Friday, October 6

Starting at 7:00pm (no registration required)
Meet and Greet: Meet and surf with river surfers from across North America

Saturday, October 7

8:00am–8:30am
Morning registration

8:30am–9:00am
Jacob Kelly: event introduction

9:00am–10:00am
Neil Egsgard: step by step timeline for wave builds

10:00am–10:30am – Via Skype (Austria)
Maximilian Neuböck: stakeholder management, overall wave build approaches

10:30am–11:00am
Jeffrey Banks: fundraising for surf waves

11:00am–11:30am
Ben Nielsen: finding the best sites and conditions for successful wave projects

11:30am–noon
Questions and answers

Noon–1:00pm
Lunch

1:00pm–1:20pm
Alex Copp: experiences in growing surf communities and starting a surf shop

1:20pm–1:40pm
KB Brown: experiences in shaping river surfboards and young surfers

1:40pm–2:00pm
Discussions: in groups

2:00pm–2:20pm
Loren Kaehn: registering a non-profit surf association

2:20pm–2:40pm
Tyler Kraushar: fundraising strategies for small groups

2:40pm–3:00pm
Discussion: in groups

4:00pm–4:30pm
Ryan Richard: whitewater park evolution, adjustable waves, relationships with cities and businesses

4:30pm–4:45pm
Ben Nielsen: engineer’s point of view with working with cities

4:45pm–5:00pm
Neil Egsgard: presentation of a communication framework

5:00pm–5:20pm
Questions and answers

6:00pm–9:00pm
Evening social, river surf discussions, mingling, beers

Sunday, October 8

Sunday Funday (no registration required)
Meet and surf with river surfers from across North America

Location

Bend, Oregon

Ticket Options

Wave Building Workshop ($115)
8:00am – 1:00pm: includes the rest of the day – no other registration is required to attend later events

Community Building Afternoon ($60)
1:00pm – 6:00pm: includes the evening but no access to the morning -no other registration is required to attend the social

Evening Social ($20)
6:00pm – 9:00pm: includes evening only, no access to morning or afternoon

As part of the summit a Meet & Greet will take place the Friday evening before at the wave as well as a Sunday Funday surf but registration is not required.

If you want to join the Summit it is not too late to purchase your ticket at eventbrite.com

The post 2017 River Surf Summit: Program and Schedule appeared first on Riverbreak.

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.

Spot Details

Country: USA
Nearest town/city: Denver, Colorado
River: South Platte
Address: 2301 W. Oxford Ave., Sheridan, Arapahoe County, Colorado 80110
Directions: Park at the Broken Tee Golf Course
Latitude: 39.643014399343535
Longitude: -105.01511871814728

Wave Details

Characteristics

Two waves, one for beginners (Chiclets) and one for more advanced surfers (Benihana’s). Chiclets is a slower, smaller wave that is good for SUP, higher volume surfboards, and body boards. Benihana’s is super smooth, fast and steep. You can SUP and body board this one too . If you’re going to surf, board selection is key – nothing longer than 5’-0”, can be very low volume 2”-2.5” thick, and width is an advantage (20”+ works well). The wave surfs like a miniature Boise or a more powerful Alm Canal (Salzburg, Austria). The water is so smooth and fast it feels like you are flying on the surface. Entry is best by an acid drop (suitcase drop) from one of the flat areas at each side of the wave. Prone and pop is possible but much more difficult.

Conditions

Benihanas: 130cfs; prime 175 cfs+
Chiclets: 60cfs+

Dangers

Typical river hazards. Waves work at very low flows so water can be shallow.

Tips

Wear a helmet and PFD.
Ride the right boards – works best on boards that are much smaller than those that work on other waves in Colorado and the U.S. If you don’t have the right board, ask a local to try theirs – super friendly vibe at the wave.
Set up a flow alert for this wave.

River Gauge

Weather in Denver, Colorado

Today 09/02 High 28° / Low 15°

Tomorrow 09/03 High 28° / Low 15°

Tuesday 09/04 High 27° / Low 13°

Spot Location

River Run Park Videos

Ben Nielsen Surfing at RRP

You know more about River Run Park?

