No ocean waves? No problem. River surfing is taking off in landlocked Canada

River surfing is something you need to see, or at least YouTube, to really wrap your head around. Niche for now, it’s an adventure sport gaining traction in landlocked parts of Canada — including Alberta’s mountain-fed rivers, and Ontario and Quebec’s urban waterways — which, until recently, were probably the last places you’d think to bring your board.

“Just imagine what surfing looks like on the ocean,” suggests Neil Egsgard, a practitioner of the sport for more than 15 years. “It’s the same equipment, the same motion. Except on the ocean, the wave is moving toward the shore — and on the river, the wave stands in one place.”

It’s a bit like an aquatic halfpipe, a stationary wall of curling water, upon which a surfer can carve up and down and across, sometimes for hours on end.

“When it goes well, it’s incredibly freeing and beautiful,” says Egsgard, president of the Alberta River Surfing Association. “When you’re doing it, the only thing that exists is that moment, the way you’re moving and how it feels.”

Egsgard stumbled across the sport shortly after moving to Calgary in 2005, when he saw someone surfing the Bow River. “That was a big surprise,” he recalls. He was instantly intrigued and went down to talk to the surfer. It took him, however, two full years to successfully catch his own river wave. “Ocean surfing is much easier,” he adds, though the learning curve depends on your athleticism, your familiarity with other board sports and the wave itself.

The safety protocols are also different from its oceanic cousin sport: There’s no leash tethering you to your board, lest it traps you on the river bottom; a helmet and life-jacket are mandatory, especially for beginners. But “if you do it properly,” Egsgard notes, “the risk is very low.”

Some waves that river surfers catch are naturally occurring, created when the water drops from a high point to a lower point in the river bed. These can be seasonal, at their best during the spring thaw, for instance, and sensitive to river levels. Others are man-made, built when structures are placed in the river to mimic the natural phenomenon, and have the potential be adjusted depending on the river’s flow, meaning they can be tailored to beginners, for example, and operational all year-round.

Egsgard co-owns a consulting company, Surf Anywhere, which works with communities looking to build their own river wave, and he’s a big believer in the positive economic impact a river wave can have on the area around it.

In downtown Munich, Germany, for instance, one of the world’s most famous spots for river surfing — the fast-flowing Eisbach canal wave — attracts intrepid athletes and curious spectators alike. “Wave tourism is worth around $50 billion dollars a year,” Egsgard points out. Why shouldn’t Canada, with its abundant rivers, have a bigger piece of that?

Whether waves are purpose-built or gifted by nature, one thing unites them: Where there’s a river wave, there’s a river surfing community. Because there’s only a single wave to surf, enthusiasts must line up to take their turn, which naturally lends itself to conversation while waiting.

You can look up river surfing associations or even instructors, but one of the best ways to get started in the sport is just to go down to a local wave and get chatting to people, who can connect you to lessons and gear. (Soft boards recommended, by the way, since hard boards get punished by the hard river floor.)

“River surfers are very friendly,” Egsgard says, noting that there isn’t the same territorialism you can find by the ocean. The single wave also creates a particular etiquette around the sport. “You wait your turn, and there’s usually an unwritten time limit on how long you would spend on the wave.”

In Calgary, where he surfs, it’s about a minute during busy periods, although other waves, like the big ones in Montreal and Ottawa, where you have to paddle much further to get to the wave, and it’s harder to catch them when you do, have more nuanced practices. “Those big waves? You’re not going to catch them unless you have a lot of experience,” Egsgard cautions.

But you’ll almost certainly have a great time learning.

Where you can river surf in Canada

Ottawa: Arguably Canada’s river surfing capital, the city has three notable waves — Champlain, Sewer and Desert — right on the Ottawa River. The last is surfable year-round, so pack your extra-warm wetsuit.

Montreal: If you’d like to learn, KSF offers lessons (private, group or even surf camp) on the rapids of the St. Lawrence River, part of the city’s vibrant river surfing community.

Calgary: If you’re in search of a “bunny wave,” the one found by the 10th Street Bridge is a great spot to start. The much more experienced, however, will find plenty to challenge in the nearby Kananaskis River’s Mountain Wave.

The Star understands the restrictions on travel during the coronavirus pandemic. But like you, we dream of travelling again, and we’re publishing this story with future trips in mind.