Sometimes, when the wave conditions are just right, surfers might be able to ride for a good 20 or 30 seconds, a few hundred feet of heaven out on the open water. Surfers here in the Bay Area are waiting on “the call” for the Mavericks surf contest and the 25-foot waves that come with it.

But depending on where you are, if you catch the right kind of break in the right kind of natural setting, you can ride a wave for miles and miles.

That’s what three surfers near the Cook Inlet in Girdwood, Alaska, experienced late last fall, as conditions were so ripe that they were able to catch a wave on the Turnagain Arm and ride the sucker for a good 45 minutes as the ripples carried them through some of the most scenic surfing environment in the United States.

This rare surfing phenomena is caused by what’s known as a tidal bore, which happens when the incoming tide creates a wave that travels back against the current of a river or similar setting. When people refer to a “tidal wave,” this is truly what they mean, which is why it can be the cause of catastrophic floods and often misidentified as a tsunami.

But in Alaska, boretide surfing at its most tranquil can bring about a sense of nirvana that few boarders ever get a chance to experience. The hardest part, of course, is making sure you can keep up with nature.

Photo: Scott Dickerson /www.SurfAlaska.net



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