After one missed attempt, Jamie O’Brien and the team managed to party wave an Alaskan tidal bore. Photo: YouTube//Screenshot
There aren’t too many places as different from Hawaii than Alaska, but they do have one thing in common: there are waves. And if there are waves, Jamie O’Brien is interested. The waves in Alaska are a little bit colder than the ones in Hawaii, though, and in this particular case, the waves that O’Brien was chasing were created by a tidal bore. The Turnagain Arm tidal bore just outside Anchorage. He’s surfed it before. But this time, it looked very, very good.
Tidal bores, if you’re unaware, are one of nature’s most interesting phenomenons. They’re formed as an incoming tide works its way up a river, which of course, is flowing in the opposite direction. The result can be some of the longest waves in the world. Surfers have been riding them for a long time, and a few bores have become relatively famous.
Brazil’s Pororoca is one, which Gabriel Medina tried his hand at. Then there’s the 7 Ghosts bore, or the Bono, which has been the site of numerous surfing events. It occurs on the Kampar River on Sumatra in Indonesia, and Dylan Graves traveled there in 2023 to get a first-hand look at it.
Jamie had high expectations for a long ride this year in Alaska, and according to a guy named Pete that apparently, “shares America’s longest wave with the world,” a six-mile ride is possible at Turnagain. According to Pete, who claims to have ridden that six-mile wave, it took a little over an hour.
The thing about this tidal bore, however, is that if you miss it, that’s it. And guess what? After traveling all the way to Alaska, Jamie O’Brien missed it. “Mission failed,” he said despondently after his first attempt. “Good thing we’re here for a few more days.”
Luckily, this Alaskan tidal bore works because of the massive tide swings, so he had another shot. “I’ve had 24 hours to think about it,” he said the next day. “I was really bummed on myself, but it’s all good. These things are very unpredictable. Maybe today we’ll really get it going.”
And get it going they did. With one session worth of knowledge under his belt — and the advice of the locals — Jamie managed to get in the right spot to catch the wave.
“We did it!” he exclaimed. “That was incredible. That wave was insane… I’m tired. That was wave so long! That was definitely worth it. The wait paid off.”
