Mini-bus
Optimal Levels: 14 to 16.5
Mini-bus is the premiere big wave of the world. Huge, fast, steep and very, very good. To get an idea of how great this feature is, imagine this: the level of the Ottawa rises to 15 or so. As a result, pro boaters from all over the world make a concentrated effort to get to the valley, no matter the season. People buy last minute plane tickets to Ottawa, or drive from Florida just to get a taste of it’s awesomeness.
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Moe Kelleher of Wavesport says: If Carlsburg did waves, it would be... BUSEATER
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Stephen Wright of Jackson Kayak says:
If you’ve never surfed the awesome Buseater Wave, here are some fun facts:
· Buseater forms just downstream of summer-levels-GARB, next to the Waikiki waves.
· Mini-bus[eater
wave] forms on river left when the levels are between 14 and 16.5 feet
on the gauge — most of the footage you’ve seen in videos of
Buseater is on Mini Bus
· Mini Bus is actually steeper than Big Bus, though Big Bus is a little bit taller and wider.
· To
surf mini-bus, paddlers generally hold onto a wake-boarding handle
which is tied to a rope and anchored over 100 feet upstream. This enables them to swing/surf out from the eddy, rather than having to walk back up for each ride. The rope requires one paddler to always be on shore to retrieve it for paddlers in the eddy. This all happens from the river left eddy, behind a large island.
· The
river right side corner of Mini Bus is often referred to as “the
toilet bowl”, due to the swirling, crashing, bubbling nature of
the wave there. It’s a great place to get slammed, sucked under water, tumbled, scared, or turned inside-out.
~ taken with permission from Stephen Wright of Jackson Kayak