Cue the anticipation. Back in March, we reported that Austin, Texas would be the first city in the US to open a properly surfable man-made wave. NLand Surf Park will be the latest iteration of Wavegarden technology, spanning 160 acres with a 13-acre lagoon. You may recognize it from videos to come out of Wavegarden’s testing facility in Spain, or Surf Snowdonia in the UK.
When the park was announced, it was historic. It represents the first time–aside from river waves–that surfing will be enjoyed in the interior of the country. But while an NLand press release from March stated the park would open in spring, June is quickly coming to a close, and NLand has yet to open its gates.
In a press release, NLand CEO Doug Coors explained that delays were largely due to weather. “Since the beginning of this journey, we’ve been beset by many challenges,” says Coors. “From Mother Nature doling out two 100-year rainfalls in 2015 to a microburst and historic rainfall in the Spring of 2016, our team has tackled each event with grit and optimism.”
It’s unclear how, specifically, inclement weather events have impacted the progress of the park. But the flooding seen across parts of Texas this spring could have something to do with it. When asked for more detail, Chris Jones, Head of Media & Public Relations, explained, “Spring 2016 has been one of the wettest in central Texas in decades. To give you a little context, Austin usually gets about 32 inches of rain each year. This year, however, we received about 26 from March to May.”
June has so far been considerably drier, and NLand is hoping that will alleviate some of the obstacles to opening faced over the last several months. Without giving a specific date, NLand representatives emphasize the team is hard at work to ensure the park opens by early summer.
“I can assure you, nobody wants to open this park more than the talented team at NLand,” says Coors’ in a press release. “The cows are ‘coming home’ soon, but in early summer vs. late spring.”
