S T A N D I N G W A V E S SINFUL SURF: Max Davidson in Lucifer’s,


Gatineau River, Quebec. PHOTO PATRICK CAMBLIN


HUNTING MONSTERS THE QUEST FOR THE WORLD’S BIGGEST WAVE


RIVER GAUGES THIS SPRING recorded unsea- sonably low water in the Northeast but that didn’t stop a dedicated band of professional kayakers from launching themselves on a single-minded mission that’s become an annual tradition: the quest for the world’s largest surfable river wave. Stakeout, as this quest has come to be known, originated in 2000 when Marlow Long and I got our first taste of mammoth waves on the Ottawa’s Bus Eater. This wave was unlike anything we’d ever surfed and we were confident that if we


scoured the countryside, we could find more like it. Aided by Google Earth, our expanded search started the following year in Quebec, exploring the high volume rivers that cover this region. We soon discovered many rivers with potential but without adequate flows, and so the wait—and our stakeout—began. Hunting giant waves requires keeping your eye


out for potential, watching levels and hustling to the rivers as they start to spike. Each spring, the monsters awake with the thaw as CONTINUED »


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