Rolling the dice is a gamble in Reno, but when it comes to surfing Reno-Tahoe’s Truckee River, you’re guaranteed to win – as there are no flat days. Beginning as the only outlet of the majestic & famous Lake Tahoe, the Truckee River winds its way down through the Sierra Nevada Mountains, into ‘The Biggest Little City In The World’, Reno, Nevada; and eventually ends up in Nevada’s mysterious Pyramid Lake, in the high desert. Along its way, ‘the Truckee’ has a few surf-able standing waves – both natural & human-made – that can provide stoke 365 days a year, and Reno-Tahoe’s river surfers are riding them – adults & grommets alike.

To see surf culture developing in Reno – so far from an ocean or sea – is quite special for me.

The two main standing waves on the Truckee are located in two riverside parks, one in Reno, and one in Sparks. The Reno wave, known as ‘Hole Three’ as well as ‘The Third Hole’, is at Wingfield Park in downtown Reno near the 24/7 glitz & glam of the casinos. Its significant other is at Rock Park. Both parks attract families, kayakers and of course, river surfers. The quality & size of these river waves varies depending on flow. For example, the wave at Rock Park can be a surf-able ankle slapper during the end of summer when the river is at 300 CFS, or it can be waist-high in the winter & spring when the Truckee’s water flow is raging at 2,000+ CFS.

The cultural & commercial aspects of the burgeoning river surfing scene in Reno are beginning to rear their beautiful noggins as well, with the October 6th, 2018 grand opening of Reno’s first business serving the needs of the Reno-Tahoe surf scene: Ruach Surf Shop, on 400 Mill Street in downtown Reno. Those interested in river surfing in Reno can get expert advice on Truckee River surfing conditions from the good folks at Ruach Surf. They also have used surfboards for sale that are specifically chosen for river surfing, and they do ding repairs for both surfboards & SUP.

River Surf Shop in Reno

Dedicated commercial entrepreneurships like Reno’s Ruach Surf Shop help to strengthen & promote river surfing as a sport and lifestyle. I was born and raised in Reno, and I’m a surfer who did a fair amount of business creating products for some of the biggest names in the global surfing industry. So, to see surf culture developing in Reno – so far from an ocean or sea – is quite special for me. I can easily imagine that ten years from now, there will be more than one surf shop in Reno; and the big players like Billabong, O’Neill, Rip Curl, Quiksilver & Volcom will be among them – catering to Reno’s river surfers, snowboarders and skateboarders. This is really exciting stuff because the future of river surfing is wide open.

Across the world, river surfing is bringing the surf culture & lifestyle inland, to places that we never would have imagined to have a surf culture.

Owing to the creative surfers that first pioneered river surfing, these days you don’t have to live by – or go to an ocean to be able to surf. Take Gerry Lopez for example, a master of Pipeline on Oahu’s north shore. These days, in the lovely inland city of Bend, Oregon, you might spot Gerry enjoying & shredding Bend’s popular river wave. Across the world, river surfing is bringing the surf culture & lifestyle inland, to places that we never would have imagined to have a surf culture; and Reno, Nevada is one of them. Just think of that: surfing in the high desert at 4,506 feet/1,373 meters above sea level. River surfing is redefining the parameters of what we call ‘surfing’.

Rock Park Wave (left) and Hole 3 Wave (right) in Reno, Nevada

The future of river surfing is wide open.

When you’ve had enough Truckee River wave time for the day (or night), and need to fuel up, the biggest little city in the world has a variety of great dining options, bars & craft breweries that you can hit. The Third Hole wave is, in fact, located right next to the Sierra Tap House craft beer brewery. If you want to surf another wave in the area, driving southwest two hours from Reno will take river surfing enthusiasts to ‘Barking Dog’ on the American River. So there are other waves for landlocked surfers to surf in the region. All up, the odds are that river surfing in Reno will continue to flourish and provide stoke for future generations. See you at the river!

The post Reno River Surfing – High Desert Sessions appeared first on Riverbreak.

Why hasn’t any river surfers been recognized by mainstream surf companies? River surfing opens the sport up to so many more people. There are definitely more people who live next to rivers than the coast. Yet there is no validation given to any of the river surfers by mainstream surf companies.

I don’t understand. Surfers dream of discovering new waves and surfing an uncrowned lineup. With river surfing you can discover or build new waves. You can almost always find an uncrowned wave to rip on. Take my video for example. The wave isn’t the best but there is no one else in the line up

What do you think?

