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If you are part of a wave building project or want to surf in your hometown – register for the morning sessions to get a step by step guide to wave building. Already in a community with river surfers? Register for the afternoon and participate in presentations and discussions that will shape the future of our sport.

If You Love River Surfing, Be There!

There are no details confirmed yet but here is what you can expect:

• Morning: Wave building workshop hosted by Surf Anywhere with lots of value for those looking to build waves
• Afternoon: Will be geared towards community building, so events, surf comps etc. (essentially a mix of speakers and discussions)
• In the evening there will be a social, free flow conversation with beers

Details and Registration

River Surf Summit 2017
October 7th
Bend, Oregon

The whole summit will run from 8:00am to 9:00pm. Registration fees help make the summit happen, covering the cost of room rental, food, gifts for presenters, other logistical/admin stuff and goodies.

Go put your name on the mailing list if you are interested in helping shape the future or river surfing in North America: http://bit.do/riversurfsummitmailinglist

The post River Surf Summit 2017 appeared first on Riverbreak.

The post 2017 Animas River Days: River Surfing Comp appeared first on Riverbreak.

Monkey grew up on the St. Lawrence river in Montreal, Quebec. Home to the rapids that ended the journeys of Canada’s early explorers. After losing his entire fleet of ships Samuel de Champlain said you would have to be mad to go back in those rapids (in french of course). What would scare the pants of an average river surfer is the wave playground Monkey calls home. Enter the jet ski. Monkey probably has as many hours on a ski in the St. Lawrence as he does on a surfboard. The ski was the best way to access the most gnarly surf waves and he would trade turns with his surf partner at the time, Jean-Louis St Arneault. Basically if you wanted to surf, you had to learn how to drive ski.

The ski is a game changer when it comes to safety.

2005 and 2006 were milestone years in river surfing. The WRSA (World River Surfing Association) was in full swing as Elijah Mack traveled around the world connecting the river surfing communities. New videos were popping up weekly on a new video sharing website called YouTube. In the rapid explosion and progression of the sport all eyes were on Montreal. The Goon Posse showed off a badass aggressive style similar to the FUS Crew in Munich but they were surfing monster waves that no one even knew existed in rivers. Their use of jet skis and giant bulky underwater housings was iconic to their big water scene and unmistakable up against the other communities the search results would render.

Fast forward more than 10 years and the rest of the river surf scene is just now starting to catch up. Jet Skis allow surfers to access not only the biggest green face waves but are primarily there as rescue support in what is sure to be a treacherous swim behind. Monkey now joins us at Skookumchuck Narrows as a friend, member of our crew, but more than anything else as jet ski support. The Sunshine Coast is far from home but not the first time Monkey has been hired to lead the rescue team (including surf icon Donavon Frankenreiter). Justin Gullickson, a river surfing veteran of Alberta, bought the ski after a couple trips to Montreal to surf with Monkey, realizing how much the ski is a game changer when it comes to safety. Justin is learning to drive support for the other traveling surfers: Neil Egsgard, Tristan Gaudet, Ryan Richard, Brittany Parker, Luciano Mariani, Matthew Robertson and myself.

Photo: Luke Morstat | @outlier.riversurf | www.outliersurf.com

Skook is a crown jewel when it comes to river surfing. Found in an ocean inlet, it is the tide rising and falling that runs salty water over underwater bedrock much the same way a river would. This rare synergy between saltwater and standing wave is far different from the one you and I are used to finding in mountain fresh rivers. The sea lions and jelly fish make it feel even more dream like. As the moon circles closer to the earth and the inlet exchange grow larger between low tide and high, the water rushing over the drop reaches speeds of 14 knots and faster. The 40 foot spread of whitewater loved by the world travelling kayakers greens out to form a clean, glassy head high wave. It’s hit its “peak” and the kayakers, no longer able to paddle into the green wave, sit back in their boats and wait for the foam pile to form again on its way down. Luckily for us surfers, the jet ski can drop us in the sweet spot and Monkey is fired up and ready to show off his moves.

When I’m on his ski, he is in charge of my life.

