Justin Bieber just doesn’t know what he is missing!

For years now we have been trying to get any celebrity to come to Idaho for a surf trip. There are so many hollywood stars who are into board sports Surfing, SUP, Snowboarding, etc. – Matthew McConaughey, Justin Bieber, Eddie Vedder, Anthony Kiedis, Jennifer Aniston, Matt Damon, Cameron Diaz, David Beckham, Ashton Kutcher, etc. These celebrities just don’t understand how much fun riverboarding is. Way more fun than SUP! Yet, every star listed above has been on a Stand Up Paddle Board, and none of them has been riverboarding. Come to Idaho for a rafting, camping, surfing trip!!

My 2 best Riverboarding experiences ever

One of the cool things about bungee surfing is that many times when we are out on a surfing safari looking for places to surf, we are often in the middle of a national forest. I have seen some of the most beautiful scenery while bungee surfing on rivers around the Northwest. Wildlife is always abundant in many of the places we surf. One of the craziest things I have seen while out bungee surfing actually happened twice. The first time was on the Sandy River near Portland, Oregon. I was stretching back on my board and an Osprey flew down about 30 yards ahead of me and snatched a snake out of the river.  The second time was on the Boise River, near Eagle, Idaho, where an eagle flew down, again about 30 yards in front of me and grabbed a fish out of the river.

Riverboarding in the Olympics?

With the Summer games of 2012 just around the corner, I thought I would address a question I have been asked a several  times. Could riverboarding be an Olympic sport? Yes! They have Kayaking in the summer olympics. Somewhere on or near the kayak course would be water that we could use. Riders would be scored in very much the same way surfing competitions are scored. Since riverboarders can do a lot more board tricks and get a lot more rides per minute than ocean surfers, scoring should actually be easier.  Demo sport for the 2016 games in Brazil? They have rivers in Brazil!!

Surfing in Salmon !

This was written back in July, saved as a draft but never posted till now- 9-25-2010. We had a great trip to Salmon, Idaho over the weekend! We surfed for the local news paper and attrachted a huge crowd in downtown Salmon. I LOVE “river” towns in Idaho. Word had spread that we were going to be there, so even though the weather was questionable, we had a big crowd watching us surf. One kid wearing an O’Neill shirt even exclaimed “I’ve never even seen an ocean! Why in the hell am I wearing an ocean surf brand!” I gave him a T-shirt and told him to let people in Salmon know that now there is a surf brand built for the people who are not fortunate enough to live near an ocean. Hopefully soon the locals will be able to tell the out of towners because they are wearing California surf brands.

EVEN Surf Company on front page of Weiser Signal

I posted last week that we went to Emmett and Weiser to do some surfing for the local press in these cities, well we made the cover of the Weiser Signal with a story entitled, “Surfs Up in Idaho”. When the other newspapers that came out to watch us ride publish their stories, I will post them also.   

Why should I buy EVEN surf clothing?

EVEN is the only surf brand in the world that engineers, designs and builds their clothing for the landlocked surfer. The needs of the landlocked surfer are different than those of ocean surfers. EVEN gets their product feedback and design ideas directly from the landlocked masses. You will never see a palm tree, seagull, ocean wave or dolphin in any of our designs. We are not an ocean surfing company. Ocean surf companies support ocean causes like Sea Sheppards and surf riders. EVEN supports causes like American rivers.org and Living Rivers. If you live close to an ocean you should buy an ocean surfing brand. If you live closer to a river, you should get EVEN.   

 Another reason you should buy a T-shirt from EVEN – Our designs and T-shirts are Sick! lol  www.evensurf.com

