Catch a wave: Bend river surfing growing in popularity

As the weather gets warmer, more people are out enjoying what Central Oregon has to offer — and in recent years, that’s also included surfing, hundreds of miles from the ocean.

Oftentimes, that means hitting the river for some recreational activities, and that includes river surfing.

River surfing is nothing new in Oregon. It’s been around since the 1970s.

But in recent years, river surfing has become popular in the region with the addition of the Bend Whitewater Park to the Deschutes River.

James Adams, the river recreation specialist with Bend Parks and Recreation, said about 275,000 people came through the Whitewater Park just this past summer.

And surfing has become a year-round sport for the region.

“Each feature kind of caters to a certain user group,” Adams said. “And one of the biggest features we have, at least right now, is the green wave, which is great for kayaking and surfing now, and in the winter months, when the water is a little bit lower, it’s ideal for surfing.”

Adams said there’s a lot going on underneath the water to create the surfing wave, and he and another Bend Parks and Recreation employee are in charge of making sure the water flows smoothly.

It’s something that’s needed, as the sport of river surfing continues to grow in Central Oregon.

In fact, one Bend man has created a company that makes surfboards that can be used in Bend’s park.

Bixby Surfboards is a Bend-based company that is creating river surfboards for this growing sport.

Conway Bixby said he began shaping boards back in 2004 out of foam he found in junk yards.

The hobby has now evolved into a business for Bixby, as he works to cater to the growing demand for river surfboards in Central Oregon.

The boards Bixby makes are smaller then a regular ocean surfboard, in order to ride smaller waves generated by the river.

“So an ocean board in here really won’t fit — you’ll run out of room, your nose will poke into the water, and you’ll be hitting the bottom of the river,” Bixby said. “So you want to go as short as possible, you can reduce the foam quite a bit, get your rails a little bit harder so you can carve your board.”

Bixby said he began river surfing about 15 years ago in Roseburg, and has really embraced the sport.

Bixby added that he has since had to expand his business to keep up with the growing demand for river boards, and he said the sport is set to grow even more.

“Parks are going up everywhere,” Bixby said. “River surfing isn’t going anywhere. People are realizing it’s actually pretty fun. You know, the ocean guys were looking at us like, ‘Wow, it’s pretty kooky. I don’t know how they can have so much fun staying in one spot.’ But you give it a shot, and they are like, ‘Wow, this is really fun!'”

Bixby said he works hard to make sure that he reuses materials to make his boards and uses sustainable resources.

Bixby uses foam that would otherwise be thrown out and hemp fiber to create his boards.

For more information on Bixby Surfboards, click here.