The whirlpools and huge crashing waves at Skook are enough to make any one of us seriously consider getting in for another run but when Monkey is on the ski he is fearless. Surfing waves with the “bike” as he calls it, dodging hazards and throwing this weight all over the ski to balance as he launches 10 feet into the air. He does it all with a sense of style and comfort that allows us to rest easy and put our life into his hands. “Ok Jacob, when I say go, you go.” Monkey explains there’s no room for hesitation. When I’m on his ski, he is in charge of my life. “Three! Two! One! Go”. I release from the sled and sling shot down the giant green face. The wind blows the tears out of my eyes and stretches my smile from ear to ear. What was once an uncatchable wave that we gazed at with awe was now under my feet and it’s all mine.

I caught up with Monkey after the craziness of Skook settled down to ask him a few questions about how the jet ski fit in with surfing back home, his experience with safety, shaping boards and some of the stories from his time in Montreal.

Hey Monkey, first off thanks for taking the time to share some thoughts with the Riverbreak audience. You’re a legend in the scene and most don’t know your story so it’s cool to get a few words from one of the original gangstas. First just introduce yourself. When did you start surfing?

Ok, my name is Eric Chretien, AKA Monkey (that’s my nickname from when I used to break dance). I started surfing in late 2005, 2006. Jean-Louis St Arneault got me into it. Back then he was a rafting guide and one time in a bar I heard he was surfing and I was like ‘yo! I’ve been wanting to do that my whole life’. He was like, come next time and I was like, when’s next time. Tomorrow. Yo, I’m there. He hooked me up with a terrible Budweiser display surfboard all taped up with duct tape so it could kind of float. And that was it man, I was hooked. Snap.

We didn’t know what we were doing when we started. First Jean-Louis used to do it boogie boarding, with the fins, and would climb up on the board. There wasn’t many of us in the beginning, maybe seven. We didn’t know how to catch a wave, we figured it out. Didn’t know where the rocks were, figured that one out too. And now it is what it is today.

When did you start using a jet ski in the river?

I was using jet skis in the water way before we used them for surfing. When I grew up on the St. Lawrence my family, my father, was part of a motorboat club, VMBC, so I was raised on those waters but never in the rapids. The rapids were strictly forbidden. My first jet ski was a stand up jet ski. I explored the river but stayed away from those rapids. Rapids were for rafting not jet skiing, you know? The surfing came and I guess that brought it to another level.

Photo: Justin Gullickson | @justingullickson

We didn’t put the two together right away. At the start we would kick it old school and paddle in, the jet ski would just be there for you when you would fall. It would bring you back up to the wave but it was more for transportation. Then we started to tow into the wave using a rope. And this one time we were using Bob’s standup jet ski and I was surfing in the wave and Jean-Louis brought the rope back into the wave and then I would tow out. That was pretty cool back then, when we didn’t have to paddle at all.

After being in the scene for more than ten years, you’ve seen a lot happen in your local community and around the world. Do you see the jet ski as a tool that can be used in our sport?

A lot of times you don’t need the jet ski. Like normal waves. Like if I go to your place Jacob, I don’t need a jet ski. If you go to Ottawa river, I wanted to bring it after I had been but it’s reserved for the pretty hardcore. Like Skook, you end up getting pushed so far from the wave, in the middle of nowhere. There is a danger to that. Like, sea lions, do you know for sure they aren’t going to bite you? And then what? Without some way of reaching your friend, you’re just on the side with your surfboard wondering what’s happening to your buddy. In the Ottawa, the recovery time is short so it’s like a lot of places, you don’t need a jet ski.

Can you see the jet ski as a tool for new wave exploration?

It’s important that the people are already comfortable with a jet ski before taking it into rapids. Anybody can just hit the throttle and drive a jet ski. It’s easy to drive a jet ski but if you go in the rapids that game is changing. It’s like driving a jet ski in the ocean with good sized waves. You gotta learn how to drive or you’ll get pounded. Same thing in the river. If you fall, you’re going to fly off and you’re crashing that bike. I mean, I’ve seen bikes go down, like expensive jet skis, washed down river and showing up in the next town days later. It’s more of a luxury than a tool to have and if you’re dealing with big waves you gotta familiarize with the area. Like my first day at Skook I’m being cautious. You know, I’m taking big circles, I’m getting familiar with what’s happening in that water. You can’t just jump into a river, you could hurt yourself.

If you fall, you’re going to fly off and you’re crashing that bike.

