Surfing
Paige Alms Rode the Greatest Wave of Her Life
Paige Alms reflects on a glorious day at Jaws and that one time she almost quit surfing.
The wave of a lifetime
© Ski/Camera: Frank Forbes Photo: Mike Jucker
RedBull.com:Hawaiian Paige Alms has been around the surfing scene for a decade or more, but her first run-in with serious worldwide recognition came at the start of this year on a glorious day at Jaws when she swung late, put her head down and paddled powerfully into a perfect wave. Timing her run flawlessly Alms tucked under the lip and stood proudly in one of the most important tubes in the history of women's surfing. Alms was spat into the channel a hero, but it's a title she's barely intrested in and not seeking out.
We got in touch with the 27-year-old to find out a little bit more about her story, in her own words.
Paige Alms: I was born in Victoria, Canada, but I've lived in Maui since I was 9. I actually took my first surf lesson in Australia when I was 8 and I've been hooked ever since. I didn't truly start surfing till age 10, though.
Growing up on Maui I did pretty much every contest I could enter, and as a teenager I competed a lot inter-island, doing the NSSA and HASA events. A couple of highlights included winning the 17 and under division at the U.S. Championships in Oceanside when I was 13, and the Explorer Women's final at NSSA Nationals when I was 17. I can't believe that was 10 years ago already!
I competed alongside Leilani Gryde and Taira Barron and the girls a few years younger than us: Coco Ho, Alana Blanchard, Malia Manuel, Bethany Hamilton, Carissa Moore, the list goes on. I'm so proud of all of my friends, and everything they've accomplished and continue to do for the sport. To this day I'm so inspired and motivated to improve when I see them killing it!
Paige Alms running and gunning on a Jaws beast
© Erik Aeder
After graduating high school I did the Qualifying Series, but I could only pick a few events here and there as I didn't have a major sponsor to fund my travels. When the World Tour dropped a lot of the good waves from the roster (Fiji, Tahiti, Honolua), I was no longer that motivated to get on, anyway. I never felt like I really got the chance to show my true surfing level in contests as I struggled in 2-foot beach breaks.
Growing up I was so competitive that I burned out a little, and there was a point when I lost the love for surfing because I wasn't having fun doing contests. I decided it wasn't really for me, I wanted to ride weird boards, experiment, explore and surf big waves. Slowly I transitioned into more free-surfing stuff, making video edits and doing the big-wave thing, and suddenly good waves and sharing the stoke of the ocean meant so much more to me than anything else.
My first ever big-wave paddle session was when I was 15, at an outer reef on Maui. My mentor and surfboard sponsor at the time, Chris Vandervoort, took me out on a 9-foot. I got pounded, called into a couple of sets and rode a few that I still remember. I guess that was when I first got the big-wave bug. Until recently I haven't really had the chance to "chase" big waves, but I'm so grateful that during the winter the waves come to us in Hawaii. Now, though, summers have transitioned into the endless winter and the search for surf, as Maui is mostly flat from May to September.
Fit and focussed
© Tracy Leboe
Sponsors are hard to come by as a big-wave surfer, which I've always found pretty funny. Big-wave surfing is so much more marketable. Anyone can look at a photo or video of someone riding a big wave and go, "Wow," whereas not everyone can relate to a carve or an air unless you've surfed before. I'm so grateful for my sponsors and the support they give me, I can't thank them enough for letting me do something I love. As well as my sponsors, to fund my surfing addiction I work at the Paia Fish Market, do some ding repair, help my boyfriend Sean Ordonez run SOS Shapes and take on any job that pops up — all to help get me on the next surf trip!
I've had plenty of scary moments, but my worst wipeout was in Mexico when I dislocated, fractured and tore my shoulder. It's still a sensitive subject to talk about. That injury turned my life upside down, but I learned a lot and got really fit, and it motivated me to push the limits of what I am capable of. It took a year and a half, but I eventually got my confidence back.
A lesson in what it looks like to achieve dreams
© Patrick McFeeley
That day at Jaws? It was much cleaner and slightly smaller than the day before. Sean, KK and I got out there early the next day on the ski. Keala, along with Shane Dorian, Greg Long, Ian Walsh and Albee Layer, has always been someone I look up to out there, I just love surfing with her. The lineup was insanely crowded and not very consistent. I was on the ski for about half-an-hour before jumping in the water. After sitting in the lineup for about 20 minutes talking to friends, that wave came to me. I was in the right spot and couldn't have done anything wrong. It was just perfect and let me do what I've dreamed about for years. The rest is history. That was the best day ever!
It's funny, my major goal for years was to get barreled at Jaws, so now I'm gonna have to hunt for something new I guess. I have no idea where I'll be in 20 years, hopefully running my own business and surfing with my kids.
I think that women on all fronts are taking their surfing to another level, and every big-wave session we are catching bigger and better waves. I've been in Tavarua for the last three weeks surf guiding but was watching the Margaret River event all week and the girls were killing it!
Competing at the Maui Pro as a wildcard last year was so much fun! It was dé jàvu being back in that contest. I used to do the trials every year when I was a teenager. This time was different, though. Target gave me the wildcard spot straight into the event and it was awesome! It was so rad surfing against Stephanie Gilmore and Coco in the first round. I blew it, though. I couldn't catch a second wave and ended up in Round 2. Carissa smashed me and then went on to win the event. I was so proud of her! I'm just stoked to be a small part of this era of women's surfing, it's so exciting.
Sign up for our newsletter to get our top stories delivered right to your inbox.