• Will river surfing ever be accepted by mainstream surfing?
• Do you even want it to?
• Why do you think it hasn’t been accepted?

Comment below and share your thoughts!

The post River Surfing – Going Mainstream? appeared first on Riverbreak.

Beaver Wave is right on the edge of downtown. It is the epitome of urban surfing. The sound of cars humming by on the highway is a soundtrack for your surf session. The water is warm and nasty. I only wear neoprene to protect myself from the shallow rocks and the trash floating around in the eddylines.

Beaver Wave is the epitome of urban surfing

You would think a species who depends on clean water for survival would be a little bit more interested in preserving our waterways. It is clear to me from the riverbed that if it is out of sight, it is out of mind. Not only do we depend on the waterways for clean drinking water but farmers downriver use this same water for crops that we eat. Personally I wouldn’t want my food watered with this sludge. I barely want to surf in it!

We need to have a positive impact on the environment to preserve the earth for future generations to enjoy. I want my kids to be able to enjoy surfing clean water no matter where they chose to catch waves (river or ocean). Just remember to try and leave a zero carbon footprint at your surf spots. Pack in what you pack out! If you have time pick up some trash at whatever location you surf. Leave your local surf spot cleaner than when you arrived.

Surf and take care of the earth.

The post River Surfing Beaver Wave appeared first on Riverbreak.

The post Montana Surf Trip – Springdale Wave appeared first on Riverbreak.

Florence has been a go to spot for most the front range locals in Colorado. The drive is really simple and the wave is easy to find. The wave can be surfed as low as 400 CFS. The prime flow for shortboarding is 1,000-1,200 CFS. It is in the Desert so the weather is typically pretty warm. The water temp is cool but feels perfect with the warm air temps.

Staircase wave is Buena Vista is an iconic wave in the SUP surfing world. This wave is pretty soft on a shortboard so it is going to require a board with some volume even at the higher flows. I had a lot of luck on it with my inflatable surfboard. Prime surfing flow on this wave is anything above 1,400 CFS. The altitude is 9,000 FT above sea level so be prepared to suck wind in between every ride.

One thing that I am lucky to have for the lower flows is my inflatable surfboard. The thing surfs rail to rail amazing and has a ton of volume so it can pretty much surf anything! Look for my next vlog I will be surfing my inflatable surfboard in Golden Colorado!

The post River Surfing Buena Vista and Florence appeared first on Riverbreak.

The last time I choose to storm like this was a year ago. It was a snowstorm early season. It was a really good session till my last ride. On the backside cut back my real cut the water funky. As I fell my board bounced up and hit me in the chin so hard that I needed stitches. When I got to the side of the river, I actually spit out pieces my tooth. I also had to go to Dennis and get a cap.

My phone was blowing up with river surfers wondering if I was going to go surf today.

My phone was blowing up with river surfers wondering if I was going to go surf today. I knew I had to get out pretty soon to beat the crowd. I got to the river with just a couple people there and had a really good session with my buddy Jason.

Storm river surfing

The water was disgusting. I surfed really conservatively to make sure I didn’t get too much water on my face. Because this is the first rain storm of the season it’s flushing all the nasty stuff into the water and I didn’t want to take any chances.

Tips on Surfing Dirty Water

A few tips for anyone looking to surf rain runoff or really dirty water … Wear a nose plug, ear plugs and keep your mouth closed when you swim. This will help minimize how much nasty water you get in your body. If you have a drysuit wear it! A dry suit will keep the water off and out of your body. Limit your exposure to the crap that is in the water as much as possible!

It was an awesome first session of the season my new board was amazing! It was really cold but the surf warms my soul. Best part of all is I ended the session injury free! Thanks for watching and stay tuned for next weeks vlog!

The post River Surfing – A Spring Storm appeared first on Riverbreak.

A guy who is running a surf business in Munich mentioned that it depends on the industry if our sport will grow or decline. I was surprised by his honesty, claiming that the future of river surfing lies in the hands of the industry, rather than in the hands of the surfers. I got mad about this statement and thought about what has been happening in the last couple of years: “Where was the surf industry when we needed a sponsor to build Tube6 (a barrelling river wave in the inner city of Munich)? Why was the spoiler in the Eisbach wave not being payed by a nearby surf shop? Where was the industry when we would have needed their support?”