Learning to Bungee Surf

Since we sell bungee surfing systems all over the world, we need a post to teach people how and where to bungee surf.  I have tought many ocean surfer to bungee surf and they have all told me that standing and riding while bungee surfing is harder to learn than standing and riding while ocean surfing. This is mainly due to the high speed and fin-less board that we use. First an explanation of bungee surfing – bungee surfers ride small surfboards, that are more like a skimboard, on rivers, shooting upstream at 30+ mph. Good riders can do all kinds of skateboarding tricks once riding upstream. There is no boat or motor used. Bungee surfers are propelled upstream by a 20 ft long specialized bungee cord. They sink their board in the river current and use the river current against the board to stretch the bungee from 20 ft to almost 200 feet. Once fully stretched the surfer changes his position on the board and is flung upstream. When the bungee is done pulling the surfer upstream and has no more energy, it disconnects from the board and now the surfer is free to do all kinds of skateboard tricks. It might be helpfull if you go to the company website www.evensurf.com and look at the bungee surfing terminology. The kind of water that you need to bungee surf is what we call “Fast Glass”. We like water that is moving fast, but has a smooth surface. The water depth needs to be at least 5 feet deep. The deeper the water is the faster you will stretch. You will need about 75 ft of lead line. This is rope that you will tie to a rock, tree, anything Solid along the side of the river. At the other end of this rope is where you attach the bungee using a carbiner. At the other end of the bungee is where you attach the patented release system. This is a 6 ft long piece of rope that is covered in plastic and has a loop on the end. It is this loop that attaches to the small hook on the bottom of your riverboard. So you set the system up in fast glass, jump in, swim to the bungee, let it go through your hands untill you reach the loop at the end of the release system and hook that loop onto the hook on the board. You then go to your knees on the board, then move immediatly to the stretching postion which is standing with STRAIGHT legs and the balls of your feet on the Kicker of the tail pad. You have to have a tailpad with a kicker on the end. Kicker is the rasied section at the end of most traction pads. In this position the board will be almost vertical in the water and you will be in a hole in the river as the water rushes around you(Back in the Hole). Stretching is always hard for most beginners. But if you don’t get a good stretch and don’t get even, you won’t have a good ride. Once you have stretched back far enough, you bend your knees which brings the nose of the board out of the water and at the same time transfer your weight more forward on the board. At this point you can take your forward foot and place it sideways across the nose of the board and rotate your rear foot sideways also. Now stay VERY low on the board as you will gain speed quickly.  You will now be in the classic surfer stance on the board. After riding about 60 yards the bungee will disconnet from board and you are now free to perform board tricks with the board. I hope this helps. And if any beginners have some pointers, please leave them in the comment section.

Bungee Surfing Facts

Bungee surfing rides are longer, faster and more fun than ocean surfing rides. Bungee surfers get 5 times more rides per hour than ocean surfers. Good bungee surfers can do all kinds of skateboard tricks once riding upstream. Bungee surfing won the award for “Best New Sporting Goods Product of the Year” at the worlds largest sporting goods trade show. Bungee surfing systems have been sold all over the world. Rivers are everywhere!

Bungee Surfing Action Pics

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Hello world!- This is Bungee Surfing

You are probably thinking to yourself – “There’s no surfing in Idaho”. Well, the truth is that not only is there surfing in Idaho, but you can even take surfing lessons in Idaho. And no, Oregon did not fall into the ocean. Bungee Surfers ride a small surfboard on rivers, shooting upstream at 30+ mph. No boat or motor involved. One end of a specialized bungee system is anchored to a rock or other sturdy structure in the river. The other end of the bungee has a small metal loop at the end of a small handle. This metal loop hooks onto a small metal hook that is on the underside of the riverboard. Once the bungee has been set up in fast moving water, the surfer jumps in and hooks the board to the bungee. You then force the tail of the board down into the river current by putting all of your weight on the tail of the board. Once you have the proper position on the board, only your shoulders and head are above the river level and the water rushes around you so fast that you are in a hole in the river. In fact, that is what bungee surfers call this position, when you have all your weight on the tail and the board is almost straight up and down in the river, you are “Back in the Hole”.   At this point the river current is pushing the bungee surfer downstream quickly while stretching the 20 foot long bungee to almost 200 feet in length. Once the bungee is fully stretched the surfer changes position on the board and ends up standing in the classic sideways surfer stance on the board. Beginners actually ride upstream on their stomachs. Learning to stand and ride while bungee surfing is actually harder than learning to stand and ride while ocean surfing.  Once a good rider is up on the board and has assumed the classic surfer stance, the bungee begins to contract fast and hurls the surfer upstream untill the bungee has no more power left. When the bungee has no more pull left, it simply falls away from the board and the surfer continues upstream. Good riders can do all kinds of skateboard style tricks while riding upstream. Bungee surfing basically combines the feel of surfing with the tricks of skateboarding. Local rafting companies around Idaho are now starting to offer bungee surfing lessons. The average bungee surfing ride is longer, faster and more fun than the average ocean surfing ride. Also bungee surfing is harder to learn than ocean surfing – So take a lesson today! I can’t wait untill “surf instructor” is one of the most sought after jobs by high school kids in Idaho.