Whitemud Falls, Winnipeg River, MB
Whitemud falls has three main waves below the blasted "flow through" channel. In general this is a safe place to play, clean and warm. Best make your roll, especially in the main channel as it's a long swim to shore. But it is fast and big volume and swimmers should be prepared to buy the next several rounds.
Features
The Couch
The front wave on "river right" is called "The Couch" When the water's up (45000 cfs+), this breaking wave has a nice thick foam pile that is broad enough to accommodate multiple paddlers on the same ride, and nice shoulders. At 55000 cfs+ it gets jumpy in the middle and the trough gets nice and deep. At levels of 60000 - 80000 cfs, hold on tight cause it's quite a ride and pretty retentive. Overall, a real surfing treat for most of the season. Drop into this friendly giant from high up in the "river right" eddy, formed by the small mid current rock pile. "The Couch" is the best basic and reliable surfing wave at Whitemud Falls.
Scary Wave
The next wave downstream is a big breaking wave that spans the width of the river, and can be accessed from "The couch" or high in the "river left" eddy. The "river left" side of the wave is called "Scary Wave". It is great for surfing but watch out that you don't blow off the green tongue that appears in the middle of the wave every so often. In higher water (60,000 cfs+) this wave gets big and fast. At 80,000 cfs+ it grows to 12-15 feet high at it's crest! Then it's huge, pushy and really dynamic. One of the most exciting waves in the world and featured in some world class freestyle videos!
Black Hole
The "river right" side of the wave is pretty retentive and fun for throwing tricks. In higher water it shows more hole characteristics than breaking wave. As the flow goes up, the "Black Hole" can get pretty sticky (named in high water) so unless you have a spare tank on you, it may be wise to paddle right on past to avoid a solid pounding.
Sunkissed and General Wolfe
For the smaller volume Whitemud experience, you can sneak around the base and upstream on the river right side of the big island. On those special days, a sweet little hole named "Sunkissed" forms just off the slanting rock face of the island. If you hit it at the right level (which is admittedly fleeting - somewhere between 40000 and 50000 cfs), you can alternate between throwing ends, and catching rays all day long. At high water, another hole forms just below "Sunkissed" named "General Wolfe" It can be a real sticky ride so take your time in reading the feature before dropping in.