A Gathering of the Tribe: North America’s 1st River Surfing Summit (Part I of II)
I woke up one morning in the middle of September with an email from my old river surfing partner DP waiting in the mailbox. It was an urgent message that Riverbreak Magazine had posted an announcement by Surf Anywhere of Canada about a River Surfing Summit to be held in Bend, Oregon in just a couple of weeks. The very first North American River Surfing Summit would be an 8 hour drive south into Oregon from my home here in the N/E corner of Washington State.
DP said I absolutely had to go. This would be a historic moment! I started laughing but agreed that to participate in something like this, especially being held so close to home, would be well worth the one-day drive.
I might even get the chance to jump into Bend’s Whitewater Park Wave. The article mentioned a Summit Sunday surf the day after the conference.
The chance of actually standing up and surfing the river wave after 26 years were probably rather low odds but I still have the twinfin I used to surf Lunch Counter hanging on the kitchen wall. I shaped and glassed that board … 31 years ago but surely the old stick has another couple of river waves left in it!
I might even get the chance to jump into Bend’s Whitewater Park Wave.
Derrick, owner and publisher of the Washington State Inter-mountain sports publicationOutThere Outdoors Magazine, had been trying to promote a public meeting in Spokane to be held sometime in the late Spring or early Summer of 2017. His idea was to bring the prospect of putting a water and wave park back into the public’s eye after the discouraging end to the earlier attempt a few years ago that had the bottom kicked out from under all those that gave their time and money to having our very own Spokane Kayak & Rafting Whitewater Park project.
Unfortunately this project did not include a surfing segment to the proposed project. A short-sighted view in my opinion!
The $1.2 million garnered in grants along with the funds raised by the public did not go to a Whitewater Park. One grant was actually given back, and other monies went to ‘riparian restoration’ projects. So it is no surprise that the entire river runner community is hesitant to become involved in a similar project again.
Derrick and I had a number of conversations in the Spring about how to possibly re-invigorate people’s imagination and become willing to participate once again when they know they will find themselves repeating the entire exhausting bureaucratic process.
We talked about broadening the vision and plan for a surfing wave like the City of Boise Idaho has (currently going into Stage 3), and that Bend also now has. Missoula has a natural river wave because they, like here, have a high water flow rate measured as cubic feet per second. The Spokane River rarely drops below 500 cfs and rages when it gets up to 15,000+/-. Reminds me of the Snake River Canyon back when.
Getting people to come to the meeting and at least talk about it was a first step. He has the contacts down in Spokane, and an excellent platform to spread the idea from in the magazine.
The meeting fizzled. That was certainly more than a little discouraging. Now what? And suddenly in the fall a River Surfing Summit was announced.
After I posted on Riverbreak that I was going, an email came back saying ‘You’re our man!’ from them. Oh great, put a little more pressure on this old guy surf dude who hasn’t surfed a river wave in … forever! Derrick at OutThere Outdoors Magazine designated me as a ‘freelance writer’ for the magazine and said he’d pay me for the article I would write. It was official.
Preparation
So how does one practice jumping into a river wave without having a river wave to jump in on? Wake Surfing! For an ocean surfer it’s a pretty good way to practice as the water is going in the wrong direction like river waves, and you are moving fast behind the boat which feels quite similar to the water coming downstream at you when surfing a river wave.
He agreed to take me out on Waitts Lake for one last afternoon surf session.
The water had already gotten chilly due to a few early September cold snaps but I managed to talk my neighbor DJ into de-winterizing his ski boat since he had already put it up for the year. He agreed in the interest of surfing (I had taught him to surf mountains on a snowboard a number of years earlier) to take me out on Waitts Lake for one last afternoon surf session. Marv agreed to come along as the 3rd person needed as flagger. That weekend we woke up to a beautiful sunny day with nearly glassy surface conditions due to lack of the usual winds blowing down into the bowl of the lake below the mountain. Perfect. Water was cold but the 2mm short sleeve shortjohn wetsuit was enough protection with the warm air.
A bonus was that there were no other boats on the lake. The lake was perfect.
Marv tried to take a few pictures while sitting and watching in the back of the boat but none of them came out as he rides motorcycles not boards and doesn’t really have the timing down for catching action shots. What did come out on the 10 year old Kodak digital camera we were using was when he thought he had shut it off but had turned it to video which accidentally captured 9-seconds of me smacking the wake wave on my mid-1990s Hyperlite HO Series single-wing swallowtail twinfin wakeboard at 20mph before the camera found itself aimed at his pant leg.
If I did get a chance to surf the post-Summit surf session on Sunday, this afternoon session gave me at least a small chance to not completely kook out in front of everybody. I hope.
