One round of tidal bore wasn’t enough for Blair Conklin. Photo: Skid Kids//screenshot
Tidal bores are a rare phenomenon. Most surfers never ride one in their entire lives (me included). But on a recent trip to Alaska, Blair Conklin and friends got to surf the bore of the Turnagain Arm twice in a day, with a snowboard break in the middle.
During a full or new moon, the tides in Alaska can change more than 30 feet in a day. As the incoming tide gets restricted into narrower inlets, it forms a surge. The bore near Anchorage has become known as one of the most accessible, visited by high-profile surfers like Jamie O’Brien and Ben Gravy.
Conklin timed his trip for a window that had two tide surges on the same day. They got up and surfed it at 5 a.m., waiting for the tide to recede, and came back for another crack at it in the evening right before he had to catch a flight. As the wave fizzled out in deeper sections of water, he’d race up the cliffs, jump in a car, and chase it down for another ride.
Kai Lenny recently paid a visit to the chilly waves of Alaska. And, now, with Blair showing us how fun — and consistent — the waves are in Anchorage, maybe an Alaska surf trip should move higher up on our vacation priority lists.
