montana river surfing

landlocked kooks finding whitewater

After a long winter, when that spring corn turns to slush and the alpine snow starts to melt, the rivers start running and if you’re in the right spot at the right time you might find yourself a ridable river wave. The right spot is determined by the speed and volume the water is flowing at, known as CFS (cubic feet per second). This information is readily available online, glueing Ajax and surfer-bros alike to their phones, checking Magic Moss for that perfect range in CFS to bless their favorite river spot.

The only way I can describe river surfing is utterly insane, so I relied on Ajax to provide a more detailed description.

River surfing: You leap off the closest rock to the wave and ride out to the center on your belly where it’s usually easiest to pop up to your feet. After a successful pop up is when that familiar magical feeling sets in that any ski or board sport brings. You’re harnessing the power of the river for your own stoke making turns to keep your speed up, otherwise the current carries you up over the top of the wave to your inevitable ride down the rapids. Sometimes your head stays above water, other times the churning hole of whitewater behind the wave pushes you under and flushes your wetsuit with a new round of ice cold, spring river water. And you just do that, over and over again until you’re too tired or too stiff from the cold water immersion.

- Ajax

He picked up the sport over a summer spent in Bend, OR riding the town’s manmade and controlled river wave. Underneath the wave in Bend, are hydraulic plates that are raised or lowered, depending on the CFS of the river, to achieve a smooth wall of water, perfect for surfing. As far as I know, every river wave in Montana is manipulated by the snow melt and entirely dependent on the weather, not some guy in an office on an Ipad. They are less predictable and fleeting. You gotta get ‘em while they’re in, and I think its that unpredictability that makes them so alluring and has got Ajax so hooked.

In definition: surfer slang to describe a wave that’s surf-able and good.

For the showboats and afterwork-sesh seekers there’s Brennan’s Wave, a standing wave constructed in the Clark Fork, running right through the center of town. There’s always a crowd of surfers and a pile of people watching from the viewing platform. The Caras Park lot is always full, but if you’re lucky enough to snag a spot you can usually scan the rows for another Tacoma with a locally crafted river board wedged in the back and a smiling guy behind it, doing the wet-suit-shimmy. They’ll lock their truck up, or forget to, but with their most prized possession in hand (surf board) it doesn’t matter anyway. They slink down the bank above the wave, hop on their board -~ prone style ~ and let the river carry them to the center island, or as I call it, the bro pit. I refer to it as this for two reasons - One, the lack of female presence, and two the fact that it’s a spot for the good surfers (and the bad ones) to hang out, shoot the shit and watch others ride the wave or at least attempt to. If you’re good enough you might end up on a cute gal’s instagram story or get the third degree from some dad who’s kid is begging for a board. Either way, surfers are celebrities at the wave downtown.

Not too far from town is my favorite spot; Zero Wave. It’s at a spot, above the Alberton Gorge of the Clark Fork River and the wave itself forms underneath three bridges in between the piles. The combination of infrastructure and the naturally occurring wave sets an interesting backdrop and the variety of viewing spots make it fun for a spectator to hop around and take a photo or two. It’s usually the first wave to come in for the season. We were there late March of last year and even with a 5mm wet suit with a hood and booties and gloves, Ajax would shiver on the bank waiting for his next turn.

I don’t surf, probably never will. My one and only experience was traumatic enough that I really don’t have any desire to try it again. You’re at the mercy of the water and that terrifies me, but I think that’s what pulls people in. There are few things that light Ajax up like surfing. I guess a good bump run and a roller coaster come close, but if the wave is in, there’s not much stopping him from getting out there, besides the struggle of wiggling into a wetsuit without flashing everyone around him, but let’s be honest, he’d still hit the wave if he stood naked in the parking lot. He gets this wild look in his eyes that I can only explain as a combination of fear and fearlessness.

Once last April, we drove from the ranch in Potomac into town for breakfast, before heading up Highway 12 to meet some friends at the Lochsa Pipeline. They had driven up Friday night and camped so they could hit the wave the whole weekend - it was the right place and the right time. We stopped to grab a sandwich, but when we were told we’d be waiting 20 minutes or so, we got back in the truck and didn’t stop elsewhere, since Ajax thought we already wasted too much time standing in line and ordering. It would have been a near 40 minute affair which was 40 less minutes on the wave in his eyes. We drove 2 hours up highway 12 for a 3 hour sesh, fueled by a highway french press and pure adrenaline I suppose.

Last year, there were a handful of early spring days, where I woke up for a trail run with Wes before packing up the truck to head to Snowbowl. We’d ski a few hours, hitting that sweet spot of the day in between the early morning ice and the afternoon slush before getting back in the truck for a drive to the Gorge for some time on the wave. Spring’s the time of year when all the good stuff happens at once and the fear of missing out, pushes us to do it all. A long winter’s rest has us waking up and ready to fit it all in, as all the best things are far too short lived to sleep in and miss out.

It’s funny writing this on the opposite side of the shoulder-season spectrum, but the stoke out west ain’t too hard to find. As soon as ski season makes it’s way to our little local mountain, surf season is right around the corner and when the two coincide, it’s Ajax’s definition of adrenaline junkie bliss, here in our little mountain town.