Any Judge But Kelly Slater, Says Albee Layer

If you must know, the answer is yes – after hours of groveling and pleading, Albee Layer finally received the Stab High invite that he so badly coveted.

Just kidding, he hardly had to ask.

Because after watching Albee hit the section this past May, we couldn’t pass up the opportunity to see him sticking a double rotation – or as Chris Cote would call it, a four-hundred-and-eighty-gazillion degree spin – under the Stab High spotlight. 

Whether or not Kelly decides to swing the red pen, Stab High will be judged by a triumvirate of board sport greats using a highly critical criteria, as designed by Stab High’s true head judge – me.

• Waves will be scored from 0 to 100 on a static, event-wide scale (judges will be able to look back at past-completed airs to keep their scoring consistent throughout the event).
• Only airs will be scored. Turns/blowtails/club-sandwiches will not count.
• Airs must be completed with control and ridden out under the power of the wave, with at least the nose of the board breaking free from the whitewater. (WSL rulez)
• Scoring criteria: We’re gonna be stingy with our scores, but only because we know how good these guys are! For a benchmark, we’ve set Seth Moniz’s backflip (currently the best air landed at the Waco site) at a clean 80-pointer. Here’s what the airs will be judged on:
• Height (determined by the lowest part of board or body)
• Speed/Distance covered (has anybody cleared the whole section yet?)
• Style (if it looks good, it scores great)
• Progression and creativity (any weird grabs, tweaks, spins, rolls, and flips will be noted!)
• Landing (the cleaner, the better)

An 80-pointer in action.

Some might say that setting Seth Moniz’s most impeccable flip at just 80/100 points is cruel and unusual, but here’s the thing: the gross score of a wave is meaningless. The only thing that matters is where that score lands in relation to all the others.

So yeah, to get a 90 or above, guys will have to do something crazy. That’s the whole incentive. 

And while the above criteria will guide our judges’ decisions, scores will ultimately come down to subjective feelings inspired by the maneuvers. As humans, we’re slaves to our emotions after all.

So go big, boys.

Buy your tickets for the event here.