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  • Surfing

Flirter avec le froid : Cold River Surfing on the St. Lawrence

  • March 3, 2021
  • Mountain Life Media
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mots :: Maxime Bilodeau // photos :: Charles-Antoine Chevarie.

Jérémie Gauthier-Lacasse n’a pas froid aux yeux. Ce Montréalais de 27 ans brave le mercure depuis bientôt cinq ans pour tutoyer la vague à Guy, une vague stationnaire située à la hauteur de l’arrondissement de LaSalle. Bien que les remous y soient moins puissants que ceux situés face aux logements d’Habitat 67, Gauthier-Lacasse arrive à y effectuer plusieurs manœuvres avec aisance – qui éjecteraient bien des surfeurs de même trempe hors de la vague.

Rien ne l’arrête, même pas ces blocs de glace contondants qui dérivent parfois au large. « Je sors tous les jours ou presque pendant la saison froide. Je le fais avant tout pour la quiétude; surfer sous une fine neige à -5 °C a quelque chose d’hypnotique », raconte-t-il. Une paix dont nul ne peut se prévaloir en été, alors que le line-up de la vague n’en finit plus de finir – à moins d’y être à l’aurore.

À chacune de ses incursions hivernales sur le fleuve Saint-Laurent, Gauthier-Lacasse exécute la même chorégraphie, qui débute dans une maison chauffée de Verdun. Il y enfile son épaisse combinaison isothermique 5/4 mm munie d’une cagoule, ses mitaines en néoprène et ses bottes rondes ou à orteil fendu. Dix minutes plus tard, il s’élance des rives du parc des Rapides avec sa planche sans même s’échauffer, « même si je le devrais peut-être ». Peu importe dans le fond; l’important est de demeurer le plus actif possible dans l’eau, de manière à freiner la chute de la température corporelle.

Parce que celle-ci survient inévitablement. Au bout de 45 minutes à deux heures à s’esbaudir, le surfeur finit par ne plus sentir sa planche sous ses pieds. Un signal de prime importance pour celui qui gère le froid à l’intuition. « Avec la pratique, j’ai fini par développer tout un registre de sensations auxquelles je peux me fier. Je ne me rends jamais au grelottement ni à l’engelure, qui peut laisser des séquelles durables », souligne-t-il.

De fait, Gauthier-Lacasse cesse de surfer juste avant l’apparition des premiers signes d’hypothermie, soit lorsque la température interne chute sous les 36 °C. S’il s’obstinait, un frisson intense l’accablerait, ses mouvements seraient de plus en plus saccadés, la confusion s’installerait, l’élocution foutrait le camp, la respiration ralentirait. Éventuellement, ce serait le point de non-retour.

Flirter-avec-le-froid-Cold-River-Surfing-on-the-St-Lawrence-standing
Jérémie Gauthier-Lacasse. Photo: CHARLES-ANTOINE CHEVARIE

Le jeu en vaut néanmoins la chandelle. Flirter ainsi avec le froid – sans atteindre l’hypothermie – conduit l’hypothalamus, le centre de contrôle de la thermorégulation situé dans le cerveau, à déclencher une foule de mécanismes physiologiques afin de maintenir la chaleur du corps. Parmi eux : la production d’hormones comme l’adrénaline, le cortisol, mais aussi les endocannabinoïdes, qui sont à l’origine de la sensation d’euphorie caractéristique des bains glacés. À tout cela s’ajoute le plaisir à peine dissimulé qu’éprouve Gauthier-Lacasse à lire le visage des passants sur les berges. « Lorsqu’ils me voient sauter à l’eau, c’est toujours la même réaction de surprise mêlée d’effroi. »

« C’est d’ailleurs l’autre chose qui me fait triper du surf d’hiver : tu accèdes à une expérience unique en son genre. Et comme il fait froid six mois par année au Québec, tu en profites longtemps. » Le surf de rivière lui aura certainement appris à se laisser porter par le courant, dans tous les sens du terme.

