Finless Surfing the Largest Standing Wave in the Continental USA (Video)

Amidst the wavepool arms race, a handful of standing waves are emerging, too.

More akin to a river wave, than a simulated ocean wave, standing waves are a little bit different; surfers stay in one place, moving laterally, versus riding a wave to, um, shore.

Waves like Wai Kai Lineup in Hawaii, or Lakeside Surf in Washington state.

And Blair Conklin, pro skimboarder and stylish aerialist on a soft-top, recently tested out Lakeside Surf (seen above), which, although smaller than Wai Kai, is (allegedly) the biggest standing wave in the continental USA.

As for Blair, he opted to go finless for most of his sessions at Lakeside Surf.

“I prefer the finless waveriding thing,” Blair said.

“This technology here is really fun for the style of waveriding that I like to do. It was quite surprising coming to Washington and getting better weather than we have in California. We were trading waves and having a blast, just like you would in the ocean.

“I think the deep water, stationary wave…what’s possible on it is just beginning. For me, coming from a skimboarding background, the board that I prefer to ride on it, it’s allowed me to ride the wave in a much different way than the wave has been marketed or traditionally ridden.

“It’s a deep water wave, so everyone wants to ride their regular surfboard on it. They promote the fin riding. But I’m really interested to see what wake skaters, or wake surfers – people from other backgrounds – can do on this thing.

“We’re just scratching the surface of what’s going to be done in the next five years.”

Looks a bit more like skateboarding, than surfing, don’t it?

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