| From Monday to Friday, Ben Murphy is a typical nine-to-fiver. However, some evenings and most weekends, he leaves the paper pushing behind, loads up his vehicle with boards and heads for the hills. Only, the boards in his car aren’t snowboards, and he isn’t cruising out for a day on the slopes in Banff. Instead, he joins up with a small but devoted crew of surfers who ride the glacial waves of Alberta’s rivers.
Before leaving, Murphy checks the flow schedule of the dam-controlled Kananaskis River to gauge conditions. A quick breakfast and he’s on the road with his dog and surf gear in the back of his car. A half hour or so later and he’s at Green Tongue and Santa Claus, two of the best surf waves on the Kananaskis.
"I do the crazy yoga routine to get the wetsuit on, and then put a life-jacket on the dog," Murphy jokes as he explains his pre-surf routine. "You park pretty close to the river so you can just get changed at the car, surf for however long you want or until the river stops flowing."
An Australian ex-pat who surfed ocean breaks as a kid, Murphy quickly developed a case of landlocked fever when he arrived in Calgary. Rather than wax nostalgic about the sandy beaches and barrel swells of Australia, he staved off dry rot by searching local rivers for surfable waves. "I first tried it in Munich about seven years ago," he recalls. "When I moved here (Calgary) I was getting withdrawals from not being in the ocean for so long, so I had to find a wave around here," he explains. "I asked some kayakers hooked up with some rafting guides on the Kananaskis river. We floated down the river on a bodyboard to scope out waves and, sure enough, we found some. I went back with my surfboard the next week. That was in the spring of 2002."
Murphy’s not alone in his inland surfing pursuit. The local river surfing scene is really taking off as more and more people are getting in on the action. Some have a decorated history of ocean surfing, others are as green as the river waves they’re learning on.
The main difference between river and ocean surfing is that ocean waves pick surfers up and push them forward. The wave actually hits the rider. Surfing river waves is similar to running on a treadmill, the water is rushing past but the surfer stays in the same spot and rides from side to side. "The surf sessions are great fun," says Murphy. "You have to be so balanced to ride these waves and really know the sweet spot on your board."
Since the majority of Alberta’s rivers are glacier-fed, water temperatures are cold throughout the year. Most riders even wear wetsuits during summer sessions. Some of the more hardcore surfers even dare to plunge into the frigid waters during the winter months when most people are out skiing and snowboarding. "It’s damn cold," laughs Murphy. "The surfers around here are a committed bunch. When there is ice forming on your face and your wetsuit is frozen solid in the parking lot, you have to be fully dedicated – it’s a passion. But to have something like this in a place like Calgary is awesome."
It didn’t take long before Murphy hooked up with two other locals also playing in the waves, Paul Barrett and Neil Egsgard. At the time, the surf scene in Southern Alberta consisted of a number of different people surfing various rivers. There wasn’t a way for these surfers to connect and for others to learn about the sport. When word spread that the Bow River weir near the Calgary Zoo will be replaced by a series of play waves, the group wanted to be involved but realized they needed some credentials beyond a wetsuit and surfboard. So they formed the Alberta River Surfing Association (ARSA) to unite surfers and show the Weir Project they were serious with legitimate interests in the construction process.
"River surfing's lack of glamour combined with the difficulty of surfing the Lower Kananaskis has resulted in a core group of incredibly solid people," says Egsgard. "Every regular Alberta river surfer I've met has been an interesting person marked by an innovative drive to surf – people create wetsuits out of whatever they can find and even make their own boards."
For Barrett, the surf scene in Southern Alberta is like no other in the world, professing that it’s truly about a positive community. In the bigger surf meccas around the globe, surfing’s sexy side is often overshadowed by aggressive attitude and territorial skirmishes over busy swells. If you’re not a local, don’t expect much love out of the people who surf a given area day in and day out.
"I grew up in San Diego where paddling out into a lineup is intimidating," he says. "No one wants you there, it’s stink-eye all around, and if you are in a lineup for four hours you won’t even say one word to other people. Alberta is different. ARSA has taken a positive view on the lineup. We encourage people to get wet, and we cheer each other on whenever we are on the water.
"A friend was talking about the kayakers in the area the other day and said, ‘All these kayakers here, and I bet most of them don’t even know each other.’ River surfing is different. We know each other, we surf, camp and go out on the town together. There is a real bond amongst the crew here. I think it’s because we are a bit outcast, and really rely on one another. Also, the sport is so new in Calgary that we need each other to learn from. One guy figures something out and shares it with others." For ARSA members, Barrett explains, half the fun is camaraderie. "We really do have a great time, whether it’s on the water, telling stories in the parking lot or over a few drinks at the Kensington Pub."
Alberta is rich with waves he continues. Some have been ridden, but he believes the province’s river waves have barely been tapped. Most of the local spots are spring-melt dependent and they only come alive when the snow pack is running off, which limits the ideal surfing window to about a month and a half.
The group agrees that safety is key on the river, and they prefer not to divulge the locations of some spots because of the danger factor. "With surfing becoming more popular in these parts, I’m seeing a lot of people get themselves into some unsafe situations," says Murphy. "We’re all stoked to welcome newcomers to the sport, but they need to be aware of the dangers of the river."
Barrett says one of the most ideal shapes for river surfing is the modern hybrid fish design. He suggests something that’s fat, thick and around 1.95 metres long. The group’s website features instructions on the process as well as a tips forum.
For more information on river surfing visit the Alberta River Surfing Association website at www.riversurfing.ca and the Calgary Bow River Weir Project website at
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