And what do we surfers really want? Ingo has stopped surfing a decade ago because he didn’t want to wait in line with five other surfers. Things have changed. Today, five surfers is not even considered a queue. The only time when I would just meet five surfers at the wave is probably at midnight during winter. The last straw was when a group of Eisbach surfers wanted to provide river surfing lessons for beginners. At a closer look it turned out that these courses were meant to be for young people who are socially disadvantaged, however, they were supposed to pay 50 Euros per day for these lessons. One of the local surf shops were already ready to promote this idea.

A 360 doesn’t impress anyone anymore.

How did this come about? In a city known for one of the most committed and tightly-knit river surfing communities in the world? A decade ago, journalists would have been expelled from the wave. What has happened to all the pioneers who only surfed for the sole joy of surfing, not for looking good in the media or attracting sponsors? Did these pioneers resign quietly, accepting that our sport has been flooded with surf contests and media productions?

Throwback: A weekend in July, 2009. In one week, the annual river surfing competition will be held at the Floßlände Wave in Munich. Crowded, about 50 river surfers are already in the line-up. Everyone’s waiting about 15 minutes for their turn. This isn’t very exciting for beginners with their six seconds rides before they fall and need to queue for another 15 minutes to get their next chance. I bump into a comp veteran, he doesn’t even bother to queue on such a crowded day. He stopped bringing his surfboard on the weekends and he didn’t sign up for any competition in the past three years. He can’t be bothered to wait in such a crowded line-up, it’s just not fun anymore! He loves to think back to the good old days, when comp riders dressed up in a costume and being able to stick a 360 was all you needed to qualify for the finals.

Photo: Selena Fletscher

What has happened to all the pioneers who only surfed for the sole joy of surfing?

Today, the organisers are still trying hard to sell the comp as a fun event, but a 360 doesn’t impress anyone anymore. The level of tricks has increased enormously in the last couple of years. However, I’m pretty surprised about the current hype for tricks, considering that river surfers are far behind of the tricks skateboarders can pull off! Essentially, there are only two river surfers who have been able to really raise the bar in the last five years in Munich. If you see these two guys surfing, you don’t need to see anyone else surfing. All of us are basically just reproducing their tricks.

Another aspect that had a massive impact on surfing is social media. Cameras and phones have become indispensable to capture that perfect surf moment. This amazing trip, that stunning trick – there is this strong desire to capture and share these moments with the world. A tip for all beginners who are lucky enough to discover a river wave: “Found an association or a crew and publish a website. Upload the best photos and videos from yourself and the wave. It won’t be long and you’re famous, become a sponsored surfer and have the same fun as we’re having here in Munich!” These days there are online surf websites that focus exclusively on river surfing. The interest around river surfing has grown so much that its sister sport ocean surfing does not seem to be exciting enough anymore. I am curious about the day when the first print river surf mag will come out.

We have reached the point where industry needs to invest in surfable waves from which both surfers and the industry benefit long-term.

Overall, Munich reminds me of the crowded surf spots in California, known from the classic surf movie Crystal Voyager. Maybe I should do what the main character in this movie did: Build a boat and hit the ocean in the search for new spots. Rather than in the ocean however, I would head the Isar river downstream until the Danube, chasing the rain and the snow run-offs. Maybe my ship will head towards Switzerland, who knows! Recently, Claudio and his friends achieved something ground breaking in Switzerland. They threw a spoiler into their local river to create a DIY river wave. And in fact, it worked and a clean river wave started to form just behind the spoiler. Check this video on YouTube for the evidence! Of course, the wave wasn’t as big and fast as the Eisbach Wave, but our friends from Switzerland demonstrated that their self-made wave is surfable!

Developments like this one should be supported by the industry if they are to truly push our sport rather than exploiting it. Supporting contests and projects that directly benefit the industry is not enough. We have reached the point where industry needs to invest in surfable waves from which both surfers and the industry benefit long-term. But what can we as surfers contribute? We should not sell out ourselves and our sport. If I would organise a river surfing contest, I would at least want to see 5.000 EUR from the sponsors. This money should be invested in a river surfing fund to help financing new wave projects. Also, I’d love to see the industry depositing money in this fund as an appreciation for the Eisbach movie. But what’s even more important is that we as surfers should start taking responsibility and act in the interest of our sport, nothing is lost yet! Of course, we cannot fully stay out of (social) media, but we should ask ourselves the question: Who will benefit most from what we do? And this answer to this question should always guide our actions.

