online or on Stab Premium app for free. If not, subscribe to Stab Premium to gain access to the event webcast, along with thousands of hours of backlogged films and original editorial, with plenty more to come. We’re offering a 25% discount to anyone who signs up for the annual membership — just use code STAB90DAYS at checkout.

Times
Both days will be broadcast worldwide via stabmag.com. Check the times above for your region.

History

Past winners

Waco, 2018: Noa Deane

Waco, 2019: Chippa Wilson (Men) and Sierra Kerr (Ladybirds)

Mentawais, 2020: Ian Crane (Men) and Caity Simmers (Ladybirds)

Central America, 2021: Matt Meola (Men) and Erin Brooks (Ladybirds)

Lakey Peak, 2022: Robbie McCormick (Men) and Sierra Kerr (Ladybirds)

Japan, 2024: Eithan Osborne (Men), Lucas Cassity (Bottle Rockets), Kiara Goold (Ladybirds)

Japan, 2025: Hughie Vaughn (Men), Sierra Kerr (Women), Eden Walla (Ladybirds), Loci Cullen (Bottle Rockets)

Sydney, 2025: Joel Vaughan (Men), Sierra Kerr (Women), Skai Suitt (Ladybirds), Loci Cullen (Bottle Rockets)

Virginia Beach, 2026: Hughie Vaughan (Men), Sky Brown (Women), Isla Hardy (Ladybirds), King Nichol (Bottle Rockets) 

Stab High was born as a response to conventional surfing events. We wanted to focus on a different side of surf culture — something freer, less structured, and more unpredictable. With the wavepool boom in its nascent era, we decided on an air competition at Waco Surf (then BSR Surf Resort) in Texas.

The first edition of Stab High took place in 2018. There were 16 competitors, and they tried everything from finger flips to straight airs to acid drops off the back wall. That year, Noa Deane became the first Stab High champ.

In 2019, we took our learnings from the first edition and headed back to Waco for another event with the notable addition of a Ladybirds division. It was the first all-girls air comp, featuring four competitors under 15. In the end, Sierra Kerr held the trophy, but surfing was the real winner. The Ladybirds earned the most boisterous cheers of anyone in attendance and became the event’s main talking point. 

Then a pandemic showed up, and live events disappeared. Wanting to keep Stab High alive, we took the socially distant approach and sent a stripped-back crew to the Mentawai Islands. We adapted the format, shot everything on location, and rolled it out as an episodic series. That was fun, so we did it again in Central America in 2021, before returning to Indo in 2022 at Lakey Peak. That year, Sierra Kerr landed what was then considered the best air ever landed by a female in the Ladybirds final.  

In the exploratory spirit of Stab High, we felt it was time to return to wave pools for the live event format in 2024. Since then, we’ve run two editions in Shizunami, Japan, one in Sydney, Australia, and one in Virginia Beach, USA. There, Hughie Vaughan landed a stalefish backflip and got the first chlorinated perfect 50 in Stab High history. 

We’re not sure where we’ll be or what Stab High will look like in five or ten years, but we know we’ll be at the world’s best artificial air section in China this November.