The 8 hour drive was long through the eastern Washington Scablands and even longer once I crossed the Columbia and turned onto Hwy 97. The 55mph speed limit down the back of the high desert of Oregon feels pretty slow in comparison. But with good music playing through the truck’s speakers, the clear air showing long distance vistas and snow-topped volcanic cones stretching in every direction that I hadn’t seen in over a decade, and a surprising lack of traffic going in my direction made for a fine day’s drive. The tiny towns on the highway that I went through were nearly empty of people until I got close to Madras.
People everywhere! The population has certainly grown over the last decade that I haven’t driven this highway. Madras was much larger, Terrebonne, too, and I hit the Bend City Limit and the sign said there were 80,000 people living there! I later found out that the real number is probably closer to 120,000 people.
Jacob came out of the water with a big smile when he saw me walk up.
I drove into Bend and headed towards where the map said the Wave was and found myself in the middle of a huge festival that had taken over the entire downtown area. Blocked-off streets sporting stages and sound systems and huge crowds of people surged back and forth through the narrow streets elbow to elbow. Traffic was nearly at a standstill. Every street I passed had a stage set up on it and was full from one side to the other. I was mostly lost and rolled down the window to ask the car stopped next to me where the Surf Wave was. The young college-age women looked a little hesitant to roll theirs down but as soon as I asked where the Surf Wave was their faces changed from frowns to smiles and they told me the most direct route and which traffic light to turn at. Nice people!
As I was crossing a bridge over the Deschutes River I could see the Water Park off to the right on the north side with a bunch of surfers standing in the middle of the river and spectators scattered on the bridge and both banks watching the action. I missed the first street and had to circle around the neighborhood that the Park is located in before I drove up to a very well-kept public park and a small diagonal parking area that was full of vehicles with surf racks.
Looks like I found the beach. Jacob came out of the water with a big smile when he saw me walk up. Said it was the mustache that was unmistakeable.
After surfing the Bend Wave until nearly dark (I just watched), the summit people got out of their wetsuits and into warm clothes before gathering together in the parking lot to convoy to Sun River Brewing where Surf Anywhere had reserved a semi-enclosed outside table large enough to fit the 25 or so people that showed up for Friday’s surf session and this Greet & Eat. Some of the surfers headed for motels while those that were car-camping there at the park fit themselves into whatever small space in the vehicles going that they could squeeze into.
Bend Whitewater Park
You can legally car camp at the Bend Wave parking lot. In this era of seemingly never-ending restrictive laws being passed by cities against everything, this was a nice change for a city council to take.
There were people already there when the cavalcade from the wave arrived, and more came in as the evening progressed. Great food and drink and stories along with all sorts of pics and vids on cell phones were shown around the table as those of us that didn’t know the local crew or one another introduced ourselves.
Nobody knew me. Of course. And I was about three decades older than those at the table with both a white mustache and ponytail and probably looking a little sore muscled and a bit bleary-eyed after the 8 hour drive south I had just made. Road trips get harder as you get older.
Nobody knew me. Of course. And I was about three decades older than those at the table.
Mostly I just listened in on the multiple conversations going on around me and tried to get a feel for the people that I was meeting. Technical talk about wave building and sites found, waves ridden, scary whirlpools, accidents and near-drownings, equipment failures, new safety gear being invented, the rumble of voices filled the table for the next three hours. What I saw in these people was a gathering of the tribe. It reminded me so much of the long-ago beach scene I grew up in that there were times when I could have closed my eyes and seen the faces in my memory from the early 1970s. Or could have fit the talk into the mid-1980s snowboarder scene I was in over a decade later in Northern Utah while surfing the Lunch Counter.
Thinking back I can’t think of anyone at the university except my partner DP and Ronnie Orton (another ocean surfer who surfed the Jordan River’s First North American River Surf Contest held in 1984) that was even interested in hearing about surfing rivers. There wasn’t a River Surfing Tribe then.
My my, how things have changed in 29 years! Here I was surrounded by an extended tribe of people whose major connection is an absolute passion for surfing river waves.
What I saw in these people was a gathering of the tribe.
It’s a little uncomfortable being in a new situation surrounded by people that are automatically tightly bound together like they are. In the first place, I hadn’t surfed a river since 1991 and am not part of the current riversurfing scene that is spreading around the world. In the second place I had never met any of these people. I had emailed back and forth with Jacob and Neil about the Summit, and Ryan once with an offer for a floor space spot to sleep on, but this night I found myself listening more than talking.
I didn’t realize at the time just how many had actually read, or at least viewed, the video segments and still pictures of DP and I in the Lunch Counter Trilogy. I am not dead but I am ancient history to these folks!
