Surf's up at Saskatoon's Traffic Bridge construction site - Action News
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Saskatoon

Surf's up at Saskatoon's Traffic Bridge construction site

A surfer's not something you'd except to see navigating the South Saskatchewan River in the heart of Saskatoon.

'There is something really surreal about river surfing,' says Jonathan Storey

Surf's up at Saskatoon's Traffic Bridge construction site

8 years ago
Duration 1:17
Surf's up at Saskatoon's Traffic Bridge construction site

A surfer's not something you'd except to see navigating the South Saskatchewan River in the heart of Saskatoon.

In order to build the new Traffic Bridge, work crews have had to create aberminto the river with a small opening. When the swift-flowing river is chanelled through the breach in theberm,it creates a stationary, ready-to-surf wave.

"There is something really surreal about river surfing," Jonathan Storeytold CBC Radio's Saskatoon Morning.

"You could do it on a kayak, a canoe; you could do it on a piece of plywood."

Jonathan Storey, stoked and decked out, ready to take on Saskatoon's river wave. (Submitted by Jonathan Storey)

"We get on that eddy and it actually pushes us and slingshots us towards the wave," he said.

"Then, right as you get close to it, you hit what's called the eddy line and that's where the two forces are kind of shearing on each other.The trick is getting over that, and once you are over that, you are kind of on the wave."

Not a sanctioned activity

Before you grab a piece of plywood with the intentionof hanging 10 while your buddies cheer you on from shore, remember that the water is dangerously cold. Storey has a drysuit to keep the water away from his skin and to keep hypothermia from setting in quickly.

Great surf sessions do not last forever, and the Traffic Bridge wave is no exception to that rule. With ongoing construction, the wave is changingand will soon be nothing more than a distant memory.

"Its glory days have actually kind of passed," said Storey.

Also, a word of warning:No officials have sanctioned river surfing.

With files from CBC Radio's Saskatoon Morning