The post River Run Park appeared first on Riverbreak.

For us flow, hydraulic drop, currents, eddies, obstructions and numerous other factors are the difference between driving through our next carves or not. My passion (and job) is designing waves that not only deal with these dynamic factors but optimises them to create high performance surf waves. How do we do it? One key aspect is adjustability.

Waves Are Extremely Sensitive

A wave is a single point on a spectrum. Above this point is a range of breaking waves and below this is a non-rideable green wave and below that further is a hole (see previous article The Two Types of River Waves on Riverbreak).

For a given set of flow/river conditions there is one specific wave “sweet spot”. This is why some waves only work at very specific flows. You’ve maybe looked at the micro flow effects at your local wave and perhaps noticed the delicate dance the water makes. A small boil or seam from an upstream boulder or a curved current that carries through the wave making it break more or less. Bottom line, waves are extremely sensitive.

Check out how the wave sweet spot is a single point in the video below. This sweet spot is super sensitive.

To further complicate the issue, we want to surf most of the year, at various flows, not just a few weeks a year. And, oh yeah, we surfers are pretty picky about wave shape too. Adjustability allows the wave to change in order to find the sweet spot, stay in it and create the wave shape we need to surf. I’ve designed waves that work with no adjustability but my experience has led me to include adjustability of some kind in all designs.

What Does Wave Adjustability Look Like?

I’ve used several types and have seen countless others. Adjustability typically manipulates one or more of these factors: flow, drop, angle, or bottom contour. Adjustability falls into two categories: real-time and static.

Real-time Adjustibility

Real-time allows adjustment with water flowing whereas static adjustability requires flow to be turned off or diverted around the wave. Examples of real-time systems include The Wave Shaper in Boise, Idaho which adjusts the bottom using pneumatics and hydraulics, or the Alm canal which uses a mechanical screw system to move a plate on the bottom.

In the video below, you see Ryan Richard, the Wave Shaper operator, making the adjustments remotely from the middle of the river on his laptop. Pretty cool right? Even better having Gerry and Tao from Munich in Boise slaying it.

Static Adjustability

Static systems typically attach blocks or other shapes to the river or canal bottom. Although the wave can be adjusted to changing conditions, the flow must first be turned off or diverted around the wave before. Most of the rivers however, are not designed in a way that the flow can be turned off or diverted spontaneously.

The photo below shows Columbus Georgia – this is a “static system” not a “real-time” adjustable feature. We actually never had to do anything to it after it was built worked right away (lucky or good? – who knows a bit of both probably).

Spot: Columbus Wave, Georgia

Pros and Cons

There are pros and cons to each system. Real-time adjustability is typically more expensive to construct initially but reduces costs during tuning and is a good option in rivers or other situations where flow varies (like a river) and flow can’t be turned off. It can also achieve very fine adjustments difficult to do with a static system.

A static system tends to be less expensive up front and is a slightly less complicated design but can require a lot of iterations during tuning to get the wave right. So how do you know which system is best? That’s a tough question. There isn’t a one size fits all system. It needs to be evaluated project by project based on site, budget and performance expectations.

Does Adjustability Guarantee Wave Building Success?

No, but it does improve the chances for success. You can’t compensate for a bad design with adjustability. There have been wave projects built with extensive and costly adjustability that don’t work well. Adjustability will never replace a good, fundamentally sound design that is already near that wave sweet spot.

It is usually cost prohibitive to make waves excessively adjustable or the site doesn’t allow drastic changes to the channel after the wave is constructed, so you have to be close to begin with. Knowing where waves are sensitive and which characteristics are needed is the key to successful adjustability. My approach is to design adjustable features with the precision needed for a non-adjustable wave then build in the adjustability from there at sensitive locations to dial in the wave.

River Waves are a beautiful thing. Let’s keep progressing surf wave design to bring quality river waves to a town near you. Include adjustability in your next wave project, trust me it’s worth it.

To health and high water. See you on the river!

The post The Case for Adjustability in River Wave Design appeared first on Riverbreak.