Justin Valley

Justin Valley has found his in San Diego, and it's not even in the ocean.

Valley, who graduated from Bend's Summit High School in 2005, is employed at the Wave House, an athletic club near Mission Beach in San Diego.

The Wave House features a simulated 10-foot-high, 30-foot-long barrel wave, called the Wave Loch Bruticus Maximus but known simply as "B Max" to the locals.

The wave, built just two years ago, has helped to launch the sport of flowboarding, or flowriding, in which competitors ride a wakeboard-surfboard hybrid on the wave, performing a variety of flips, spins and other tricks.

Valley, 21 and a sophomore at San Diego's Mesa College, competed in the Collegiate National Flowboarding Championship last month.He reached the semifinals as an individual and Mesa finished second as a team, behind winner San Diego State University and ahead of third-place Southern California.

The contest, staged on the B Max, included eight teams of 10 riders each.Each boarder rode the wave for no longer than 45 seconds at a time, getting judged on their tricks and maneuvers.

"You don't have to paddle out to get to the wave," said Valley in an interview this week from San Diego."It's just a big thrill to be riding it.It's quite addicting.

"It's always the perfect wave."

Valley said that flowboarding encompasses the techniques and skills of snowboarding, skateboarding and surfing.Riders execute 360s, carve on the wave and make big sprays.It's also possible to get inside the barrel of the wave.

The wave, which pumps 130,000 gallons of water per minute, is not far from the beach.

"It's kind of funny, it's located 10 feet from Mission Beach," Valley said."It's right on the boardwalk."
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Because Valley works as the beach rentals supervisor at the Wave House, he gets discounts on riding the B Max, which normally costs $20 to $45 per hour.

Valley has been riding the wave frequently and said he plans to compete in several contests, including the Flow Tour, a flowboarding championship series that starts this month.

"It's getting really popular," said Valley, who wakeboarded and surfed while growing up in Bend."I really think it'll get big pretty soon."

Valley has never snowboarded much, but he said that snowboarders are able to perform well on the simulated wave.

"They say snowboarders tend to do the best on the wave," Valley said."It's not like surfing.It's kind of its own little sport.It's not like any of them at the same time."

Valley competed in football, basketball and track and field at Summit High.He went on to Linfield College in McMinnville, where he played safety on the football team.

But Valley suffered a serious back injury in a game last November, ending his football career.

After rehabilitating his back through weight training, Valley transferred to Mesa College in January, following a cousin who had moved to San Diego last summer.

Valley, who is majoring in business administration, said he will wake up some mornings with back pain.But, fortunately, flowboarding does not bother his back.

And San Diego has been good to him.

"It's a completely different world down here," Valley said.