The stuff of legend. The Silver Dragon as it is called comes careening down the Qiantang River in Mainland China producing a wall of whitewater in most parts, but in shallow areas perfectly peeling waves. It can travel for nearly 75 miles and produce nearly a 6 hour ride for those with thighs of steel.
About a week and a half ago a small team comprised of a stand up paddler, longboarder, and jet skier challenged the Dragon riding it for over an hour and traveling over 10 miles.
Hundreds of people have perished over the years and it is illegal to conduct any water activities during the bore, but after showing the Chinese government the tourist potential that this holds there have been questions as to how this could be used to their advantage…perhaps performing on the bore in coming years.
Photo Courtesy: Colas/Callahan
With waves like the ones above the World Record for the longest tidal bore ridden has been broken. You all may know of the ones in Brazil, France, and England but none are as large as this.
The closest I have ever gotten to surfing a tidal bore, was surfing a standing wave in Munich, Germany after a big rain. It was much harder than it looked and really fun. Some of the guys I met were doing tail slides and throwing up spray, but had never surfed in the Ocean before. Pretty trippy.
It will be interesting to see to what lengths this natural phenomenon will be explored in the future. Maybe next time you will see 50 people riding the bore for fifty miles…stay tuned.
Photo Courtesy: Colas/Callahan
Check out more of the details about this epic ride at SurfersVillage.com.
Bluebird Surf 