Jamie O’Brien tests his endurance on a 20-minute tidal bore wave in Alaska. Photo: Jamie O’Brien // YouTube
How far would you go for a 20-minute wave? Tidal bores, a phenomena that occurs when a strong tide pushes up a river that empties into the ocean, can create surfable waves that stand up for far longer than their oceanic counterparts. Some of them, like the Bono in Sumatra (also known as “The Seven Ghosts”) are even big enough to have rippable sections. Though tidal bores are rare, Jamie O’Brien proved in a recent video that one need not travel to the furthest reaches of the globe to experience them.
O’Brien’s latest video comes from a mission just outside of Anchorage, Alaska. It starts with JOB and company standing at the bank of the Turnagain Arm, waiting for a 30-foot tide that promised to create a surfable bore. As he explained to the camera, they ended up there essentially by accident. The original plan was to surf a river mouth that sounded like it had amazing potential, but their boards went missing instead. In desperate need of equipment, they hit up a local river-wave surf guide, and their reward was a ridiculously long ride that turned out to not only be a major test of endurance, but also just a surprisingly difficult wave to master.
They also ran into a fair share of locals who were shocked to find an internet celebrity cruising up beside them on a river in Alaska, of all places. As JOB recalled, “The best part about it, [you’re] riding a wave and you don’t see anyone forever. Then someone catches the wave and you can tell they’re looking at you and they’re like ‘Jamie O’Brien?’”
