Catch a Wave

You know that thing you've seen in cruise ship commercials that looks like a polyurethane ramp with water shooting up to simulate the feel of riding a wave? It's called a FlowRider, and since its invention in the early 1990s an entire sport -- flowboarding, an alchemy of snowboarding, skateboarding...

By Zach Fowle

May 30, 2013

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You know that thing you've seen in cruise ship commercials that looks like a polyurethane ramp with water shooting up to simulate the feel of riding a wave? It's called a FlowRider, and since its invention in the early 1990s an entire sport -- flowboarding, an alchemy of snowboarding, skateboarding and surfing -- has evolved around it.

Why do you care? Because the Kierland Resort in Scottsdale has one of these wave generators, and their FlowRider is set to be the first stop in this year's Flowboarding League of the World Tour. Not only is FLOW the sport's premier competitive tour featuring the world's best riders, but it also offers newcomers a chance to enter competitions at any level and learn the fundamentals en route to the year-end International FLOWrider Championships -- which, by the way, will also be held at the Kierland.

Go with the flow Friday, May 31, at the Westin Kierland Resort & Spa, 6902 East Greenway Parkway in Scottsdale. Visit www.waveloch.com for more.

Fri., May 31, 10 a.m.-5 p.m., 2013

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