The post A Throwback to the Golden Days: Munich 2000–2010 appeared first on Riverbreak.

Silvia, are you already planning to participate in the Olympics in six years?

Wait a sec? China winter Olympics is in 4 years! Or … are you really asking me about in 6 years? You mean … SUMMER Olympics? Holy shit!! What an epic thought. To be honest it hasn’t crossed my mind but the thought is so wild and beautiful that I’ll keep it in my head to cheer me up through this current Olympic’s knee injury recovery period.

Let’s imagine, for a moment, river surfing is an official discipline at the Paris 2024 Summer Olympics. Would you swap your snowboard against a surfboard?

As I said before, I haven´t dared to think these kind of thoughts before, my surfing skills would definitely need a big upgrade to keep up with the amazing ladies river surfing already has in store. On the other hand, I´ve always loved a big challenge and a big dream. Those things are what makes life exciting. Especially right now while facing 5 more weeks of wounded warrior life before I can even just walk normal again… I´m down with a new and additional dream, and even the thought of trying this, no matter how far I could get with it, makes me stoked already. Thanks for brightening up my day with new dreams!

Tell us a bit about your story … how did you get into river surfing?

That was quite some years ago on the most chill one of our three Munich river waves, the “Flosslände”. I had tried my luck with real ocean surfing several times before, but only got rare chances when I was snowboarding in California already anyways and managed to do a quick additional stopover with friends on the beach or did the classic German camping& surfing vaca in France for a week. Great experiences but I never got enough of it and the only realistic way to get more surfing into my fulltime snowboarder life was to get on our Munich river waves. So I started on the Flosslände many years ago. Great times while the Flosslände ran, but then it shut off for a bit so I tried to transition straight to the Eisbach but I was quite scared of the rocks behind the wave, really couldn´t afford to hurt myself in the river and that way be out of the snowboarding. Also I didn´t know any of the Eisbach crew at that stage and it’s intimidating if you´re just a scared kook Eisbach beginner with no connections.

There are people on our river doing turns in ways I could probably try all my life and never be able to do it like that.

I felt I had no business being there so I went to the second Eisbach wave instead. It´s a smaller, weaker wave and kind of tricky if you aren´t very light weight, but it worked for me. I spent as much time there between my snowboard trips as I could and once that wave stopped running well I finally went to the classic first Eisbach wave. Got to know lots of people over the course of time, got over my fear of the rocks and kind of figured out how it works there after all. From a technical surfing point, I have lots of room to grow, but just being able to enjoy the surfing there makes me so happy, and in the end that’s what it’s all about – to feel good and comfortable with the wave and people and the huge amounts of watching tourists, to spend your time there with a constant smile adding your own little share of happy vibes to the accumulated good energies of Munich city.

Photo: Zach Faulkner

What would you say if future Olympic surf comps would be carried out on river waves, in cities far from the ocean?

Obviously the real surfing belongs into the ocean. But that makes it exclusive, only a certain amount of people have the luck to naturally have access to a surf spot, it´s quite comparable to good snowboarding locations and the reason why I have moved a lot of my life to the USA throughout my snowboard career. River waves and wave pools are an opportunity for many people to experience the joy of (that other kind of) surfing without living on or moving to the beach or being limited to your vacation time. I think there is no question about it that the primary Olympic surf event will always belong to the ocean, but adding a second surf discipline in the river or wave pool could be a sweet addition. Not only as something for the landlocked surf community to connect to, but also as a chance for technical trick surfing to improve in an additional direction. Especially if the wave pools or river wave constructions improve to new heights as well. Hate it or love it, it can definitely broaden the whole big picture of what surfing is and can be.

It’s up to yourself to figure out what exactly makes your heart scream from joy.

I can only compare it to the snowboard world, where backcountry never made it to the Olympics (I don’t think it should – snow gets tracked out, water stays the same), but slopestyle did in 2014 and then they added Big Air in 2018, also on those in-city-ramps that take snowboarding to downtown cities where it otherwise could never be. No, that´s not “real” snowboarding to me, but yes, big air was amazing to have in the Olympics this year and it does add a big slice of new excitement to the aging Olympic vampire as well. Generally I believe it´s good to be open to new additional directions and not only limit yourself to what you have known so far and cling on to the size of box you have packaged your passion into so far.

