The “mother of all rivers” is a German canal that is often credited as the birthplace of flowing water.
The famous wave breaker in the southern city of Munich is known as Eisbach, or “Ice Brook”, for its fierce temperatures, and has become a travel site for surfers around the world.
Unlike ocean surfing, its water cousin takes place in a “standing wave”, which is often man-made, with concterte slabs that keep the water a permanent wave.
The origins of the sport are often cited as dating back to the early 1970s, when the reigning Daredevil rode a natural wave in Munich for the first time.
Today, river surfing has a global following, including on the Severn river in the United Kingdom, where surfers ride the Tidal waves that move a river.
In Hawaii, surfers also create river waves by digging a channel between a river and the ocean, with water flowing through the sand.
The eisbach wave was originally thought to have been formed by Gravel, but the Munich Surfing Community later installed wooden boards that helped artificially stabilize the wave. For decades, it did a major tourist Drawing for the state capital of Bavaria.
Most of the winter months – when the ice melt can push the wave up to a meter high – including the flow once a year to clean the waste and inspect the waste.
But after Torrents was released in the Canal after its cleaning on Friday, the eisbach wave did not form as usual, instead leaving unstable white water rapids.
“We’re lost,” Surfer Klaus Rudolf told Stern magazine. “I was standing on the edge of my board on Friday night and couldn’t believe it.”
Authorities are looking into the cause of the wave’s disappearance, including whether it could be due to cleaning or a lack of water.
“No structural changes were made to the eisbach wave or its banks during the cleanup,” the city said. An inspection of the site on Monday also did not reveal any damage.
On Tuesday, Mayor Dieter Reiter said in a statement that the city administration “is working on the water management office and the famous surfers will soon be available too”.
Officials now plan to divert more water into the canal in anticipation of an eisbach surge, Surfertoday.com describing as “mother of all the waves of the stream”. Standing waves require a delicate balance of water level and speed.
The EIIbch Wave was closed early last year for several months after the death of a 33-year-old Munich woman who was trapped under the night. Since it was changed, new rules prohibit surfing at night.
The French-Pinto-Price trend contributed to this report