Eddy
THE PROMISED LAND OF TRIPLE COMBOS, BEATDOWNS AND BLISS—
Stakeout
THE RUINS, OTTAWA RIVER. PHOTO: NICK TROUTMAN
started in the
early
2000s when a group of kayak- ers, including Pat Camblin, Mar- low Long and the crew of Young Gun Productions, went searching for the biggest river waves ever surfed. With no idea where to go, we joined up with Joel, Pat and Ben Marr and, during some pre-partying, made a wave hunt- ing plan. The following days were spent searching bulging riverbanks for the perfect whitewater. The first two waves, Bryson Bowl
and Trailer Park Wave, offered lots of air and trick potential, but we wanted even more. On the fourth day we learned
that Lucifer’s was in—a wave known for epic beat-downs and massive air potential. We stuffed six people and nine boats into the Sprinter van and headed off. The wave packed a punch with a meat- eating hole on surfers’ left and an ocean wave-style green shoulder on your right. Insanely aerial tricks and technical combos happened between beatings, until we got some news that made us drop ev- erything and move on. The Ruins had flooded in with the
perfect level to draw big wave pad- dlers from around the world. The parking lot was filled with boats, shuttle rigs and drying gear. Those who have surfed it claim it
to be the best wave on earth. It was a blank canvas—Triple Air-
screw, Bread and Butter-Airscrew, Airscrew-Bread and Butter, Flash- back-Airscrew-Clean
Blunt—only HIGH WATER HOLY GRAIL
STAKEOUT DEFINES THE FREESTYLE SCENE WITH THREE WEEKS OF PARTY, PLAY AND PERFECT LEVELS
“DUDE, GLADIATOR IS IN. Get up here as fast as possible.” The voicemail on my phone was from Joel Kowalski, the Ot-
tawa River local who got me into kayaking 12 years ago. Dane Jackson and I packed up his Sprinter van, rearranged our
schedules for the next three weeks and made our way to the land of epic river waves and equally epic parties—Stakeout, the forefront of big air tricks. Bare trees, melting snow and the roar of running water marked
the end of our 23-hour, Red Bull-fueled migration. First stop, Glad- iator, as Joel had suggested. Our initial scout ended in an impos- sible discovery: the high water was too high! Water was coursing through the river valley at levels unheard of in our generation of boaters—perfect for the purpose of our trip.
22 | RAPID
imagination could limit the poten- tial. With triple combos as a goal, we lined up to link as many tricks as possible, throwing continuous combos that hadn’t been seen until recently on almost every ride. As a final Stakeout miracle, the
river Gods granted Gladiator lev- els just in time for the Ottawa XL, a qualifying competition for the Whitewater Grand Prix. Gladiator, the Holy Grail of Stakeout, has one of the biggest green faces known to man, ridiculous airtime potential and a frightening ledge hole behind it. After three weeks of endless
tricks and a new limit for what can be done in freestyle, it was time to move on. But when spring melt draws the waves back out of hiber- nation, you’ll find the same group making their migration, flooding to the banks for Stakeout, the great- est time of year. NICK TROUTMAN
DIGITAL EXTRA: Click here to
watch some of the biggest tricks from Stakeout 2013.
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