What would a river wave need to qualify as “Olympic”? What would the river wave of your dreams look like?

Wow, I only know my three home waves here in Munich so far. The main Eisbach wave is for sure the best one of those, it´s the tallest and has the most pressure and people are doing amazing things on it. So that´s the best I know, but I don’t feel I have enough experience with different waves to really say what should be different to make it the best it could be. You’ve got to ask those boys and girls with the big bag of tricks and many years of Eisbach experience, I´m not one of those, at least not at this stage.

Photo: Julian Dörr – kn12.de

Today, river surfing contests are at a stage where snowboarding was 20 years ago. What can river surfing learn from the mistakes that happened in snowboarding?

Wow. This interview is definitely one of a kind. I´m really enjoying all this crossing over between snowboarding and surfing, it´s broadening my own horizon of imagination and understanding along the way. Thanks guys!

Generally I don´t believe much in mistakes.

Generally I don´t believe much in mistakes, everything that happens is a chance to learn from it and evolve. So in my eyes, it’s not so much the things that happen themselves, it’s more our perception and judgement of them, our ability to let things happen with an open, fearless mind and soul. The only constant in life is change, and no matter how much you love something at a certain stage, time will go on. So in the context of boardsports and Olympics, Terje Haakonsen definitely comes to my mind, with his strong anti-olympic attitude back in the day. Olympics are clearly not 100% of what snowboarding is, there are many more perceptions and ways of living snowboarding, but the Olympics have clearly broadened the horizon of what snowboarding can be. It´s still up to the individual to only care about pow, to be a part of producing core snowboard movies, to compete in alternative events or chase an Olympic dream. It´s up to the individual to be on the mountain 2 or 200 days a year, on a freestyle-, race- or pow-board and it’s up to yourself to figure out what exactly makes your heart scream from joy.

So I´d say the important thing for the future of river surfing (as well as lots of other things in life) is to stay open and fearless and give things a try in order to figure out how to do them better. Resistance against change and growth is usually a waste of energy as long as the change and growth don’t destroy nature or hurt living beings.

A really fundamental question Silvia: In your opinion, should river surfing seek to become a professional sport like snowboarding?

I don´t think this is a question of “should” or “shouldn’t”. It kinda of goes back to the question with the mistakes in a way. No matter what happens, the individual will always have the choice to perceive riversurfing in whatever way makes them the happiest. If stationary wave surfing turned into an olympic discipline in 2024, whoever would like to spend time hating on that could save that energy and just keep surfing the same way they always have, not watch any of the events or care about it. I think the question is not to judge if it’s good or bad if stationary wave surfing became “official”, it’s more the question if it will happen or not.

I´d say the important thing for the future of river surfing is to stay open and fearless.

I do think there is a future of more river waves, city waves and wave pools because people enjoy using them. Consumers create the market, market creates chance of making money, chance to make money with something sweet as surfing creates people who will want to take advantage of that. So yes, I do think there will be a growth in that kind of surfing. More people doing it creates events, and the question is how popular and official those will get, and if the Olympic vampire will get hungry for more fresh blood as well. So bottom line – no resistance against whatever the future brings, just curiosity for what’s to come!

Who should be in charge of carrying out the qualifications for the Olympics? Do you think this should be left in the hands of national (ocean) surf associations or should river surfers have their own associations?

Wow this thought goes far into the future! Different federations and organisations have been a big magnet for wasting energy with fighting in snowboarding, but after many years, everybody has somewhat found together and two different tours have been united in a combined ranking list and a quite respectful co-existence. Coming from that experience, we know how important it is to include everybody involved and have vivid communication to create things together. So ocean surfing and stationary surfing would need to work together with respect in the shared goal to do what’s best for surfing overall. Ideally money and sponsor interests are secondary behind the interest of the sport and it won’t be a fight over who owns what but more joining forced to take it all onto a higher level together. This might sound rather dreamy-naive, but the more everybody involved can see the biggest picture, the better it will be. But obviously with human´s monetary system we also need budget to make things happen.

Photo: Zach Faulkner

What are your personal goals in river surfing? Which tricks do you want to learn in the future?

