Whether she knows it or not, Paige Alms has stepped boldly into the leading role of the women's big-wave surfing movement. Her tireless dedication in the big-wave arena is finally getting noticed.
There's only a handful of big-wave surfers, men or women, who've really attempted to get tubed at Pe'ahi on a huge day and succeeded. You can count Paige Alms as one of those surfers. - WSL / Mike Jucker
After paddling Jaws for the first time just five years ago, Alms has become a standout at the break, charging alongside some of Maui's most decorated big-wave surfers. This past November, she showed the world just how dominant she was out there when she became the first-ever Pe'ahi Challenge women's champion.
A glowing Paige Alms claims her well-deserved Peahi Challenge trophy. - WSL / Kelly Cestari
Reaching the pinnacle hasn't been easy. As any big-wave surfer will tell you, chasing huge waves for a living is more a labor of love than a career path. There's a grueling daily fitness regime, part-time odd jobs to make ends meet and the constant pressure to progress in a field that has nearly no margin for error. But it's all in a day's work for one of the world's best big-wave surfers, for whom the rewards are worth all the effort.