Airports are a pain in the ass. But leave it to the Germans to engineer a way to make the experience a whole lot better. Every year, the Munich Airport gets a three-week makeover, with the installation of a standing wave pool. Or, in other words, the coolest airport layover you’ll have.
Over the weekend, the unlikeliest of venues, nestled in the heart of landlocked Germany, played host to the European Championship in Stationary Wave Riding. And in the middle of flustered passengers, eggy TSA officials and stomach-churning airport food, the European competitors threw it down. We’re talking pop shuv-its, air reverses and bucket-chucking hacks.
Lukas Brunner, 19, took the top honors in the men’s division, linking lines of frontside airs and carving roundhouses. The local boy hones his skills, including 360 pop shuv-its, on Munich’s Eisbach river. It may not be real surfing, like in the ocean, but you gotta hand it to these guys – they’ve made the most with what they got.
