Jamie O’Brien almost paid the ultimate price for river wave perfection. Photo: Jamie O’Brien // YouTube
When a spot is so gnarly that it attracts not one, but two of the internet’s biggest novelty wave hunters, you know it’s something special. Jamie O’Brien and Ben Gravy recently teamed up to tackle a huge tidal surge at Skookumchuk Narrows, a river wave in British Columbia, Canada.
“This is one of those waves that I’ve been seeing for 20 years, maybe longer, and I’ve always wanted to do it,” said Gravy at the outset of the journey. “It’s been on my novelty bucket list literally my whole life. I saw some guys doing this in the early 2000s and we’ve been thinking about it ever since. So we came and we went for the biggest tide of the year.”
Even for someone who has made a name for himself surfing bizarre waves, the fact that the tide also managed to attract a Pipeline regular like O’Brien added to the gravity of the stunt they had planned. “Honestly, I’ve had like a knot in my stomach all day,” Gravy continued. “I haven’t done anything gnarly in a while. So, of course, when Jamie invites you to do something, that’s probably going to be gnarly. So, pretty nervous right now, but I’m also excited. Definitely looking forward to checking this off the bucket list today.”
With that, they set off into the frigid, roiling waters. As promised, the waves were truly massive for a river. There were also some unique and unexpected dangers the pair faced, which O’Brien ended up finding out the hard way.
“I got stuck in the gnarliest whirlpool,” said Jamie upon returning. “I did eight spins underwater, popped up for half a second, then did like four more. I was like, ‘I’m gonna hold onto my board for dear life. Not letting go.”
“This stuff is gnarly. Real deal – if you’re gonna come here, be ready,” he continued. “Come with the right people, because I almost died. That was equivalent to taking a wipe out between Teahupo’o and Jaws all at the same time. This is like so much water moving. It’s incredible.”
