Mountain Life
  • Daily Content
    • Trips & Expeditions
    • Climbing
    • Mountain Biking
    • Mountain Lifer
    • Multiplicity
    • On The Trail
    • Paddling
    • Photography
    • Skiing
    • Snowboarding
    • Stay & Play
    • Surfing
    • The Great Outdoors
    • The ML Interview
    • Travel
  • GEAR
  • VIDEOS
  • STORE
  • Magazines
    • ML Coast Mountains
    • ML Rocky Mountains
    • Vie En Montagne
    • ML Blue Mountains
    • ML Annual
    • ML Subscriptions
  • ABOUT
    • What is ML?
    • Our Team
    • Newsletter
    • Adventure Grant
    • Distribution
  • Podcast
  • Contests
  • CONTACT
    • ML Agency
    • Advertising
    • Contribute
Subscription Form

Get notified of the best News

Social Links
Instagram 22K Followers
Facebook 25K Likes
Twitter 5K Followers
Pinterest 1K Followers
Vimeo 34 Followers
LinkedIn
22K Followers
25K Likes
5K Followers
1K Followers
Mountain Life
Mountain Life
  • Daily Content
    • Trips & Expeditions
    • Climbing
    • Mountain Biking
    • Mountain Lifer
    • Multiplicity
    • On The Trail
    • Paddling
    • Photography
    • Skiing
    • Snowboarding
    • Stay & Play
    • Surfing
    • The Great Outdoors
    • The ML Interview
    • Travel
  • GEAR
  • VIDEOS
  • STORE
  • Magazines
    • ML Coast Mountains
    • ML Rocky Mountains
    • Vie En Montagne
    • ML Blue Mountains
    • ML Annual
    • ML Subscriptions
  • ABOUT
    • What is ML?
    • Our Team
    • Newsletter
    • Adventure Grant
    • Distribution
  • Podcast
  • Contests
  • CONTACT
    • ML Agency
    • Advertising
    • Contribute
  • Paddling

Catching Biggie: Kayaker Benny Marr Braves a 100-Year Flood to Catch the Wave of a Lifetime

  • May 13, 2020
  • Mountain Life Media
Total
38
Shares
38
0
0
0
0
0
Total
38
Shares
Share 38
Tweet 0
Pin it 0
Share 0
Share 0
Share 0

words :: Benny Marr. 

The wave face was clean as I dropped in—980 cubic metres of water moves downstream fast. I looked over my shoulder and pointed my boat upstream, leaving enough angle to try and slide to the peak at its steepest point. I was swept through the trough and rose the face, timing my last three strokes.

I caught the wave. After 13 years of trying—I caught it. But upstream, the century-old dam at Bells Falls on the Rouge River was barely holding back the flood. Three hours later, the entire lower Valley would be evacuated and off-limits. [In April 2019, flooding of the Ottawa River and tributaries in Ontario and Quebec led to the declaration of a state of emergency and deployment of Canadian Armed Forces.—Ed.]

The wave broke loudly behind me so I moved over to my left to play the shoulder. I couldn’t believe my luck.

That first surf was joyous. I played tentatively, feeling the speed of the water connecting with my carbon kayak’s hull. The wave broke loudly behind me so I moved over to my left to play the shoulder. I couldn’t believe my luck. The wave cleaned up and I threw a trick, nowhere near the potential amplitude on offer, but a big and snappy aerial combo.

I’d surfed this wave before. My first attempt was in 2006—I was 20 and my friend Joel was 17. The older paddlers had left, which created a bonding experience for the two of us. We thought we knew something they didn’t. We didn’t catch the wave that day but we did name it: Biggie Smalls.

By April 2019 I’d surfed this wave in a variety of boats a total of 11 times. But I longed to surf it in my freestyle kayak. I’d been camped out beside the takeout for three nights, running the massive rapids upstream and keeping my eye on Biggie. This was certainly the year to stake out this feature, with both the Ottawa and the Rouge looking to peak well over anything myself or my generation had seen.