Surfing has mostly been a treat for me, a change of scenery, a chance to have a good time with lower expectations than those I have on the mountain. In snowboarding I´ve gone through all emotions of the pain and pleasure of trying and learning tricks, of scaring and pushing yourself, succeeding and failing with consequences. I haven´t gotten to a stage of putting any pressure on myself for surfing, I just go with it and am happy cruising no matter what. In that one summer on the little second Eisbach wave I sometimes got to a stage of being so comfortable I wanted more, so I started with little ollies and got alright at surfing switch (might help that I skateboard regular all my life, and I´ve been skateboarding longer than snowboarding actually) but once I transitioned to the bigger wave I was just stoked to feel comfortable cruising there. It would be sick to learn some 3s eventually, to pop above the water and see if the switch surfing also works there, but first I need this knee to heal again, keep up with snowboard life, and then I´ll possibly ask some of the good guys and girls for trick advice this summer, once the time has come.

Which other river waves would you love to ride one day?

In terms of river waves I´m lucky to come from Munich! We have some of the best, most consistent river surfing there is. So far if I travel somewhere to surf, it would be to be in the ocean and not in another river. But if there´s a river along my journeys, I surely love to try it out. This summer, when we were snowboarding in New Zealand, I was really hoping to join my Kiwi friends on their local (Hawea) wave, but while I was there that wave never ended up being surfable. That made me realize how lucky we are in Munich. Eisbach always runs except those 2 weeks a year when they clear out the river. I also have a friend who surfs in the great lakes in the USA which would be a sick experience if it worked out along the way – and we had the luck to get waves.

If there´s a river along my journeys, I surely love to try it out.

My next “new” stationary wave experience will be our 4th Munich wave – the indoor wave at the Jochen Schweizer arena. I’ve been wanting to try it ever since it opened, but in the summer the Eisbach was too fun and I didn´t want to go indoors, then I was in AUS/NZ for snowboarding, then ended up crashing so hard on snow that I had brain bleeding and wasn´t allowed to do sports for six weeks, then the snowboard season and Olympic qualifying kept going, taking me to Olympics eventually – where I hurt my knee. So it´s going be a little while until I can surf again, but once that time comes around I´m really excited to try that clean indoor wave and compare it to what I know so far.

Are we going to see you participating in river surfing comps in the future?

Coming back to the beginning of this interview – I haven’t really thought of it yet since I don´t think my skills are quite there yet. But who knows – if my body stays healthy and I have enough surf time this year and get lucky with some Eisbach crew advice on learning stuff – never say never. :) I´ve always loved a challenge and honestly I´ve thought about it how sweet it would be to learn surf tricks. It must help to have board feeling from doing tricks on a snowboard and skateboard? So far I just never really knew where to start so I just kept cruising. And actually just that is an eternal task in itself. There are people on our river doing turns in ways I could probably try all my life and never be able to do it like that. And in the very end, what matters is that it feels good and makes your happy. No matter if it’s a contest day or any given day. It´s just like snowboarding.

What can popular athletes like you do to help build more river waves?

I don´t really know. But if you can tell me, please tell me how, and I´m happy to help. If there was a smooth way to add waves to existing rivers without fucking with mother nature too much that would be huge! I´d love to support it in whatever way I can.

Thank you for your time Silvia and we wish you a speedy recovery!

The post Silvia Mittermüller – River Surfing from a Pro-Snowboarder’s Perspective appeared first on Riverbreak.

Yes, River Surfing is still in its infancy and although I still get puzzled looks when I explain to people that I surf in the river, it is definitely growing in popularity. I grew up surfing on the Central Coast of California. After moving to Denver, Colorado and discovering that there was a park built specifically for surfing in the river, it didn’t take long for me to get out there and give it a shot. Immediately after arriving to River Run Park in Denver, I realized that river surfing had a completely different culture than ocean surfing. Instead of the localism that often comes with certain breaks on the coast, at the river it was nothing but good vibes. When I started river surfing there was a small tribe of mostly ocean surfers that had transplanted to Denver. When they noticed a new face they welcomed me in, shared tips and even loaned me a spare board to spend my first couple hours face planting on.

The crowd is usually just as stoked as you are.

River surfing definitely has similarities to ocean surfing but it also has distinct differences. I have to admit being an ocean surfer, I thought I would just hop right on the river wave and start doing cutbacks. I quickly realized it was going to take some time to get the hang of. For starters on the Benihana’s wave, you enter by jumping into the wave and landing on your board. This is by far the hardest part of learning to surf the wave. Another major difference is that in river surfing, the wave is stationary and the water is coming at you, this takes some getting used to as well. The best part of river surfing is once you are on the wave, you have it all to yourself for as long as you can keep your balance, something that rarely happens in the ocean. The crowd is usually just as stoked as you are and will often be there hooting, hollering and slapping their boards to acknowledge a good ride.

