With all the ups and downs, you’d think this facility housed a rollercoaster, not an artificial wave. To the dismay of Welsh surfers everywhere (all 12 of them), Surf Snowdonia has closed its doors for a third time since its August opening. And this time, it’s not looking good.
“Our Wavegarden engineers have been hard at work all weekend and we have now isolated the section of the wave-generating machinery that needs to be repaired,” Snowdonia wrote on their Facebook. “We are certain there will be no more waves this week and our bookings team is in the process of contacting customers who will be affected. We apologise sincerely to all who will be disappointed and inconvenienced by this closure.”
It’s easy to sit here and point fingers at Snowdonia for this string of malfunctions, even when my grasp of the technology that makes it work is like a Welsh Corgi’s understanding of Shakespeare. But at the same time, it’s a massive bummer for the customers. Think of how many young kids’ birthday parties had to be cancelled because of the closures. Think of how many people travelled all the way to Wales, only to get denied access. That’s the whole point of a wave pool – it’s supposed to always be good/abolish getting skunked. Did Snowdonia jump the gun with their technology? Are they the wave pool version of a selfish lover? Prematurely releasing the goods and leaving their partner (us) unsatisfied? Well for now, it looks like we’ll be sleeping on the couch.
