Breaking: First Clips from the New Wavepool in Switzerland

We have entered the era of idyllic wave pools. 

When the so-called arms race began, it did so on peculiar ground. Think: the middle of the desert, or the heart of Texas. But now that concepts have been proven, and demand verified, pools are beginning to fill in places that are a bit more, say, desirable. 

Like the heart of the Alps. 

Here’s the first clip we’ve seen from the new wave pool in Sion, Switzerland, called Alaia Bay. 

This is what we know so far: 

• Alaia Bay uses a Wavegarden Cove with the same size wave engine as Melbourne and Bristol, but their pool is smaller. 
• The pool has approximately 50 different settings. 
• This clip was filmed a few weeks ago, and the water was 6 degrees celsius/42 degrees fahrenheit. It’ll be much, much warmer in the Swiss summer. 
• Alaia Bay will open to the public on May 1. 
• It will cost you 81¢ – $1.11 to ride a wave there. 
• Zeke is holding onto some of his clips for Snapt 4, so this little number doesn’t show all there is to be seen.
• Also per Zeke: The trip was one of the best of his life. He helped the Alaia Bay crew design a ramp and it was, indeed, proper (see above note about him icing clips). The tube setting is absurdly fun. It feels more like a real wave than most other wave pools. He got a wave in boardshorts. He may have stomped a flip. 

And so there we have it. A perfect, albeit artificial, wave in one of the world’s most beautiful locales. Maybe, just maybe, the idyllic wave pool will mark the dawn of the distinguished surfer. 

Instead of getting hammered drunk and eating ribs in Texas, the distinguished surfer visits 15th century castles. She deeply appreciates architecture and sleeps only in chalets. She enjoys train rides to the Matterhorn, but shares none of it on Instagram, because she is above social media. She values precision and horology. On weekends, she eats fondue and raises toasts to Ezekiel Lau with the local wormwood digestif, Génépi, which feels much like a wool blanket swaddling the soul. 

Maybe, but just maybe. 

We will have to see.