Illustration: Dave Barnes

I was looking at Biggie in the morning and saw the peak of the wave break, and crumble upstream. I couldn’t believe it. I was going to be able to catch this thing in my freestyle kayak. I surfed the wave, then I went upstream to session the rapids. I was planning to take the afternoon to session Biggie, but when I arrived at the takeout to switch boats, a man came purposefully toward me. (I later found out he was mayor of a nearby town.) He informed me the dam had failed. He tasked me with collecting anyone who I knew was in the area and getting out fast.

It was a misunderstanding: The dam held, but was not engineered to withstand such high volume. I returned two days later. The police at the parking lot told me there were more than 50 units protecting access to the river below the dam. I packed sandbags with locals for a couple hours then drove back to the Ottawa River where I paddled another new wave. Leading up to this day many people were forced to leave their homes due to the river. I love rivers and hope to live close by the sound of rushing water. I don’t wish rivers to affect anyone negatively. But they will. —ML

Total
38
Shares
Share 38
Tweet 0
Pin it 0
Share 0
Share 0
Share 0
Related Topics
  • kakaying
Mountain Life Media

Previous Article
  • Skiing
  • Snowboarding

Oh SH*T! When Trouble Strikes: Impromptu Backcountry First Aid Tips

  • May 12, 2020
  • Ben Osborne
View Post
Next Article
  • The Great Outdoors

Untamed Youth: British Columbia Schools Officially Recognize the Importance of Play

  • May 15, 2020
  • Ben Osborne
View Post
You May Also Like
View Post
  • Mountain Lifer
  • Paddling

For the Love of SUP

  • Sarah Bulford
  • May 10, 2022
Big-Canoe-Project-paddling-Georgian-Bay-claybanks-Meaford
View Post
  • Ontario
  • Paddling

Lake Effect: The Big Canoe Project 

  • Ned Morgan
  • April 21, 2022
Pursuits-Film-Fest-Three-Waters-MORNING_COFFEE_misery_bay-Scott-Parent
View Post
  • Mountain Biking
  • Mountain Lifer
  • Ontario
  • Paddling

Pursuits Film Fest Returns

  • Mountain Life Media
  • March 27, 2022
Ryan-Carter-surfers-walking-Lake-Huron-Ontario
View Post
  • CLIMBING
  • Ontario
  • Paddling
  • Photography
  • Skiing
  • Surfing

Paddle, Climb, Surf, Shred: Winter in Ontario

  • Mountain Life Media
  • March 22, 2022
ML-Blue-Mountains-Ontario-Bruce-Peninsula-paddling-canoeing-Scott-Parent-photo
View Post
  • Ontario
  • Paddling
  • Photography

Lake Huron Water Walk: A Jimaan Journey

  • Mountain Life Media
  • August 10, 2021
Great-Lakes-sand-dunes-water-Scott_Parent-photo
View Post
  • Ontario
  • Paddling

Voyage to the Nameless Islands

  • Mountain Life Media
  • August 3, 2021
View Post
  • Features
  • Paddling
  • Skiing
  • Travel
  • Trips & Expeditions

L’expédition de tous les (im)possibles / The (Im)possible Expedition

  • Mountain Life Media
  • July 8, 2021
Mountain Life magazine
View Post
  • Paddling
  • Travel
  • Trips & Expeditions

What ‘SUP Garibaldi? Two Lakes, Six Mountains and a Homegrown Pack ‘n’ Paddle Mission

  • Mountain Life Media
  • June 25, 2021

Leave a Reply

You must be logged in to post a comment.

