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 point and laugh at anyone wearing an ocean surf brand in Salmon. Hopefully soon the locals will be able to tell the out of towners because they are wearing California surf brands.

Email from Rip Curl

Sorry it has been SO long since I have posted. I will fill you in on this Summers craziness in another post. I recently checked an old Email account and found something that I had to post. The following is a response I recieved from Rip Curl when I asked them about sponsoring a surf team/ surf contest in Idaho.

“Thanks for reaching out but we are going to stick to what we know and that is the ocean.”

This response is exactly what I have been preaching all along. Ocean surf companies know oceans. Do you live near an ocean? EVEN knows rivers, lakes and mountains.

Rep the Idaho, Ohio, Colorado, Illinois, Pennsylvania, Iowa, etc. surf style, not the Cali. surf lifestyle.

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.   

Bungee sniffers and my best bungee surfing trick ever

Before I tell you about my best trick ever, I need to explain what a bungee sniffer is. Many times when we are out on the rivers in the Northwest, people on the river- Kayakers, rafters, floaters, will be so amazed by what we are doing and how we are doing it that they will paddle right over onto the bungee.  “Dude! Didn’t you just see me come flying upstream at 30mph? And now you paddle right over in front of me?”  I am sure that what we are doing looks pretty freaky when they are coming downstream at us. They see a head and shoulders sticking out of the river, looking at them. And then all of a sudden this guy comes flying upstream on a little surfboard. One time on the American River in Sacramento a surfer had ridden upstream but missed the hook so the bungee was lying in the water. A raft of floaters who had seen this guy shooting upstream paddled over to the bungee and picked it up out of the water to look at it, and then sniffed it. And from then on, guys who paddle over into your path in amazement are reffered to as bungee sniffers. 

    I am 43 years old. I realize that I will never be the “Tony Hawk”, “Kelly Slater” of bungee surfing, I am simply too old to ever think of landing a kick flip on a riverboard. So don’t expect my trick to be anything fancy.  One of my favorite things to do when bungee surfing is to launch upstream when a bungee sniffer is just outside of the path I travel going upstream.  Right before I get to the sniffer, I put a hand down in the water which rotates my board so I am riding upstream with both feet pointing upstream(side-slipping). I then grab the upstream edge of my board and dig the backside rail into the water. This causes a huge spray of water that can soak a raft. We were surfing at AMF on the Payette River. This spot is a 9 out of 10 as far as good riding conditions go. I was stretching back as a group of kayakers came downstream twords me. One of them broke from the group and paddled over tword me. He was not in my direct path, so I launched upstream. I was coming twords him too fast, so I put a hand down in the water, did a perfect 360, grabbed the front edge of the board and laid a huge wall of water on the kayaker.  He laughed and said ”That was so cool! How does that work?”. I honestly couldn’t tell you how many times I have explained bungee surfing in my life, but it is a LOT.  Federal Maritime law states that on a river, the craft traveling upstream has the right of way.  So if you see some dude, flying upstream on a small surfboard, doing skateboard tricks, please stay out of their way. Don’t hassle the surfers!

Crazy things I have seen while surfing

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.

Matthew McConaughey come raft, camp and surf in Idaho!

We would love to get Matthew up here to do a multi-day rafting, camping and surfing trip on the beautiful Salmon river. I have been in contact with his PR person Nicole Perez, who always tells me he is shooting a film. Then I hear a story about him camping in the Grand Canyon and getting attacked by a goat. I think that Nicole, just like most people, just doesn’t understand that you can really surf in Idaho. Bungee surfing rides are longer, faster and more fun than ocean surfing. And a multi-day rafting/surfing trip to the Frank Church-River of No Return Wilderness Area on the Salmon River would be the trip of a lifetime.

Bungee Surfing Lesson Rates

Bungee surfing lessons available from Cascade Raft & Kayak are $55 for group and $95 for private. Call the EVEN Surf Shop at 208-867-9440 to reserve a lesson today.