River Run Park: Benihana’s Wave

A Vibrant Mix From All Different Backgrounds

In Colorado, there is a lot of excitement for the young sport of river surfing and I’d say it’s off to a great start. The sport is growing rapidly as cities are putting money towards revitalizing their rivers and providing recreational opportunities for its residents. As the sport grows in popularity, I just hope it can remember it’s roots and keep the positive vibe alive. The Denver river surfing crew is a mix of guys and girls from all different backgrounds. The backgrounds range from snowboarding, stand up paddling, wake boarding, skateboarding, kayaking and ocean surfing, with each bringing their own style to this awesome new sport we are all figuring out as we go. I think the diversity represented in the sport makes river surfing special as it borrows a little something from each.

I think the diversity represented in the sport makes river surfing special as it borrows a little something from each.

For me personally, coming from an ocean background, I knew very little about river etiquette and safety so that’s where those with a whitewater SUP or kayaking background have really contributed to river surfing. Those with skateboarding, snowboarding and wake boarding have helped push the sport towards more progressive moves. Despite all the different recreational backgrounds represented in Denver’s river surfing community, one thing is consistent and that is a shared passion for riding waves. Once you’ve felt the stoke of being able to surf in the river, it’s much like riding your first wave in the ocean and it’s highly addicting. If you ever find yourself in the  Denver area and want to give river surfing a shot, shoot a message on the Colorado River Surfers page on Facebook.  There will be plenty of people willing to introduce you to our little home break on the South Platte river.

The post What Separates River Surfing from Ocean Surfing? appeared first on Riverbreak.

Back in 2013, Neil Egsgard wrote an article describing the anatomy of a river wave. With the introduction of more surfing facilities, we wanted to take a look at how the construction of new surf lagoons differs to river waves and also how popular they are. For this article, we have teamed up with Pumping Solutions, the experts who helped to design and install the pump system at Surf Snowdonia.

The world’s first surf lagoon, Surf Snowdonia, was first opened in 2015 in Dolgarrog, Wales. The park is the result of 10 years worth of research and development by, the Spanish company, Wave Garden.

Wave Garden’s goal was to create ideal surfing conditions for everyone, especially those in landlocked locations, to recreate the experience of surfing an ocean wave and to improve on some aspects of ocean surfing such as overcrowding and poor surf.

Surf Snowdonia Wave Garden – The technology behind the waves

Surf Snowdonia is a 300m long, 110m wide fresh water lagoon that uses an angled wave foil to generate perfectly formed waves. The wave foil looks similar to a snow plow, but the specifics of the technology is a closely guarded secret. Because there’s no natural flow to rely on, one needs to be created.

Surf Snowdonia’s wave foil is dragged through the water by a pulley system that spans the two machine towers in the centre of the lagoon. This displaces a large amount of water, which then interacts with the contours of the lagoon to generate perfect, consistent, rolling waves. The contours in the bottom of the lagoon keeps the size of the waves controlled in different sections of the lagoon. This means there’s a wave or everyone from whitewater for beginners to 2 metre high waves for more experienced surfers or even pros.

The waves in the lagoon peel perfectly for a 20 second, 150 metre, ride before dissipating when they hit the grated shores. Because the waves are so uniform, breaking in the same place every time, it makes it the perfect environment for learning to surf or refining specific moves.

There is 6 million gallons of water in the lagoon and because there’s no natural flow of water coming into and out of the lagoon, the water needs to be cleaned and recirculated in another way. Rather than using chemicals to clean the water, it’s pumped out of the lagoon and passed through a UV cleaning system every 24 hours. Alongside other contractors, Pumping Solutions helped to design and install the pump system that circulates the water.

Since the site first opened in 2015 it’s gained a massive amount of interest with over 150,000 visitors to Surf Snowdonia in the first year alone. It’s also attracted some high-profile events such as Red Bull Unleashed in 2015 and the UK Pro Surf Tour in 2016.

With the popularity of Surf Snowdonia, it’s no surprise that Wave Garden are currently working on an additional 19 sites to add to the 3 that already exist. With technology always evolving, it will be interesting to see how things change. One thing is for sure though, the quest for bringing surfing to landlocked areas has only just begun.

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