Slave River week 2
A massive flood has hit the Slave, and water levels are higher than we've ever seen them. As the water slowly works back down to the pre-flood levels, we hope to see the whole spectrum of playspots that the Slave can offer. We will continue to add updates to this page every day or so, so keep checking back.
And in case you lost the link, you can find a map of the rapids here, and week 1 here.
Day one million. July 27: Sweet spot, flows unknown (broken gauge).
Sweet Spot is still a little bit too high, so it greens out too much to surf... unless you're in an Element. I could just barely catch the wave in my surf boat, and once I got out there, it was a rowdy ride. I threw about three moves in the whole session, and the first two weren't on film because we didn't think the wave could be caught.
Once we got the camera out, I mostly had some really intense frontsurfs. It was a blast.
Big thanks to John for taking photos. It must have been pretty lame to not even be able to catch the wave, and then spend an hour or so taking photos. The Element is an awesome boat. Too bad you don't have one.
Here is a slideshow of the funny faces that I made while surfing:
And here are some of the photos of the frontsurfs.
Day before that one other day. July 26: Browntown, flows unknown (thanks, Government of Alberta, for all those times when you DID work)
We were feeling like a mellow day, so we gathered up team C (Calgarians) and headed over to the Rapids of the Drowned to check out Browntown. It turned out to be about as awesome as ever, so we did a lot of flatspins and roundhouses, but it was relaxing and fun. After surfing, we took a giant tour of the racecourse channels off on the river right side of the rapids, and then took a quick ride on Monstah Schiesser on the way out. (Remember, you can find the map here.)
Here are a couple photos of us chillin out.
Day ... something. July 25: Top Gun wave, 6000 cms (212,000 cfs).
We'd been anxiously waiting for the water to drop back to a level that we had already explored, and today it finally came within reach of the very top end of some previous experience. John had found a wave near Molly's while the water was rising. We decided to call it Top Gun, and went out to check it out, joined by the Calgary crew and a couple newcomers from Litton.
Upon arrival, we found that the wave was not very spectacular. Maybe the levels weren't quite perfect, but the wave was a lot like #1 wave, except less consistent. We took a quick session and headed down to Chico, which was still great. Avalanche was about the best that I have seen it, with a pile that would cycle in and out, leaving a huge steep face with some great big air potential. To bad there's no eddy service there.
Day... whatever. July 22: Chico hole, 6700-6500 cms (237,000 - 230,000 cfs).
We've been surfing Chico for several days, but we haven't been able to get photos until John had the idea to climb out on river left and shoot from a log jam. The wave is a little flat, but still good. The Element is a great boat for this wave since it's so fast.
And in case you lost the link, you can find a map of the rapids here, and week 1 here.
Day one million. July 27: Sweet spot, flows unknown (broken gauge).
Sweet Spot is still a little bit too high, so it greens out too much to surf... unless you're in an Element. I could just barely catch the wave in my surf boat, and once I got out there, it was a rowdy ride. I threw about three moves in the whole session, and the first two weren't on film because we didn't think the wave could be caught.
Once we got the camera out, I mostly had some really intense frontsurfs. It was a blast.
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| From Faces of Whitewater |
Big thanks to John for taking photos. It must have been pretty lame to not even be able to catch the wave, and then spend an hour or so taking photos. The Element is an awesome boat. Too bad you don't have one.
Here is a slideshow of the funny faces that I made while surfing:
And here are some of the photos of the frontsurfs.
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| From Slave 2011 |
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| From Slave 2011 |
Day before that one other day. July 26: Browntown, flows unknown (thanks, Government of Alberta, for all those times when you DID work)
We were feeling like a mellow day, so we gathered up team C (Calgarians) and headed over to the Rapids of the Drowned to check out Browntown. It turned out to be about as awesome as ever, so we did a lot of flatspins and roundhouses, but it was relaxing and fun. After surfing, we took a giant tour of the racecourse channels off on the river right side of the rapids, and then took a quick ride on Monstah Schiesser on the way out. (Remember, you can find the map here.)
Here are a couple photos of us chillin out.
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| From Slave 2011 |
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| Polarizers make everything awesome. Slave 2011 |
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| Even the Brown claw looks pretty good with a polarizer. Slave 2011 |
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| From Slave 2011 |
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| Look how the black and white conversion has transformed this into some artsy shit! Slave 2011 |
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| From Slave 2011 |
Day ... something. July 25: Top Gun wave, 6000 cms (212,000 cfs).
We'd been anxiously waiting for the water to drop back to a level that we had already explored, and today it finally came within reach of the very top end of some previous experience. John had found a wave near Molly's while the water was rising. We decided to call it Top Gun, and went out to check it out, joined by the Calgary crew and a couple newcomers from Litton.
Upon arrival, we found that the wave was not very spectacular. Maybe the levels weren't quite perfect, but the wave was a lot like #1 wave, except less consistent. We took a quick session and headed down to Chico, which was still great. Avalanche was about the best that I have seen it, with a pile that would cycle in and out, leaving a huge steep face with some great big air potential. To bad there's no eddy service there.
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| One of three tricks I threw on Top Gun. The others were roundhouses. Slave 2011 |
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| Looking back up at Molly's from the Forgotten Island. Slave 2011 |
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| From Slave 2011 |
Day... whatever. July 22: Chico hole, 6700-6500 cms (237,000 - 230,000 cfs).
We've been surfing Chico for several days, but we haven't been able to get photos until John had the idea to climb out on river left and shoot from a log jam. The wave is a little flat, but still good. The Element is a great boat for this wave since it's so fast.
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| From Slave 2011 |
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| From Slave 2011 |
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| From Slave 2011 |
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| From Slave 2011 |
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| From Slave 2011 |
Awesome!
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