Who’s brave enough to surf in the winter? River surfing in winter is actually pretty popular here in Salida. Lots of adults and students enjoy this sport. It’s perfect for all ages. Some people prefer summer over winter because of the cold, but there’s a lot of things you can do to make it more enjoyable in the winter.
The Scout wave has been closed for renovations most of this winter. Junior Amato Halenda, a student at Salida High School, explained that the Scout wave has been closed for about four and a half months now because they are doing renovations to try and make it more effective throughout the year. It should be more adaptable between the different levels of water flow. That way, no matter if the river is lower flow or higher flow, the wave will flatten out to make it more surfable.
River surfing is a lot more known in the summer. Halenda’s advice if you want to start river surfing the right way is that you need a knowledge of how the river works, how to get into the wave, and how to exit the river safely.
“It’s just a lot more dangerous in the winter,” Halenda said.
The water temperature can be anywhere from 32 to 45 degrees. This means that hypothermia is a very real possibility and can occur in under two minutes. It’s necessary to have all the right safety gear: wetsuit, lifejacket, and helmet. All of this equipment is even more critical in the winter.
And then, it just takes practice until people are able to know what it feels like. People can get into shock when they enter cold water, and that makes them exhale deeply, and then they may inhale water. Always have someone surfing with you all year.
“Well you shouldn’t surf alone anyways but especially in the winter. Always have someone with you, never surf alone,” Halenda said.
All the appropriate gear is necessary; a warm wetsuit, maybe an electric wetsuit vest, and head protection is critical, and protects underwater headaches.
Being safe in and out of the river is also very important, but, when being safe, winer river surfing can be a very enjoyable activity for many. And, of course, it gives people an interesting story to talk about. If anyone is up for an adventure, try it out sometime!
