Surfing Brennan's Wave

Necessity is the mother of invention, so it’s not uncommon to see Montana thrill seekers finding new ways to up the adrenaline.

Enter Craig McCallum, a University of Montana senior majoring in journalism. Last spring, only about two months after the man-made Brennan’s Wave was completed, McCallum strapped his red surf board to his ankle and hopped into the Clark Fork with the kayakers for whom the wave was built.

He had only surfed for a week previously, and that was in the ocean. But according to him, he had to get out there after “watching ‘Point Break’ too much.”

And he’s still at it, along with a few others. Although there are no official stats in the sport, both McCallum and fellow Brennan’s Wave surfboarder Ross Peterson estimate that about seven people comprise the wave’s surfing community.

Who was first is also unclear; both McCallum and Peterson say they don’t know of anyone doing it before themselves, but they decline to take the title of “The First.”

Apparently, no animosity exists between the surfers and the kayakers.

Kayaker Caleb George said it’s just another way for people to enjoy Missoula, and he thinks Brennan Guth, in whose memory the wave was built, would have thought the same thing.

Guth, a Missoula kayaker, died in Chile in 2001 when his kayak was swept into a cave.

“I think Brennan would get a kick out of it,” George said. “People just having a good time.”

And as another kayaker, Jim Hepburn, sympathetically pointed out, “It’s quite a distance to the nearest ocean.”

River surfing is not a brand new sport, but it is also no behemoth in the extreme sports world, and some people say they don’t get the appeal.

Christine Ross, an onlooker on the balcony in Caras Park that overlooks the wave, said, “There’s other things you can do in Montana without surfing. He looks like a displaced Californian.”

When talking about the future of river surfing, McCallum only spoke for himself, saying he was hooked.

Peterson, for his part, doesn’t know if the sport will take off, he said.

“I could see there being something of a little scene,” he said. “But people probably said the same thing about snowboarding.”