By now, you’re aware that the Pe’ahi Challenge was exactly what organizers and spectators hoped for (except for a few). The forecasts all looked just about perfect. “We’ve been watching the buoys all night to see how they hold, which we based our information on for today,” said Mike Parsons on day two. “It looks pretty good through the middle of the day. Now, we’re seeing about 13 feet at 16 seconds, where yesterday, we had 13 feet in the 30-second range. You can see the difference in the power of the waves.”
And what power! As usual, the Pe’ahi Challenge is being called “historic” and “a big-wave event for the record books.” Whether it is actually historic could be up for debate, but either way, it was a big wave event with very, very big waves.
Ian Walsh took the men’s side. On the way to the podium, he managed to find a perfect that included a barrel so big it looked fake. Paige Alms took the women’s division for the second year in a row because she’s the best damn female big wave surfer on earth. “I feel so grateful to be able to sit out in an empty lineup at firing, perfect Jaws,” she said in a post-win interview. “It doesn’t get much better than that. Every single one of the women today sent it on a bomb. There were big waves out there and I was kind of kicking myself for not going on one set but I just feel super stoked and honored.”
Alms, like many others, hadn’t surfed Jaws this season. Her first two waves in the event, in fact, were her first of the winter. Those two waves scored her 21.23 out of 30 points, which was enough to walk away a winner. No matter how comfortable she might seem, however, Alms isn’t shy to admit that it’s a terrifying place. “Anyone that says they’re not scared of this place, I think they’re lying,” said Alms. “I think it’s the most powerful and intimidating big wave anywhere in the world by far. I definitely look up to Ian and I’m super stoked that he won it. We couldn’t have asked for anything more — it definitely put on a show so thanks, Pe’ahi!”
