There are few places in the world that I enjoy surfing as much as at the Lachine rapids in Montreal. Hidden from the city and out in the middle of the St. Lawrence river, three big waves form.
Big Joe is the most well known, a big powerful bowl of a wave. Mavericks is the most infamous, hardest to surf and the hardest to reach. Pyramid is the smallest and friendliest. At the water levels we had, it was technically too high for all of these waves to be prime but a storm blew in and pushed the foam of the top of Big Joe, forming a sick green ramp to throw tricks off.
Usually, you will have to ferry hard out to the middle of the river from a small island before taking your ride before crawling back up the island to take another ride. At high levels, this walk back up the islands is especially sketchy. It’s the price you have to pay for sick waves though as very few of the best waves in the world have easy access.
However if you have a friend with a Jetski, the mechanical advantage allows you to skip all of the struggles and focus on the important things, such as throwing sick tricks.
My friend Monkey has been river surfing these waves for years and if they are hard to access in a kayak, they are even harder on a board and the ski is essential. Driving a jet ski on whitewater is not that easy as it requires a lot of experience reading whitewater, driving a jet ski and confidence in hitting lines at both really slow speeds and really fast speeds. Monkey is honestly a savage on a jet ski and you have to work hard to stay on the sled as his race tuned engine roars and he whips you into the wave lightening quick.
Flying drones within the city limits of Montreal is not permitted and the ski is the only way to get sick (legal) shots. The jet from the jet ski distorts the wave and it makes it a challenge to predict what the water is going to do in front of you and when the wave shape is good to throw tricks. It’s a crazy experience having a 1400 cc machine a foot away from you in the middle of the river in the middle of the city of Montreal.
Big thanks to my crew for a sick day and especially to Monkey for doing such a sick job of driving.
See you on the water, Bren
