24 Hours at a Wave Pool in Munich (Video)

If someone had told Bruce Brown that Munich would emerge as a hotbed for European surfing in the 21st century he never would have believed it. But with the newly opened Surftown MUC, along with entrenched river surfing culture at the Eisbach, somehow Munich gets more press than Mundaka these days.

A crop of Rip Curl's Euro crew recently touched down in Germany for some surf and sights. Among the team riders on the trip were rapidly rising UK star Lukas Skinner, along with Matias Canhoto, Hans Odriozola, Justin Becret, Carla Morera de la Vall, Marley Benesenes-Masse, Paco Alonzo, and Daniel Mereu.

Expect more of this confluence of varying cultures as the proliferation of the wave pool arms race drives ever forward. In the case of Surftown MUC, the facility harnesses the power of surf culture and combines it with Germany's tradition-rich culture, as well as Munich's modern urban culture.

Where we go from here? It's anyone's guess, but things get really interesting in the future if creativity drives these cultural exchanges. If we treat wave pools not just as a place to go ride waves, but as a place where surf, art, music, culture and tradition can come together in a real and authentic way, well, that's something pretty powerful. We're still in the infancy of the wave pool revolution, but it just shows to go, you never know where the Search will lead.