Snowdonia Wavegarden

[steve shearer]

what? More than Casino Beef Week caps?

Doubt it.

[foamy]

Steve, you out on the point, checking out conditions, in your Snowdownia Wave Garden Tee. That would be ironic, wouldn't it? I'll get you one. A large?

[steve shearer]

I'm a medium Foamy. Classic middleweight.
Are you heading over there?

[foamy]

I'm a medium Foamy. Classic middleweight.
Are you heading over there?

No, I don't think so. I'll use the internet. They don't seem to have released their merch range yet.
We have our Welsh correspondent for the wave garden road test.

[godsavetheking]

If and when evidence of the two metre wave is forthcoming I might be tempted to go and have a look if I find myself in the area (in itself pretty unlikely but not impossible). A wifebeater in M sound OK steve? Assuming I can succesfully battle my way through the throngs of surf heroes stocking up on stickers for their T5s, of course

[foamy]

gstq, on an entirely unrelated point, have you ever been to Iceland? Short flight for you. It is a place I have always wanted to go to since reading Desmond Bagley's 'Running Blind' when I was 13.

[godsavetheking]

no, 'fraid not

[pinhead]

Pools filled and the first waves have been ridden. check video:
http://www.surfsnowdonia.co.uk/

Waves look pretty good

[Trev]

Interesting, if a bit predictable. Good for practicing moves though.
What does a session cost?

[Drailed]

In all fairness it does look like a fun wave... but yeah...

[foamy]

Costs, there is the problem. The early word was £19 to £40 an hour, increasing hugely for those who wanted lessons. I don't think Snowdonia have released final prices. The price structure will probably require the most challenging engineering of the entire project.

[steve shearer]

Looks marginally better than the Spain one.

Very far from the 2m barrelling wave promised on the tin.

[alakaboo]

Generously proportioned boards and competent surfers. Be interesting to see it with some kooks riding.
Still looks like a pretty flat face.

[foamy]

They do have the prices listed. I'll pick what we would probably pick, intermediate and advanced wave - 2 hours for £79. Ouch.

[pinhead]

They do have the prices listed. I'll pick what we would probably pick, intermediate and advanced wave - 2 hours for £79. Ouch.

$170 AU!!??

I'd pay $50 for two hours of those waves. For $170 I'd expect a right hand version of perfect Macaronis.

[The Mighty Sunbird]

looks pretty gutless. and mind numbing after a few caught I would predict

but hey, no sharks!
no kooks!
no dropins!
and its in Snowdonia!

[foamy]

A more extended, multi-angle video of the wave. It's way too expensive, but I would happily surf this wave every now and then.
Of course, it is not surfing. Like mucking around in the cricket nets is not the same as playing a game of cricket.

http://magicseaweed.com/news/the-defini ... dit1/7868/

[foamy]

Interesting to read Jarrad Howse's comments in BeachGrit. They seem to be not running it at full capacity, so maybe there is an overhead wave that will get produced on occasion.


BeachGrit: So what was your impression of the tank?

Howse: I thought it was awesome. I surfed the original in the Basque country and you couldn’t help but be completely excited and in awe of a mechanical wave, at least when you first see one. That in mind, the one in the Basque country gets boring. I’m too big for it. If I was a grommet, 14 and under, I’d want to surf that wave all day. It was pretty exciting to go to one that was double size. They were actually reluctant to release the footage because the wave was only at sixty-percent.

BeachGrit: It’s cute as hell, I’m sold etc, but it sure needs an oncoming section or… something… to break up the 10 same turns to the shore.

Howse:They’re doing it, they’re building a closeout air section. They were only running the middle third of the wave. Right now, it’s built for top-to-bottom surfing, hacks, and then the blow-tail air reverse Dane, Jordy and Julian do. The end section will add an extra twist.