Surfing In Calgary, Brought To You By The 2013 Flood (VIDEO, TWEETS)
Cowabunga, Calgary!
The Huffington Post Alberta
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Calgarians didn't have to travel thousands of kilometres to sunny resorts to ride the waves this summer.
Instead, surfing came right to them, courtesy of the 2013 flood.
Surfing is nothing new in Alberta but last year's flood helped create a permanent wave in Calgary's Bow River that is bringing several people out to test the waters, CBC News reported.
"A surfer's dream is to get up and surf, go about your day and come back to surf — and that's what I'm doing," Alberta River Surfing Association (ARSA) president Neil Egsgard told the network.
The history of river surfing has been traced back to Munich, Germany in the 1970s, before coming to Alberta in the 2000s, The Calgary Journal reported.
At that time, Jeff Brooks, an ARSA co-founder, learned that you could surf waves in any river with fast flows.
He soon found a two-foot wave beneath the 10th Street bridge in Calgary and discovered that the sport was possible in the province.
Various pictures posted on social media in July and August show people hopping on their boards and riding fast-moving waters in the city.
ARSA has an online guide to places where people can ride waves throughout Alberta.
Seven surfers ride a large wave at Waimea on Oahu. The bay at Waimea is home to Hawaii's biggest surf with waves reaching up to 35 feet. The ancient Hawaiians believed that the waters of the bay were sacred. (credit:Warren Bolster via Getty Images)
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Surfer on the beach and Na Pali Coast seen from Ke'e beach, Ha'ena, Kauai. (credit:Enrique R Aguirre Aves via Getty Images)
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Huge waves hit the north shore of Oahu for surfers. (credit:Mitch Diamond via Getty Images)
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View of Kapiolani Park at dusk in Waikiki, Oahu. (credit:Michele Falzone via Getty Images)
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An aerial view of a young man body boarding on a huge wave at Pipeline on the north shore of Oahu. (credit:Sean Davey via Getty Images)
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Buzzy Kerbox surfs a huge wave crashing behind Peahi on Maui, a surf break also known as Jaws. (credit:Ron Dahlquist via Getty Images)
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Young surfer catches a small wave at Pipeline on Oahu while being filmed from the beach shore. (credit:Merten Snijders via Getty Images)
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View of Oahu's Sunset Beach from afar, a surfer catches a set of rolling waves. (credit:Vince Cavataio via Getty Images)
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A bodyboarder checks out stormy surf at Kua Bay on the Big Island's Kona coast. (credit:Philip Rosenberg via Getty Images)
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Surfer Nick Yamada surfs in the tube at Windmills during large storm surf in Hawaii, January 5, 2005, in Kapalua, Maui. (credit:Donald Miralle via Getty Images)
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Night surfer on Oahu's north shore. (credit:Jens Karlsson via Getty Images)
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