People started to drift off and Uber got a few more customers that were unwilling to drive after sampling numerous brews with the meal. Always a good idea! Pictures were taken, cards were exchanged, emails were put in cell phone mailboxes, the last sips of ales and darks were drained from glasses, coats were put on, and into the cool Bend night we all went.
Later Friday Night
After the Sun River Brewing dinner get-together broke up around 11pm, some of the gathering headed off to motels and other previously arranged accommodations while a number of us followed Ryan Richards in an Uber taxi across town to his place where he had graciously offered floor space not only to myselfbut others, too. A couple of the Canadian conferees including a river board shaper were spending the night, and a number of other surfers crowded into vehicles like KB, the co-owner of the Missoula Strongwater Surf Shop who had decided to come party with us. A couple ofcarload followed to continue the festivities and talk story.
Friday night get together
Everybody has stories that are meant to be shared and none of us were tired enough to sleep.
There were backpacks and sleeping bags to carry in from the various vehicles along with the usual (and unusual) traveling paraphernalia that people accumulate after years of road tripping. Being surfers there were a number of skateboards pulled out, too, and the Strongwater guy had brought his longboard to ride back to the Wave parking lot where he was truck camping in a very well put together company panel-van. That would be a 3-mile skate through town long after midnight.
Everybody laughed when I pulled out my single airbed until the pump inflated it and they saw it was a double-thick pillow-top. I saw envy in their eyes! Road Trip Rule #7: have a good airbed. Another of the rules for road trips: always take your pillow. So that came out next from the back of my old Toyota 4x.
I had brought along my 27 yr old pair of LP Jr. Congas & stand (smaller & easier to travel with than the large set), the harmonica bag with a couple of mics, and a small traveling amp. A bag of hand percussion instruments were for those that didn’t have anything to play but ‘air guitars for a potential post-Summit’s jam session that was mentioned in an email. They all helped carry everything in. There was an electric guitar, acoustic guitars, and Ryan had a mandolin and banjo. This could turn into a fun weekend jam!
My feet hate the dished-out decks of current skateboard shapes so I roll old school boards.
Then I pulled out the skate I had brought along from the back cab seat. The ‘emergency vehicle.’ I always keep one or another of my 70s pool riders in the truck or little car during the dry season, and I’ve been riding this ’78 Bahne 27” Bullet with Lazer trucks and green Sims MiniComp wheels the last few years because I love how it rolls. They had never seen one I don’t think. Flat deck old school warp tail but hey, I’m old and these were what we rode back then. My feet hate the dished-out decks of current skateboard shapes so I roll old school boards.
It was after midnight and the rolling hilly blacktop Bend residential street in front of Ryan’s was perfect for a session since there was zero traffic. As Ryan’s was in the middle of the hill, we had to skate up and turn around at the cross street to get our speed up. By the time you passed the crowd standing in the street watching we were going pretty fast. I let a couple of the guys try out my flat deck to feel the difference in board design and how they rode. Favorable remarks came about my old skate.
So there we were, a bunch of river surfers from all over the continent skating downhill slalom runs in the middle of the street at 1am. Surfers. Surf anywhere indeed. Go figure.
Then it was back inside and get everything organized and ready to bed down, open up more of the craft beer (HOW many breweries does Bend have by the way?), roll some of the legal cannabis from my garden for those that partake, and gather around the kitchen table to continue to talk stories that were passing around at the Brewery earlier. Of course cell phone pictures and vids were being brought up on screens to help place the story.
A few of the surfers headed off to motels and B&Bs, the Strongwater surfer skated off into the dark sometime after 2am, and the last of us laid down for some sleep by maybe 3am.
The Summit on Saturday
I was not the first one up. As a matter of fact I was the last one to crawl out of the sleeping bag. At four hours of sleep at most for this almost-63 year old surfer, that I even got up is surprising!
By the time they all got back I was almost human and ready to roll.
Everyone was bustling around … in slow motion. It was pretty funny to watch the movements and hear the groans of returning sobriety. Coffee was definitely needed with this crowd. Bags were rolled up and stuffed away, bathroom relay went into action, and a couple of the Canadians left to find coffee and danish and eggs and waffles a few blocks away after getting directions. Ryan also headed that way a bit later in another Uber taxi. Since I don’t drink coffee I heated up some water in a pan and filled my huge travel mug with hot tea. Another Road Trip Rule: Always bring your own insulated mug, tea bags, sugar, and a spoon. By the time they all got back I was almost human and ready to roll.
