River surfing
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
River surfing is the sport of surfing either standing waves or tidal bores in rivers. Claims for its origins include a 1955 ride of 1.5 miles along the tidal bore of the River Severn. [1]
River surfing on standing waves as been documented as far back as the mid 1970s in Munich, Germany and Jackson Hole, Wyoming.
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[edit] Standing waves
In this type of river surfing, the wave is stationary on the river, caused by a high volume of water constricted by flowing over a rock and creating a wave behind. A river surfer can face up-stream and catch this wave and have the feeling of traveling fast over water but not actually be moving.
[edit] Locations
[edit] Europe
An annual surfing competition is held on standings wave in the Eisbach in Munich, Germany [2] Munich has been the epicenter of surfboard riding on a stationary wave since the mid 1980's.[citation needed] Munich has produced the best surfers and was the first location that created a true surfing community around an inland river wave.[citation needed]
[edit] North America
Jackson Hole, Wyoming is known as the most famous river surfing community in the USA. The wave known as Lunch Counter has been surfed every summer by a small core group for over 20 years. [1]
In the past 5 years, Montreal has sprung up as a hot bed of river surfing, with warm water and great waves right in the city. [2][3]
The city of Pueblo, Colorado had the forsight to build a beautiful whitewater kayak park right through the downtown area a few years back. The 8 feature park has also become a surfing center. Depending on the water volume the third, fourth and seventh features can all be surfed. The activity has become so popular that Pueblo is now advertised as a Surf destination in Colorado.[citation needed]
[edit] Tidal bores
Tidal bores, waves created by incoming tides, are being surfed along coastal rivers such as the pororoca on the Amazon River or England's River Severn. [3][4]
[edit] Severn Bore
Surfing the Severn Bore has become a competitive sport with dozens of surfers vying to record the longest ride. The tidal surge also attracts canoeists and windsurfers. The present champion surfer is Dave Lawson from Hempsted, Gloucestershire, who has covered 5.7 miles on a surfboard. His record-breaking surf took more than 35 minutes and was logged by an official adjudicator from the British Surfing Association. [4]
[edit] Pororoca
The pororoca is a tidal bore, with waves up to 4 meters high that travel as much as 13 kilometers inland upstream the Amazon River.
