KANANASKIS COUNTRY, Alta. –

Bigger is better when it comes to river waves and the Alberta River Surfing Association (ARSA) and Alberta Whitewater Association (AWA) want to build the perfect wave for surfing and kayaking.

The groups raised $150,000 through a grant from the Province of Alberta and raised $70,000 from individuals, businesses and other organizations.

Neil Egsgard is the president of ARSA and says that the total planned cost of the adjustable wave project is now just over $40,000 short of the project.

“We looked at the revenue and economic impact of international whitewater competitions and it’s some $100,000 for each event based on the events we’ve seen in Canada,” Egsgard said. “So we would expect to have one event per year for kayaking one year and then surfing the next year, so we’re looking at some $100,000 in new revenue coming into that area just from one event per year. .”

The flow of the Lower Kananaskis River at Canoe Meadows is controlled by a hydroelectric dam, making it the perfect place to design a steel adjustable wave feature. Mike Holroyd is the Executive Director of AWA who started kayaking the river in 1993 and knows its potential.

“If you build it, they will come,” Holroyd said. “Well that’s the old saying and we saw between Kananaskis and Harvie Passage, we have that for the slalom side of things now and so it’s really exciting to be able to add to that on the freestyle and on the surf and and just building this great whitewater community.”

Egsgard says the waves in the area today are man-made, created by placing a series of boulders on the riverbed. He is enthusiastic about this project.

“The biggest thing about the new wave is that it will be perfect 12 meters wide,” he said. “Really wide, so in terms of the sport and the smooth feel you get on the feature, the wider and more consistent the feature, the higher the quality of the maneuvers, the better the athleticism.”

Holroyd hopes funds will be raised soon so that engineering plans can be completed for the new wave and construction and installation can take place no later than 2024.

“The goal is to build that wave that we can adjust,” Holroyd said. “So no matter the water levels, we could switch between canoeing, kayaking and surfing and be able to use it anytime.”

The Canadian Whitewater Championships take place this year the first week of August on the existing waves of the Lower Kananaskis River.

“So, for example, this wave if it was already in place, that would be where we would do the freestyle (events),” he said. “With the quality of this wave, we should be able to run the world championships in the future, so that’s what we’re aiming for.”

And a world-class facility in the Kananaskis Country could attract more people to whitewater sports and keep those who are already interested here rather than traveling outside of Alberta.

“The surfer population is about one percent,” he said. “So there are about 30,000 surfers in Alberta who would travel to surf, they would wake surf, they would river surf.”

Learn more about the adjustable wave fundraising project here.