Neil Egsgard and Jacob Quinlan present their Surf Anywhere Project in this week’s Surf Park Summit Video release.
40 minutes outside of Calgary, Alberta, the Lower Kananaskis River flows at a solid 1,000 cubic feet per second… during the day anyway. At night the water is typically dammed, and the riverbed runs all but dry. This creates an ideal canvas for river wavescapers like Egsgard and Quinlan to play with new designs for the ultimate river surfing wave.
The Surf Anywhere Project aims to build the perfect river wave that can be replicated or modified slightly for use in any feasible river location around the world. It doesn’t stop there though. The duo has made the design 100% free and accessible to any community that can put to together the materials, labor, and build costs, which would normally be around $200K total without the significant donations that have gone into this project.
With the technology open-sourced though, it begs the question: What makes for a feasible location for a river wave?
According to Egsgard, the minimum requirements needed to produce a viable river wave are simply a water flow of at least 200 cubic feet per second, and an elevation drop of at least 1.7 feet where the wave will be created. For a more detailed description, watch their presentation above.
The two Canadians have been working on this project since 2012, and have successfully attained over half of the $30,000 in funding needed to make the dream a reality.
While funding for this project goes into building the wave installation, actual installation into the river, and all modifications necessary once it’s been tested, the overall goal for the pair is to help others build these world-class river waves around the globe as efficiently as possible.
Although massive flooding in the river has impeded their progress somewhat, the two are hopeful to test the completed prototype by Spring 2014, once the dam is back up and running at full capacity. We’re all excited to help make this dream a reality and to see the final product in action.
During Surf Park Summit, Mark Kelly, CEO of Global Surf Industries, pledged $1500 to provide the necessary capital to get the technology out and into the world. Now we challenge you, the Surf Park Central community, to help the team raise the remaining $10K.
If you are interested in providing funding or learning more about the project visit the Surf Anywhere Project website.
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