When you talk about it being like a tool to unlock some big wave, you’ve got to be careful. Cause that thing you unlock… it could be bigger than you thought. There’s some big scary stuff out there, trust me. And sometimes it’s best to be left alone. Like I remember I dropped Jean-Louis into Monster wave and all I can remember is how tight I clenched my butt hole, Haha, like ok, we’re scared. And for good reason, he got beat up. I was right there to grab him as soon as he fell but he got beat up. He would have loved to have one of those Spare Air things. He was like, no way I’m doing that again, haha. It is what it is, there’s some nasty stuff out there.

There’s so much out there to explore. You don’t need a jet ski, you just need to explore more. Me and Jean-Louis, we loved to surf big stuff but we would surf the smaaaallest thing. And we would stay there until we surfed it good. Like we did a trip to St. Catherine’s, where Jeff Brooks is, there was a canal there. I don’t know how far, it was like six or seven hours, like stupid ridiculous. And the wave wasn’t surfable. It was so trashy and small. But we spent the whole day there. We didn’t surf once but you know we had to do it. We tried paddle in, we tried acid drop, we tried with the rope. We filmed it, we got a video up. That’s good because everybody puts up their best stuff but some time you have to put up the sh*tty stuff. It was a great trip but we didn’t surf.

There’s lots of stories like that. Tiny waves. Some of them on private property too. We did it because we wanted to be the first people to surf that wave. We surfed a lot but there’s still so much that haven’t been surfed. There’s still more to find.

So the jet ski is supposed to be used for safety but does it present any of it’s own safety risks? For example have you ever crashed?

Haha, I crashed today! It was big one too! It’s like a fire truck – It’s made to save people but if you don’t look before you cross the street you could run somebody over.

The river is always going to be the boss. The river is very unpredictable. If you lose focus you’re going to do an edge cut. An edge cut is when the edge of the jet ski hits the current in a way that instantly flips you and sends you to swim with the fishes real quick.

The approach on a rescue needs to be practiced a lot. There are certain ways to approach the surfer needing rescue. You don’t go straight for the person. It’s a pick up not a run over, haha. The jet ski could fall on your head. It could hit other surfers. Best example, when they do tow in on big waves in the ocean, it’s life and death. As we bring the ski into the river the risks are the same.

The approach on a rescue needs to be practiced.

I have a story. One time we were towing with the rope (before we knew any better). Something you have to watch for is if you pass over the rope with the ski it can get pulled up into the engine. Well that happened and the turbine is pulling in the rope AND my leg! So I got pulled under the jet ski and the engine is still running. If the throttle was engaged it would have squeezed my leg like a yogurt to go. Luckily I was pulled away from the controls my leg tied up in the rope was enough to stall the engine. If things were different one way or the other I wouldn’t be surfing today. And hold up! That’s not all, then I’m floating down into the rapids tied up under a jetski. I fought to pop my head above water to get air meanwhile working at my leg. I managed to pull my leg hard enough to loosen the rope and unwind it from my leg. I had Jean Louise there to help. It took 45 minutes to get through that one.

Jet Ski will definitely save you time if everything goes good. But if something f*cks up…. Ooooh Boy! It’s going to be a very long day. Just like at Skook, right Justin Gullickson? And a long evening.

It’s a tool. It’s not a toy. Don’t get me wrong, it’s a lot of fun but sitting in that driver’s seat comes with a big responsibility. It’s like the river, don’t underestimate the Jet Ski. Know your limits. Respect.

I understand you are also shaping boards now, that’s awesome. Can you tell us a little bit about that?

Ehhh, f*cking shaping. Uh. Haha. I shape because I love it. That’s about it because it’s not about the money. There really isn’t any money in it. I put so much work and so much time and so much love into what I do that at the end, it can never sell for the price that it costs. And everyone wants to get a deal but I don’t think they see everything that goes into a labour of love like that.

Photo: Luke Morstat | @outlier.riversurf | www.outliersurf.com

I still have a lot to learn. There’s a lot that goes into it with all the different techniques and materials but I know what works when I surf it. It makes me smile when people surf my board and say it’s their favourite shape. It’s a big thank you. It makes my day, when I build something that people enjoy. When you look at boards, you know you see that slick design or those flashy colours but then you look at the line it makes in the water and it sucks… I don’t care how many kitties are on that board if it sucks. If you want to make something for people to enjoy, you have to enjoy doing it. Not for the money.

