In Utah Valley, there lies a room that smells of chlorine and has what looks like a large slip and slide. This “slip and slide” is better known as the Flow Rider and is part of the Provo Beach Resort. The resort is located in a shopping mall called the Riverwoods in Provo.
The Flow Rider consists of gallons upon gallons of water jetting out at a high speed up a hill. The object is to attempt to get into the wave and boogie board or surf to your hearts content.
There seems to be a few ways to getting onto the boogie board. Stepping into it will send someone crashing up the hill into the padded wall – body slamming onto the wave will send the rider careening to the other side – and sliding out from the front just makes you look like a wuss. There is no right or wrong way, but many of the life guards will tell you that the body slam will get the best balance.
Once the rider has made it into the wave, there are a variety of tricks that are simple and fun to watch. Barrel rolls consist of holding onto the boogie board and just turning the board and body over quickly and then catching the wave before the rider is pulled up through the wall. Riding the boogie board with knees is dificult but steering with ones feet is harder.
The surf board requires more skill than the boogie board – and has less tricks. The actual board itself is a little smaller than a long board and is covered with foam padding on top.
Getting on the board is tricky, but staying on is trickier. The weight on the feet needs to be mainly on the back foot. This will keep the water running under the front of the board, and give better steering capabilities. After that, carving and jumping with the board makes up the majority of the tricks.
The Provo Beach Resort advertises the Flow Rider as a great place to practice for competition, which would be great if it wasn’t for the amount of people who want to ride in the two sections for their alloted hour. The ride is only turned on if there are more than five people who want to ride for the hour. If it’s hard to find five people, there are also free times during the day and evening that the ride is turned on for one hour.
Flow Rider is $20 for one hour of riding. There is a one time additional $5 fee for filling out medical and accident forms. Hours of operation are Monday through Thursday 11 a.m. – 10 p.m., Fridays 11 a.m. – 11 p.m. and Saturday 10 a.m. – 11 p.m.
Visit provobeachresort.com for more information.