Quelles frontières / What Limit? Winter-Spring ’21 Vie en Montagne Out Now


Jérémie Gauthier-Lacasse gets a thrill out of pushing his body to the limit. The 27-year-old Montrealer has been riding the vague à Guy, a standing wave in the borough of LaSalle, for almost five years. Although it is smoother than the one breaking by the Habitat 67 housing complex, Gauthier-Lacasse shows impeccable style and tricks that would get surfers of equal calibre flushed out in the current.

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Nothing holds him back, not even the massive ice blocks that often make their way into the rapids. “I go out every day, or nearly, during the winter. I mainly do it for peacefulness. Surfing while it’s lightly snowing and -5 C is unlike anything else out there,” says the surfer. Peace is definitely something you can’t find in the crowded line-up of surfers that stretches out through the summer—unless you’re willing to get there at the crack of dawn.

Flirter-avec-le-froid-Cold-River-Surfing-on-the-St-Lawrence-crouching
“I’ve become more in tune with which sensations I need to look out for.” Photo: CHARLES-ANTOINE CHEVARIE

Starting in a warm Verdun home, Gauthier-Lacasse follows the same routine every time he heads out for a winter dip in the St. Lawrence River. He squeezes into his thick, 5/4 mm hooded wetsuit, pulls on his neoprene mittens and steps into a pair of round or split-toe booties. He then dives off the banks of the Parc des Rapides, board in hand, without even taking the time to warm up, “even though I probably should.” It’s not that big a deal—the important thing is that you keep moving when you’re in the water to slow down the eventual drop in body temperature.

Because it inevitably happens. After 45 minutes to two hours, his feet start to feel numb as he struggles to find balance. This is a telltale sign that the cold has started to seep its way into his bones. “I’ve become more in tune with which sensations I need to look out for. I never get so cold that I’m shivering, or at risk of frostbite, which could lead to permanent damage,” says the self-proclaimed chionophile.

Gauthier-Lacasse always packs in his surfboard before he notices the first signs of hypothermia, a condition that occurs when core body temperature drops below 36 C. If he were to continue, he would be racked by relentless shivers, his movements would become less coordinated, confusion would set in, his speech would become slurred and his breathing would drastically slow down. Eventually, he would reach the point of no return.

Flirter-avec-le-froid-Cold-River-Surfing-on-the-St-Lawrence-standing
Jérémie Gauthier-Lacasse. Photo: CHARLES-ANTOINE CHEVARIE

For him, the reward is worth the risk. Playing Russian roulette with the cold causes the hypothalamus, the brain’s thermoregulatory control centre, to trigger a host of physiological mechanisms to help the body conserve heat. This includes the production of hormones such as adrenaline, cortisol and endocannabinoids, which are what make you feel on top of the world after plunging into an ice bath. Gauthier-Lacasse also gets a kick out of seeing the look on people’s faces when they realize that he’s surfing. “When they see me jump in the water, they always react with the same mixture of surprise and horror.”

“That’s another reason why I can’t get enough of winter surfing—it’s truly a one-of-a-kind experience. And since Quebec winters last for six months, you have a lot of time to make the most of it.” River surfing has no doubt taught him how to go with the flow, in every sense.

Quelles frontières / What Limit? Winter-Spring ’21 Vie en Montagne Out Now

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There is a trend—mostly with tourism organizations and marketing departments, but travel journalists have been on board for a while now too… and the trend is to use the phrase “untouched wilderness” when writing about remote areas like the Skeena Mountains of northern B.C.
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There is a trend—mostly with tourism organizations and marketing departments, but travel journalists have been on board for a while now too… and the trend is to use the phrase “untouched wilderness” when writing about remote areas like the Skeena Mountains of northern B.C.
Help us wish ML Publisher @glenedwardharris a very happy, pow filled birthday! #mountainlifer
Live It Up EP 22 is OUT NOW!
NEW ML Coast Mountains Winter-Spring ’23 Issue is OUT NOW! 🙌
There are some first times that we will always remember. Like the time I skied off-piste through the alpine highlands of le parc national de la Gaspésie.
@shimizuimg getting those January goods ❄️ #mountainlifer
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