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

Surfing lessons available soon in Twin Falls

EVEN surf company will be going to Twin Falls, Idaho this weekend to help Idaho Guide Service, a local whitewater outfitter, find locations to teach bungee surfing lessons. Any highschool kids in Twin want a job as a Surf Instructor? Keep an eye on the blog and I will let you know when these jobs become available in Twin Falls.

Why you should never buy Hollister

Hollister is a surf company and therefore a competitor of EVEN right? Wrong! Hollister is a fake surf comnpany.  While there are no qualifications on what it takes to start a surf company there are some things that most of the top surf companies have in common. Most of the top surf companies were founded by surfers and give back to the surfing community by sponsoring surfers and events.  The real surf companies also support causes that help the oceans- Sea Sheppards, Surf Riders Foundation, etc.  Hollister does not sponsor any surfers or any surfing events. Hollister gives nothing back to the surfing community. EVEN was founded by surfers for surfers. EVEN will make a priority to give back to the river causes like Idaho Rivers United and American Rivers organization.  Yet another reason why you should by ocean surfing brands if you live near an ocean and get EVEN if you are non coastal.

The following was taken from wikipedia- 

 ”Hollister Co. brand is marketed as being established in 1922, and the date is found the labels and designs of the merchandise. The truth is that Hollister is an  Abercrombie & Fitch spin off brand that was founded in 2000.  Abercrombie & Fitch brands are given a pseudo-history  to give meaning and feeling to the brand image of the Hollister concept.  Hollister Co.’s story begins with the fictional character John Hollister. An adventurous youth, he spent his youth practicing sports in the waters of Maine. He graduated from Yale University in 1915 at the age of 21. Not wanting the high-life his father established for him in Manhattan, the young man boarded a succession of steamboats, finally arriving in the Dutch East Indies by 1917. There, he bought a rubber plantation from the fictitious Gregory Van Gilder, and soon came to know and love Gilder’s daughter, Meta. Afterwards, Hollister sold the land, and with half of the money purchased a 50-foot schooner on which he and Meta spent two years sailing the South Pacific Ocean treasuring the diverse cultures. John and Meta harboured in Los Angeles in 1919, and married in the late fall. John M. Hollister, Jr. was born in 1920, and after “discovering California and himself” with his love for the South Pacific in mind John Sr. established Hollister Co. in 1922 in Laguna Beach. The company became purveyors of South Pacific treasures (hand-crafted furniture, jewelry, linens, and artifacts from all the islands). The company changed after John Jr. took over the business in 1957, bringing into the inventory surf apparel and equipment. Only in fantasy is the company said to be still managed by the Hollisters. Abercrombie & Fitch calls the story “a story of passion, youth and love of the sea [carrying] the harmony of romance, beauty, adventure.”The story is not made publicly available but it helps tie in many elements of the brand with what was, in reality, conceived by Abercrombie & Fitch in the 21st century.  

According to an article in the Los Angeles Times in April 2009, Abercrombie & Fitch has threatened merchants and residents of Hollister, California who want to use the name “Hollister” on clothing. The article quotes David Cupps, general counsel for Abercrombie & Fitch: “If they try, they would get a call and much more.” Also according to the article: “The controversy over the name heated up in 2006 when Stacey Crummett, chief executive of Hollister-based Rag City Blues, added the word “Hollister” to the label of her vintage bluejeans. In response to her trademark application, Abercrombie & Fitch attorneys sent her a letter alleging she was violating the company’s trademark and threatening to sue.”

“Even students at Hollister’s San Benito High School wonder if they are violating Abercrombie & Fitch’s trademark by wearing shirts emblazed with the school nickname, the Hollister Haybalers.”

“Hollister City Atty. Stephanie Atigh insists that Abercrombie & Fitch cannot sue if locals are simply putting the town name on clothes to identify the geographic location.”

The irony is that Abercrombie built the Hollister brand on an image that it was named after a Southern California beach town. Hollister, is a land-locked town in Northern California.”

OMG! Hollister is parasite on the surfing world! Why would anyone buy this crap?