Photo: @thesunnyhunter
Two people immediately come to mind when you think of shooting the Malibu Pier: Allen Sarlo and Laird Hamilton. They’re not the only people to do it, but arguably the most recognized for it. And unlike shooting most other piers around the world, riding a wave all the way through the criss-crossed, crowded pylons supporting the world famous Malibu Pier requires a once-in-a-blue moon swell — one big enough to push waves all the way through the bay at First Point.
It’s rare you’ll ever see the stars align to even take a shot at it, and Los Angeles-native Hunter Jones nearly added his name to the list this week as California’s been pummeled by one of the best south swells since…well, since Laird and Sarlo pulled it off back in 2014.
There was almost a full day between the first clip I saw of a surfer firing his way through the bay and pointing it at the pier, ejecting at the last moment while onlookers “oooohed” and “ahhhhed,” and the moment I realized that surfer was Hunter Jones.
“I’ve always wanted to do it. (But) you don’t get any practice,” Jones told The Inertia. “It’s literally like you luck into an opportunity.”
Jones says he made a commitment to surfing First Point more in the past two years or so, and the realization that Tuesday might serve up the chance to accomplish something he’d thought of for a long time hit him on the drive up. He mentioned it to his filmer, half-joking maybe, but like he said, you really have to luck into the opportunity. But as crowded as Malibu is on any given day, the place nears Snapper Rocks status anytime it even sniffs head high. So Jones decided his best bet for the day would be to sit out the back, wait for a set, and maybe one would line up with the pier.
Photo: @thesunnyhunter
That opportunity did come and Jones took the third wave of the set, a factor that influenced how the rest of the moment played out.
“Obviously, you have all that reverberation from the waves prior, so I was experiencing a bit of backwash once I hit that inside portion in the bay,” he says. He realized somewhere along the way he’d been given his chance, so he started tracking his line at the pier, its crowded pylons getting bigger and bigger as they got closer and closer.
“Once I got to that inside section, after I realized, like, ‘Okay, I’m losing speed, I’m pretty far inside, I don’t think I have enough momentum to make it to the other side.’ (So) I just redirected and jumped off.”
If you’ve seen the clip already then you know that ejection was a close call. Jones hit eject at the last possible second while his board flew straight into those pylons. The wave, meanwhile, exploded, sending water over the pier itself.
“The whole ocean was nearly folding over it on the other side,” he says, looking at the footage. “You can see, maybe a 20-foot backwash.”
The aftermath. Photo: @thesunnyhunter
Hunter Jones didn’t cross shooting the pier off his bucket list but he still came away with one of the gnarliest clips of this ginormous south swell. And now, he at least has one practice rep under his belt, because shooting the Malibu Pier is still on Jones’ to do list.
“You need a big swell, you need the set wave, and I had the chance,” he said. “It was the right call not to go for it. It may be once in a lifetime, but hopefully I get the chance again. I’ve seen my heroes like Laird and Al do it, and I just wanted to join the list. Not this time, but next time.”