The Summit at the Bend Parks & Recreation building’s ‘Riverbend Room’ was full of sleepy-eyed surfers staring at Ryan’s tablet plugged in and projecting onto the big screen at the front of the room the live feed from the Bend Wave. All of those present, every single one, were moaning that the wave was better today than yesterday. Oops. Sorry, the presentations were about to start after everyone helped themselves to the morning spread set out by Neil and Jacob. More coffee was needed! But every surfer in the room was secretly hoping to have a session sometime in the afternoon if at all possible. The lunch break? Or maybe right before dark?
River Surfing Summit, Bend
Guys, this Summit meeting is scheduled to go all day. There isn’t going to be much of a chance of surfing today. A classic example of surfer optimism in action. A couple of the speakers were mumbling about sneaking out after they were done with their presentations leaving the rest of us … the dirty dogs. This sounded very much like surf rats ditching school. How well do I know that lifestyle?
We all claimed seats at the tables set up in front of the podium. And right off the bat Neil spoke some truth about the ambition of putting a surf wave in any river and the hurdles any group of supporters face. He bluntly stated that, from finding a suitable site to actually surfing the wave the first time, we are looking at ten years. A decade! The roadblocks are many, the entrenched interests are varied, the permitting process is a typical horrible governmental bureaucracy, city councils are obstinate and short-sighted with deeply held prejudices, and the Environmental Impact Statements that are required bring in everybody from farmers complaining about water usage to environmental groups worried about their particular causes. It is a vast uphill battle that will cost untold hours of unpaid work and frustration with no guarantee of success. Who funds it? Who controls and regulates the new whitewater park and surf wave? Is it under city, county, or State control or does this particular stretch of river (providing one has found the perfect spot and a number of alternative ones) fall under Federal waterway regulations which is an entirely different ball game?
If this was a get-rich-quick sales pitch for his company to build wave parks and retire to live a life of easy wealth sometime soon, it was a strange way to start. This was early in the morning and dashing the dream this quick was daunting.
These folk were surfers and that kind of dedicated lifestyle is one I intimately know of.
Then I reminded myself that these people don’t talk the walk but are passionate about their surfing and have found a way to spread what they love to do into places where people have never imagined that their river could provide so much healthy, outdoor, all age groups fun. Surf Anywhere wants to see their waves built in places where it becomes part of the betterment of the community open to all and quite unlike unnamed famous personalities who are charging $90 a hour to surf the perfect wave in a plastic toilet bowl. This was far more real!
I like the ethic that I found apparent throughout the Summit meeting; and that was not just from the organizers but from all of the people in the room. It was a breath of fresh air when compared to the manic rabid corporatism running rampant across the US. These folk were surfers and that kind of dedicated lifestyle is one I intimately know of.
If Surf Anywhere can maybe make a living building new waves and river-running waterparks for diverse groups of people to find joy in, so much the better.
My main goal of this entire weekend was to garner as much information about all the steps that it will take to get a surf wave on the Spokane River. Here are expert, experienced people who have already done so. I didn’t have a clue how to get donors, how to navigate the local government bureaucracy that loves to put hurdles to trip over and hoops to jump through, what to watch out for and what to pre-plan just in case this problem came up or that idea crashed and burned. This meeting, this Summit and the people that were there, provided far more information than I expected and, furiously writing notes during each speaker’s presentation (barely remembered university note taking hasn’t failed with age), I filled many pages of a notebook with a far-reaching conglomeration of personal stories and hints and tips and what did and did not work ranging from site exploration to how to hold your first contest.
It truly devolves on us the locals to convince others that this is a wonderful opportunity.
I could fill pages from my notes with what I came away with but the bottom line is that, if this is what you are interested in for your area, you should have been there. Surf Anywhere will work with anyone that is trying to set this up in any capacity, but their focus was for us to do the legwork and volunteer work and suffer the headaches and clamber over the obstacles that will be present. They will build it for us, and have the ability to navigate through all of the steps one faces (rather daunting it is, too!), but it truly devolves on us the locals to convince others that this is a wonderful opportunity to open another avenue of river use for all to enjoy.
The wave we want for the Spokane River requires dedication of purpose and much patience.
I strongly suggest that if you are truly interested in bringing a wave to your area, you be sure to make the next River Surfing Summit. You will not be disappointed. You can watch the recorded live stream of the summit here.
Continue with Part II: The Weekend Continues and the Sunday Surf Off
Brought to you by
Seal Morgan Ocean surfer, Outlaw pool skater, snowboarding teacher, early pioneer river surfer, wake surfer | Co-author of 'The Lunch Counter Trilogy' and author of 'Memories of a Little Surfer Kid from Ocean Beach' and soon 'Massacre Sites; Working for the Dead' and 'Tales from a Concert Security Rover' both works in progress | Owner of Mtn. Threads Hats & Clothing | www.boardwarm.com | Stevens County, WA 2017.
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