After several years of detailed planning and construction, the city of Chelan in the Pacific Northwest of the USA is the birthplace to the very first citywave installation in North America. The Slidewaters water park and Munich-based wave pool manufacturer are powering the standing wave with 100% by renewable energy.

The new installation marks more than twice the size of regular citywave facilities in Europe and Asia. The project was dealt with its share of setbacks, the most dramatic coming this summer with COVID-19 wiping out the 2020 season.

“The only way to really appreciate the size of this wave is to see it first hand,” says Robert Bordner co- owner of Slidewaters, Lake Chelan Waterpark. “We expect surfers from around the world to be blown away not only by the width of the wave, but also the quality.”

Lakeside Surf, the surf park facility that holds the world record citywave USA, continues to catch up for time lost due to COVID-19 and plans to be ready for full operation coming out of winter in 2021. Surf memberships and surf sessions for the 2021 season will be available for booking starting this September.

After more than 15 years of research and development and the construction of 13 venues from Tokyo via Moscow to Madrid, the opening of the record-size standing wave in the USA represents the preliminary peak of citywave’s effort to make surfing accessible to a wider target audience.

The idea for citywave originates from the Munich Eisbach, arguably the most famous river wave in the world, where the family business of Susi and Rainer Klimaschewski set out to bring surfing to the heart of the world’s landlocked cities and megacities.