Featured Posts
  • Relic-The-Beachcombers-Ben-Tour-illustration 1
    Requiem for a Relic
    • May 16, 2022
  • Dynafit-Sea-to-Summit-Delphi-harbor-revised 2
    Friday Flick: Skiing with the Gods of Delphi
    • May 13, 2022
  • 3
    For the Love of SUP
    • May 10, 2022
  • Full-Circle-Everest-The-North-Face-Nepal-prayer-flags 4
    Full Circle: First All-Black Team Attempts to Summit Everest
    • May 9, 2022
  • North-Shore-Betty-rummel_t_0110_BP 5
    Friday Flick: North Shore Betty
    • May 6, 2022
RECENT POSTS
  • Nick-Gottlieb-Pereval-Dzhuku-pass
    Touching the Mountains of Heaven
    • May 12, 2022
  • Was-It-Worth-It-Kermode-bear-mcallister_PR
    Was It Worth It? A Wilderness Warrior’s Long Trail Home
    • May 5, 2022
  • Hunter-Bloom-Sandal-black-beach
    Gear Shed: Turning Algae into Sandals
    • May 3, 2022
Social Links
Instagram 22K Followers
Facebook 25K Likes
Twitter 5K Followers
Pinterest 1K Followers
Vimeo 34 Followers
LinkedIn
INSTAGRAM
mountainlifemedia
22K Followers
Finding that picture perfect moment with @sweenyj #mountainlifer
The winter that just keeps on given-er! 🤘#mountainlifer
FRIDAY FLICK 💥 This past March, speed mountaineer Benedikt Böhm @benediktboehm rocked a five-hour sea-to-summit expedition up Mount Parnassus in central Greece. Starting at sea level on his road bike at the village of Itea on the Gulf of Corinth, he climbed up to an altitude of 2.414 metres. #linkinbio to watch the film!
I had no idea what to expect from this trip, neither from bikepacking, a fancy term for cycle touring and a sport I’d never done before, nor from Kyrgyzstan, a country most people cannot find on a map. Carl, who I’d only just met recently after moving to Canada—I’d flagged him down after backcountry skiing after seeing his Montana license plate—had invited me on this trip while on a mountain bike ride. I said no. A few weeks later I figured, “Why not?”
The @rab.equipment  dynamic Cirrus Flex is a soft, lightweight hybrid synthetic insulation for mountain-friendly layering. Keeping you warm and perfectly suited to journey in the mountains. #TheMountainPeople #WeAreRab
"@normhann and I lashed paddleboards to the roof of his truck and headed north along the Island Highway, towards Telegraph Cove. Norm had invited me to tag along on a commercial paddleboard group he would be guiding in the Broughton Archipelago. Despite a long history of SUP expeditions, I harboured some reservations."
To date, more than 6,000 people have summitted Everest, the highest point on Earth at 8,848.86 metres of elevation above sea level. And only a tiny handful of those climbers have been Black.
Happy Mother’s Day to all the rad moms out there! Here’s our Art Director & Head Designer @calypsodesign getting cozy with some sharks. #mountainlifer #mothersday
Making core memories on the trails ✨ #mountainlifer
Just in time for Mother’s Day, check North Shore Betty—a short film about 73-year-old Betty Birrell and her hard-charging life in southern B.C.
Follow

Subscribe

Subscribe now to our newsletter

Finding that picture perfect moment with @sweenyj #mountainlifer
The winter that just keeps on given-er! 🤘#mountainlifer
FRIDAY FLICK 💥 This past March, speed mountaineer Benedikt Böhm @benediktboehm rocked a five-hour sea-to-summit expedition up Mount Parnassus in central Greece. Starting at sea level on his road bike at the village of Itea on the Gulf of Corinth, he climbed up to an altitude of 2.414 metres. #linkinbio to watch the film!
I had no idea what to expect from this trip, neither from bikepacking, a fancy term for cycle touring and a sport I’d never done before, nor from Kyrgyzstan, a country most people cannot find on a map. Carl, who I’d only just met recently after moving to Canada—I’d flagged him down after backcountry skiing after seeing his Montana license plate—had invited me on this trip while on a mountain bike ride. I said no. A few weeks later I figured, “Why not?”
The @rab.equipment  dynamic Cirrus Flex is a soft, lightweight hybrid synthetic insulation for mountain-friendly layering. Keeping you warm and perfectly suited to journey in the mountains. #TheMountainPeople #WeAreRab
"@normhann and I lashed paddleboards to the roof of his truck and headed north along the Island Highway, towards Telegraph Cove. Norm had invited me to tag along on a commercial paddleboard group he would be guiding in the Broughton Archipelago. Despite a long history of SUP expeditions, I harboured some reservations."
Mountain Life
  • Home
  • About
  • Contact
  • Subscribe
  • Advertising

Input your search keywords and press Enter.