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Surfing “Whirlpool of Death” Canadian Novelty Wave (Video)

Originally posted on SURFER | By Dashel Pierson | Last updated Jul 15, 2025 10:10 AM ET

“I surf big Pipe, big Waimea…but those whirlpool rapids are nothing to mess with,” says Jamie O’Brien in the latest installment of surfing the Skookumchuck Narrows.

Now, in a previous post, I mistakenly called the Skook – as it’s colloquially known – a river wave. It is not. In fact, the Skookumchuck Narrows is a strait, formed from ocean waters, north of Vancouver in British Columbia, Canada. My bad.

Anyway, in this edition to JOB and Ben Gravy’s strike mission to the notoriously dangerous, and occasionally epic, standing wave, things get a little more sketchy. They encounter whirlpools, which in the past have swallowed kayakers and even an entire tugboat.

This time around, the boys throw their respective filmers out into the water before the wave starts really cooking. And one of ‘em finds himself in the dreaded whirlpools of death.

“That was way scarier than any ocean wave,” he explained, after emerging from the river without drowning. “It was kinda mellow for a second, but the board got ripped out of my hands. Next thing I know I was in one of those whirlpools. I got sucked underwater. I didn’t know how long it was gonna be. Thankfully they got me with the jet ski. But holy crap, I’m done. I don’t wanna do it anymore. I’ll stick to filming.”

Once the water flow started kicking up a notch, JOB and Gravy got out there, sharing party waves, experimenting with a foil board, and attempting not to die.

“We shared an incredible wave together,” reported JOB. “The wave got super big, and it was super hard to ride. It was really, really gnarly. Then it started kinda tapering off, and we just somehow timed it, and we were on two of the best waves of the day. My favorite wave of the whole trip. We were shredding, going back and forth.”

Gravy added: “This is XXL novelty.”

This article first appeared on SURFER and was syndicated with permission.

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