A new pastime has shown up in many urban areas around the world, as urban surfing, where innovative surfers ride waves along inner-city rivers rather than the ocean, catches on, according to CNN.
The Eisbach River in Munich is one of the many rivers' being used in this newly popular incarnation of the sport. The idea of urban surfing isn't itself new, as surfers have been riding along the one-meter waves of the Eisbach River, which flows under a six-lane highway, for over four decades.
Surfers show up to the rivers late at night, with an audience often gathered around to watch surfers participate in the extreme sport. The river is about 12-meters wide, and only experienced surfers participate.
"I'd surfed the ocean for five years, but river surfing is a totally different sport with a different movement," Quirin Stamminger, the editor of Eisbach River surfing zine, told CNN. "It's flowing so fast, around 25 square meters of water per second.
"The wave is formed by fast water crashing into slow water," Stamminger continued. "This creates the undercurrent which forms the tube."
The popularity of urban surfing even extends to China.
The Qiantang River in the city of Hangzhou in China is 460-kilometers and the home to an annual festival that attracts the best surfers in the world. A massive tidal-like wave travels against the current each Fall, surging up the river. It's approximately nine-meters high and traveling at 40 kph. It's known as the "Silver Dragon" in China. It's the largest tidal bore in the world. Only a small number of hefty commercial boats are allowed on the river during its flow.
A group of American surfers has launched an annual festival that uses jet skis to reach the tidal bore to surf the Qiantang River. As the surfers ride the silver Dragon, a backdrop of towering skyscrapers is visible behind them.
"Hundreds of thousands of people flock to Hangzhou during the Fall Equinox, known as the Moon Festival, every year to stand on the banks and watch the natural phenomenon barrel past," Glenn Brumage, the business director of Wabsono International, a company that promotes board sports in China, said. "The cityscape, the hundreds of thousands of people lining the banks, the exclusivity and just the fact that it's China all adds to the drama, excitement and allure of surfing the Qiantang."
Urban surfing in Munich.
This article is copyrighted by Travelers Today, the travel news leader
