Kelly Slater’s Wave Just Formed A Bonus Air Section

A few days ago, Albee Layer posted several photos on his Instagram story that implied he was finally going to Kelly Slater’s wavepool.

It was a combination of Albee being on a private jet (his first time ever!), eating a delicious breakfast spread (that I had experienced once before), and hanging out with Slater, Josh Kerr, and Todd Glaser that gave it away.

Last week Stab reported that Albee had not only been invited to surf Slater’s pool, but more importantly he’d been asked to help design its new air section. Being a world-class aerialist and also one of the few pros who has visited Waco’s American Wave Machines site (ground zero for the best man-made ramp in the world), Albee was uniquely qualified for this position.

Slater is calculated, and bringing Albee along was an astute call. 

Stab reached out to Albee to see if we could pry any info about his Lemoorian getaway. While the Hawaiian was obligated to keep certain details under wraps, he did unveil a few juicy morsels for us filthy scavengers to feast upon.  

Forks ready?

All the proof we need.

Stab: Albs, how was your trip to Fresno Peak?
Albee: It was pretty sick. I’m so sore I can hardly walk.

And I’m sure you got very tubed and did the best turns etc. But after seeing what was possible in Waco, all we really care about is that damn air section. So did you guys make it special, or what?
We made it way better. It still needs some work but it’s pretty fuckin’ good.

What did you guys change? Does it have a closeout now?
We tried a bunch of different sections and are getting close to figuring it out. One of the settings gave us a closeout, sort of. It’s hard to explain…

Did your knowledge from Waco, and airs in general, help their engineering team to develop a superior ramp?
They are constantly working on making the wave better, but nothing revolutionary was really happening. We just went and tried a bunch of different settings, and some of them started working better and better towards making a good air section.

Does this pool have any limits when it comes to creating a quality ramp?
They definitely haven’t tested all the settings and capabilities of the wave. There are a lot of waves and sections and settings that can still come from the machine that people haven’t seen. So it’s impossible to say, really.

Be honest: how does it compare to the Waco ramp?
It’s impossible to compare to Waco. It’s just so different.

Fine, but is it possible to do something crazy like a flip or a double-spin in Slater’s pool? Did you?
We didn’t do anything crazy, but once we make it a little better, flips and double spins will definitely be possible.

And when are they gonna unleash this thing? That September event is looming, and to be frank, after watching the Founder’s Cup, it’s clear they need to something to make the competition more exciting.
I think the wave that they surf in the CT event will definitely offer something new…

Clip (hopefully) coming soon!