The concept of River Surfing is one that is currently garnering lots of rider interest! You can find people surfing stand alone river waves in Oregon, Colorado, Montana, Idaho, Germany and other destinations. Although it is not that much similar to traditional ocean surfing, it does have the attributes of being on a board and throwing slashes and turns with your optional fin setup.
Historically this has been an underground sport, where people were using old surfboards and paddling into natural occurring river waves, which is quite difficult to do. The hobby started to gain popularity and soon many cities were budgeting public money to fund professionally engineered river waves that were easier to access, ride and enjoy!
Cities such as Boise, Idaho; Munich, Germany and our backyard of Bend, Oregon has all followed the trend to have these ridable waves as part of their community. Along with the explosion of river surfing came the opportunity and demand for custom river surfboards that provided a better ride with quicker turns and easier board control. The old yellow sun weathered surfboards were no longer the only option to ride.
We had the chance to meet with local River Surfboard shaping icon Travis Yamada and his board line Cubicle, here in Bend, OR, to discuss this explosion and demand that he has came into and how he created a following and brand through his custom river boards. It was quite intriguing to hear his unique attributes to creating river boards that people are hooked on!
As the discussion continued the topic of sustainability in surf was brought up and we learned that he is very conscious of his material waste; keeping close attention to the amount that ends up in his shop dumpster, and how he chooses eco-friendly epoxies when possible. This culture of river surfing will only continue to grow as popularity explodes and more cities join the movement to provide a surf-able wave to their community.
Along with this movement will be more iconic shapers specializing in this niche demand of boards. Although many will rise and gain credibility; we will always consider Travis a local legend and pioneer in this movement through his Cubicle brand and what he has brought forth in his process of mastering the craft of shaping a river surfboard.
