No 100-Foot Wave? Inside Alo Slebir’s Monster at Maverick’s

“Alo Slebir’s wave at Mavericks on December 23, 2024, was measured to be 23.1 meters (76 feet),” reads the official statement issued by the World Surf League, who was in charge of this year's measurement. “A team of scientists thoroughly reviewed this submission, which included detailed visual calibration and analysis to ensure accurate measurement, in line with this season’s submissions, previous World Records, and submissions from previous seasons.”

And while 24-year-old Slebir won the Men’s Biggest Wave of the Year award at the annual Big Wave Challenge, hosted by longtime heavy-water champion, Bill Sharp, at the Lido Theater in Newport Beach, many were left scratching their heads.

Slebir, who works construction in the off-season, and is as humble as they come, has been in the spotlight ever since his ride in December. “It’s been a little overwhelming, for sure,” he told SURFER on the blue carpet at the Big Wave Challenge. “I’m not used to that kind of attention. But it’s been awesome. It’s cool to see Maverick’s back on the map, and to celebrate that wave.”

Regarding the size of the wave, however, he’s not caught up in the drama. When asked, he left the numbers out of it; instead, he modestly replied: “We went fast. We went pretty quick that day.”

Alo Slebir Big Wave Challenge (3:16)

Frank Quirarte — longtime photographer, big wave water safety specialist, and participant in big wave awards since the beginning in 1999 — who was one of a number of photographers and filmers to capture Slebir's wave on December 23rd, dove into the difficulties in measuring non-static liquid skyscrapers:

"It’s important to recognize that measuring big waves has never been—and will never be—an exact science. At best, we can only get close, with a margin of error built in. There are simply too many variables that can affect how a wave looks in an image or video—focal length, positioning (cliff, water, drone, etc.), and the experience of the person taking the image and the folks doing the measuring. They all play a role."

“It was the most energy I’ve ever felt in the ocean. I’ve been out there a lot. And I’ve felt different intervals – that was the strongest I’ve ever felt by a longshot.”

Peter Mel

However, Quirarte added: "I can say, without question, Alo’s wave was the biggest wave completely ridden I’ve ever witnessed—hands down. To be fair, if Benjamin 'Sancho' Sanchis had not got clipped, those two would have been neck and neck for the win. It makes sense that both were ridden on the same swell. A ten-year swell that had buoy readings that could have produced a 100-foot wave."

The current world record for largest wave ever surfed is held by Germany’s Sebastian Steudtner, and sits at 86-feet from 2020 at Nazaré, Portugal. Ahead of Slebir’s win for Biggest Wave of the Year, the World Surf League announced that it will be handing over the role as official verifier of Guinness World Record big waves to the Big Wave Challenge.

During the 2025 Big Wave Challenge awards ceremony, Sharp announced: “I started the Big Wave Awards 25 years ago, and not many things in this surfing world last very long. The WSL came in to support the awards for a few years, then COVID came, things got a little disrupted, I went off and worked on HBO’s project 100 Foot Wave.

"Over time, we’ve worked things out. And this officially brings us to the announcement that the Big Wave Challenge, myself, will be taking over the world record decision and working with Guinness [World Records] from here on out. Hats off to the whole WSL team for holding it down for a number of years. And we’ll all work together for a new era of big wave excitement.”

Gary Linden, legendary big wave surfer, shaper, and founder of the Big Wave Tour, has his own take on how these mountains of water should be measured:

“I think we have a flawed system. I think the communal way of judging a big wave from a photo is the best way we’ve done it. We’d get together, and share our different perspectives. It’s good to hash it out and form a group opinion. You know, you’d have one guy crouch, and he’d be about the same size as the guy on the wave. You’d measure that size. And then you’d use calipers to add up how many of those made up the size of the wave.”

Yet, Linden acknowledges: “There’s always going to be controversy. That’s life.”

Going back to that swell before Christmas at Maverick’s, Peter Mel, who has decades of experience surfing some of the biggest waves ever ridden at the spot, said that day was unlike anything he’d ever experienced before.

“You could just feel it,” he said. “It was the most energy I’ve ever felt in the ocean. I’ve been out there a lot. And I’ve felt different intervals – that was the strongest I’ve ever felt by a longshot.”

"It looks like a cartoon. To me, it seems bigger than what they’re calling it."

Mark Sponsler

For a scientific perspective on the storm that generated the swell to Maverick’s in December of 2024, SURFER spoke with Mark Sponsler of StormSurf:

“When it hit buoy 029 – that’s the Point Reyes buoy, which I consider the gold standard, just north of Half Moon Bay – in the morning it was 13-feet at 23.4 seconds. That’s equivalent to a 32-foot face at your standard beachbreak, but at Maverick’s it would be double that. As the day went on, it kept going up. Off that buoy, I got a reading of 24.4-feet at 19.5 seconds, which is the equivalent of a 47.5-foot wave, and at Maverick’s, a 95-foot wave.”

Sponsler added: “There’s this sweet spot for Maverick’s. This was in the perfect position, perfect angle, perfect everything. Every 10 years you get a storm like this. I’m not an expert, and I didn’t do any measuring. But I can say from the buoy data, it was up there with the biggest of the biggest.”

As for Alo, who was whipped into that wave by his tow partner, Luca Padua, the numbers and the accolades don’t matter. He's part of a new generation of young-guns, changing the game, and setting a new bar at Mav's. He knows what he rode; he knows it was the biggest wave of his life; and whatever anyone, or any governing body says about it, is not going to stop him from going back out there, and doing it again.

“It feels like a pat on the back,” Slebir smiled. “But we’re still gonna do it again next year.”