Do you have any advice for the next generation of river surfers? Maybe the young groms starting out or anyone else new to the sport?

First off, rule number one is to have fun. The surfer having the most fun wins.

If you look up to an older surfer, he will look out for you. Like if you come out to a wave and try to act like a know it all, it comes off being disrespectful. Especially if you don’t know what you’re doing, you’ll look like a damn fool. I have a hard time with telling people about ropes but instead of hearing me out they think they know everything. It’s a lot different when I’ve seen people held under until they turn blue or come out of the water crying because of ropes.

Ask questions and show respect to the people at the wave. If you show them that you want to surf they’re going to give you tips, they’re going to warn you about things, they’ll tell you unwritten rules. It’s about respect. If you respect that, you’ll get their respect.

What the f*ck, baby Jesus. But I didn’t stop, I wanted to surf!

The older guys there may not really want to talk to you at first but keep giving them that respect. They have so much knowledge, they’ve seen a lot. Basically, stay humble, surf as hard as you can and the more heart you show the more respect you’ll get. In the river, if you don’t swim hard, you’ll have to swim even harder later. Trust me.

Another thing about surfing hard. At some point it does get easier but it’s hard in the beginning. And if you want to give up right away, I’m sorry, go back to badminton or go snowboard. Catching the wave… it is a logic. Practice swimming, swimming equals surfing. Learn how to actually swim. I remember the first time I went to Habitat, the current took me back and forth and all over the place. If you pet the water (like petting a cat or something) trust me, you’re not moving. You gotta get in there. If you dig in your hand and paddle like you want to get somewhere. My first time at Habitat, I wanted to die coming to shore. I was like what the f*ck. It was like ten minutes and I’m floating further and further but not going anywhere. Spinning through whirlpools and thinking, What the f*ck, baby Jesus. But I didn’t stop, I wanted to surf. It took me three days of intense swimming just trying to figure it out but I wanted to surf. At some point you build your back like an ox.

The most important rule is to have fun. If you lose sight of that, you lose everything.

Fun Monkey Surf Edit

Monkey would like to do a shout out to all the Goons: Jean-Louis St Arneault, Alexandre Ouimet, Jeff Mackay, Dave Short, Daniel Castillo, Étienne Lavertue and Elijah Mack.

The post River Rescues With Jet Ski Legend Eric Chretien appeared first on Riverbreak.

It’s not the easiest thing to ask people for money but here are some examples of local fundraisers that happened around the river surfing world. By far, the best advice we can give you for raising wave building cash is make it fun! Enjoy the following examples of previous fundraiser below and listen to the interview with KB, the president of the Missoula Surf Association (MSA), on how he motivated dozens of surfers to come down to the river to “Chill For The Max”.

High Water Charity Day (2013)

This was an international event that happened in Munich, Graz and at the Alm Wave back in 2013. Although the event was not geared towards building a wave, surfers raised money for charity. All together the three communities raised a couple of thousand Euros for flood victims in Germany, Austria and Switzerland.

Waveraiser (2014)

This river surfer initiative in Calgary, Canada raised over $8.000 for the Surf Anywhere project in the Kananaskis. The event brought together artists, musicians, dj, and sponsors. The group used raffles, auctions, tshirt sales and bar sales to raise their cash.

Leinewelle Paddle Down (2014)

This is one of the coolest events put on by river surfers to raise awareness for wave building. Personally, I think we should create an international float day to raise awareness for wave building! Check out this incredible video for more on the event and on the Leinewelle.

Pemberton Pizza Party (2014)

Our friends building the Pemberton Wave have thrown many fundraisers all in collaboration with other community members. In this case they teamed up with a local pizza restaurant to bring them more traffic and in return Creekbread donated a portion of their profits. The great thing about this event is it brought people together to a common meeting place and a great suggestion for communities that don’t already have a wave to meet at.

Chill For The Max (2014)

Three hours of surfing in the freezing cold, the surfers from the Missoula Surf Association (MSA) raised over $6.000 for the Max Wave project in 2014. The cold weather didn’t keep the fundraiser from having a huge turnout with lots of success. For more information check out interview with MSA president, KB Brown below.

Interview with KB from the Missoula Surf Association

*Shout out to Wes Cook of the Boise River Park Surfers for the idea for the article.
** Photo credit for the Chill For The Max photo: Jedzilla

The post Fundraising In Your River Surfing Community appeared first on Riverbreak.

