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Brown is committed to seeing Missoula being a bona fide surf city,
U.S.A., a bit of Malibu in Montana. "We surf every day—we probably
surf more than most people who surf the ocean," he says. "We put a lot
of effort into getting Missoula on the map (as a river town). Waves are
being built all over the world in rivers—the sport is exploding."
Pointing to cities with world-class whitewater parks, such as
Bend, Oregon, Boise, Idaho and communities throughout Europe,
Brown notes that "I think what we did with Strongwater essen-
tially was create the template for other cities."
"But Missoula still has a ton of work to do, which is why I love it
so much," says Brown. "ere's so much opportunity."
Brown is a true believer that tourism and capitalizing on a great
river running through a downtown is the future. "It's a win for the
economy, it's a win for wildlife, it's a win for recreation, it's a win
for the aesthetics of the city," he says.
Brown is now the surfing equivalent of a snowbird, with plans
to focus on board production in California during the winter, while
surfing sleeps in Montana, then spend the summer months run-
ning some sort of pop-up surf shop in Missoula.
"e philosophy we've adopted is 'surf the earth'," says Brown.
"e snow in the mountains melts, goes into the river, goes to the
ocean. So, we surf the snow (on snow surfboards); go into the river,
surfing our custom-built river boards; and surf the ocean—just
chasing that water cycle."
SEAN JANSEN
NATE MEYER
