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Wavepools in the Northwest
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Post new topic   Reply to topic    Northwest Kiteboarding -> Gorge / Portland / Oregon Coast
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Ho-Toe

Since 30 Apr 2014
231 Posts
pissed-off science guy like Bill Nye
CO2 quantifier & upwelling specialist



PostWed Nov 22, 17 7:32 pm     Reply with quote

CEO? Further evidence that surfing today has gotten so gaaaay... Rolling Eyes

Here’s more evidence, in case you need it: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-0C-fit4jB4

signed,

a guy who’s been surfing since the 80s

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ShiverMeTimbers

Since 26 Feb 2013
381 Posts
Gig Harbor
Obsessed



PostSat Nov 25, 17 11:06 pm     Reply with quote

I was fully paralyzed for 20 minutes at the Bend river "wave". I almost drowned. Thanks to the fast-acting crew there, I was saved and brought ashore, held in shallow water until the medics arrived. I started to feel something in my big toe as they loaded me into the ambulance but I had a long time to think about how I was going to watch my little girl grow up from a wheelchair.

That was a year and half ago. I haven't kited since. The complications and nerve pain have made things very difficult for me to try anything like that.

Some of you may be thinking I was a kook who didn't know how to surf. Not so. I lived in San Diego for 20 years and surfed shortboards 4 or more times/week. I know how to surf.

I think if you have a surfing background the Bend wave is more dangerous because it doesn't behave or ride like an ocean wave. Its more like snowboarding than surfing IMO. Lots of people have gotten hurt on the Bend wave. Its shallow, but visitors don't know how shallow.

Kelly Slater's wave is the real deal, and I'm certain that if I was riding that I wouldn't have gotten hurt.

Anyway, this is me right before they stitched me up, after I found out I didn't have a broken neck. Broken nose, broken tooth, lacerations of varying depths, and 4 or 5mm of swelling in my spinal cord where my vertebrae punched it.

Just my painfully educated $0.02.



    

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user124

Since 02 Aug 2012
390 Posts
Portland
Obsessed



PostSun Nov 26, 17 12:08 am     Reply with quote

ShiverMeTimbers thanks for posting your experience. That is every outdoor enthusiasts' nightmare. I hope you have a speedy recovery from here on out, and hope you are able to kite again soon.

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Gman

Since 11 Feb 2006
4907 Posts
Portland
Unstrapped



PostTue Nov 28, 17 4:20 pm     Reply with quote

holy shit ShiverMeTimbers!!!

so sorry - that is heinous. you hit the concrete side you launch off or the metal plate on the bottom getting going?

Just spent 4 days surfing the bend wave - the flow was 600-1000 cfs and at that level it was bit humbling - a harsher than expected learning curve.

i tweaked my back in the first 15 minutes, 40 degree water and breeze didnt help

worked thru that, didnt have a board leash (i thought that it was drowning hazard and big no no - but they have some super clever quick release leashes with a release pin at your waist or above your knee - not on your ankle)

every 10th try would swim over the next rapids trying to chase my wake surf board - mashing a knee pretty good and bounced off the bottom hard - all the toys eventually come to a stop - but swimming the freezing rapids suck some energy

thing kinda pissed me off - i had my ancient 5'6 inland surf/skim board and blew a fin off and dinged it up real good

day three i rented a 5'6 foam board from Tumulo Creek Paddle and got em to throw in a SUP waist belt with quick release leash
https://tumalocreek.com/
game changer

day four - progressed to shorter board

i bounced off the bottom 20 or so times - slamming a wrist right on the metal bottom
plate once

it is a similar dynamic to the flo rider - but much more fun - the local crew is super nice and helpful - definitely much less forgiving than wake surfing behind a boat

http://eyeonbend.wixsite.com/eobcams/copy-of-old-mill-2

_________________
Go Deep!


https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=eu2pBpQolKE

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ShiverMeTimbers

Since 26 Feb 2013
381 Posts
Gig Harbor
Obsessed



PostTue Nov 28, 17 6:09 pm     Reply with quote

Hey Gman, thanks for the good thoughts.

I think the flow was around 2400 cfs (early July, lots of snowmelt) when I was there. I didn't know any different, it was my first time there. I had just popped to my feet, so it must be the metal ramp that makes the wave.

Peter Butsch saw me fall, kept eyes on me through the rapids, and swam out to grab me in the river. I owe him everything... I was holding my breath, looking at the bubbles around me, thinking about my little girl, hoping I was gonna make it. I've rescued several people in the surf over the years, so I guess I had built up some good karma, but Peter saved my life.

I agree, its way more like a flow rider than a "wave". I still think its easier for a non-surfer to figure it out than a surfer, because a non-surfer doesn't have any notions of how the board should feel on a wave.

Glad you had fun. Be careful on that thing. Bend is a rad town, but next time I think my water activities will consist of floating on an inner tube and a enjoying a local brew.

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