Max Neuböck – NU.ART
Gerwin Andreas – Delight Alliance
Kathrin Gappmayr – European Champion
Luki Haigermoser, Lena Lenfred, Christina Mini, Thomas Feb.

Mountain get away after surfing the Alm Canal

It was an extra special treat to stay in the Mountain Cabin with this crew. The Austrians are similar to the Alberta crew. We aren’t known for our waves but for the strength of our communities. I hope this spirit stays alive in the Austrian Surf Family for generations to come!!

ps. We are not giving out the locations of the 4 other wave locations we surfed so please no inquiries but if you need info on surfing the Alm wave please reach out to Nu.Art or Delight Alliance :)

The post On Location: Austria appeared first on Riverbreak.

Results Groms

1) Noah Beschen 18,90
2) Moritz Wienecke 16,80
3) Simon Bitterlich 14,15
4) Maxi Löschke 11,90

Winners Groms – Surf & Style European Championships in Stationary Wave Riding

Results Masters

1) Robert Beetz 15,80
2) Fritz Hollweck 14,90
3) Alex Schwab 13,30
4) Markus Knöringer 11,54

Winners Masters – Surf & Style European Championships in Stationary Wave Riding

Results Women

1) Karina Rankine 16,10
2) Stephanie Pirron 14,80
3) Kathrin Gappmayr 13,65
4) Angelina Schülting

Winners Women – Surf & Style European Championships in Stationary Wave Riding

Results Men

1) Lukas Brunner 18,20
2) Gerry Schlegel 17,50
3) Jan Vogt
4) Tao Schirrmacher

Winners Men – Surf & Style European Championships in Stationary Wave Riding

The post Surf & Style — All Results appeared first on Riverbreak.

The wave is in it’s third season and is a perfect example of a wave that is built into a channel that pulls off of a bigger river — the channel allows more control of the wave shape. Sepp’s conecpt is definitely a huge step forward to what can be built in a river. There is still a few tweaks that may provide some improvements to usability but hear all about it from the Bengineers in the video.

The post On Location: Cunovo Wave appeared first on Riverbreak.

Event Details

4th Annual Surf & Style European Championship
Price money: 10.000,- €
Date: August 09 & 10th 2014
Categories: Men’s, Woman’s, Masters, Groms.
Live Ticker: Live Ticker 2014

Jacques Robert

Today’s training sessions was met with a love/hate relationship from the day’s athletes. At this point the surfers are competing with the wave more than their peers. The wave, although very shreddable, is foreign to most and takes some “getting used to”. Seeing the progression from the different communities in their first run to their sixth is exciting to think where a larger progression of standing wave riding can go.

Female Shredding

We’ve really seen some incredible performances by the female riders. It’s so great to see a competition where there are almost as many female competitors as there are men. We’ve really seen a progression from last year and to put it bluntly, the girls are rippin’ like hell!!

Another exciting story to the event is the grom competitors traveling from Hawaii. Shane Beschen, Pro Surfer for over 20 years and Red Bull surf coach, brought out his sons Noah (13) and Koda (8). It’s an incredible step forward for the sport of river surfing to see competitors from 12 different nationalities. But hosting ocean surfers from the birthplace of modern surfing here in the birthplace city of river surfing marks a milestone for our sport.

The Beschen family at its best

Stay tuned tomorrow for more hightlights and be sure to check us out on facebook for more up-to-the minute posts.

Live Ticker and Links

Minute-by-minute Ticker: https://twitter.com/NUARTsurfstuff
Daily updates, summaries, results, photos and videos: Riverbreak Ticker Summary
Videos: https://vimeo.com/nuartsurfstuff

The post Surf & Style Warms Up appeared first on Riverbreak.

These passionate surfers have put this wave together with a lot of donated time and effort of labour and about 5.000 Euros. After bringing the stoke to the river in in Brandys nad Labem, Honza has already got the permission to build a second wave in another river next year. With a faster flow and a larger drop than Brandys Wave, Honza aims to get a bigger and faster wave working in about two years from now.

Read more on The Story of the First River Wave in Czech Republic here on Riverbreak and be sure to check out surfwave.cz.

The post On Location: Castle Wave appeared first on Riverbreak.