Albee Layer is not scared to speak his mind. He does it all the time. It’s generally refreshing, usually insulting to someone, and almost always has some kind of advice worth listening to. That’s because he genuinely cares about the state of surfing—and the state of surfing in its current form is not how Albee thinks it should be.
“The reason is that I love surfing,” he says. “I know what I want to see in surfing. I love action sports as a whole, and surfing is the least focussed on progression. That’s kind of the basis for most of my arguments: why aren’t we encouraging people to push themselves more?”
He is not just talking the talk, either. Layer consistently surfs bigger, scarier waves than anyone else. He lands airs that no one else is even thinking about. Despite that, he’s not considered to be one of surfing’s most progressive surfers because he’s being marketed that way. He’s considered to be one of surfing’s most progressive surfers because he simply IS, and it’s obvious to anyone paying attention.
Take, for example, a lost sponsorship with Nike. “He tried to convince me that professional surfing is nothing that I dreamed it ever was,” he remembers about a conversation with the team manager. “I was like, ‘that’s kind of bullshit. I can do this a different way. I know it’s possible.’ And he was basically like, ‘No, you’re wrong, kid. You’re delusional.’ I had this big blow out with him, and I basically said, ‘fuck you,’ and I dropped Nike.”
How many other surfers, when faced with what was probably a very large chunk of change in their pocket, would do that? But Layer does it because he doesn’t surf to pad his wallet. He does it because he really, truly loves surfing.
“That’s why people watch action sports or sports in general,” he says. “To see people do feats that you thought were impossible or that are really inspiring and they inspire you to do better in your life. I don’t think that happens when you give a person a ten for surfing they do every day. You want to see people do things that they didn’t know they could do.”
See more from Albee Layer on Instagram.
