Saint-Laurent (St. Lawrence), Quebec, CA

3) Habitat 67 (Expo 67)

Expo 67

Expo 67
Photo of Blunting Expo 67 wave by Chris Emery taken 08/17/09

Gauge Information

River Description

While most play boaters are familiar with the legendary waves at the Lachine rapids, fewer are aware that it's feisty little brother is located just a few miles further down the massive St. Lawrence River. Calling Habitat 67 ("Hab") the little brother to Lachine may be a bit dismissive and misleading. Those visiting Hab rank it among the best play spots they've paddled in the Northeast (which includes the Lachines and the Ottawa).

In recent years, more and more board surfers have been frequenting Habitat, and its safe to say that kayakers are now the minority. Some people are frustrated by this, and at times there can be tensions between surfers and kayakers. Since its more of a surfing destination than a paddling destination now, its important to be courteous and follow their etiquette. Note: a paddler may make it back to shore before the surfer who went in front of them, if this is the case, its often frowned upon to take your next turn before them. Just watch the locals and do as they do. 

Habitat is a large, wide wave/hole located about 25-50 meters off shore. Like everywhere else, the qualities of the feature will vary dramatically depending on water levels. Most people know Habitat to be best at slightly higher levels than lachine (75,000-82,000 cms). Higher water turns the feature into more of a hole, and difficult to get to the top of the foam pile to set moves up. The wave greens out between 67,000 and 71,000 which the board surfers love, though its nearly impossible to catch with a modern playboat. That being said, you'll probably have more fun carving your creek boat across the face here than you would have with your playboat on a smaller feature. Extremely low water brings a foam pile back on the wave (less than 65,000), and any air wave move becomes possible again. Unfortunately, when the water is this low, you're surfing a foot or two above the rock. When board surfers fall, they'll often hit the rock, and a miss-timed blunt can smack the rock as well. 

During the spring, or after significant rains, a second wave forms closer to shore (when the other wave is more of a hole). This wave is smooth and glassy, sometimes with a little foam (like the regular wave @ 66,000). While the online gauge is a good indicator for this wave (86,000+ cms), a better indicator is the port of montreal water level. To get this, go to www.port-montreal.com and click on water level. If the value is above 0.6, there's a good chance the wave close to shore is in, below 0.4 is too low. 

The feature is not terribly bouncy or dynamic. Still, you could hang out on the thing forever, and getting three boaters on at a time isn't difficult. That's not to say that a whole world of moves weren't possible, it's just that Hab won't auto-launch a boater the way it's big brother up river does.

Access:

Unlike Lachines, accessing Habitat 67 is relatively easy. There is a fairly large eddy along the shore just up stream of the feature. Just paddle up to the top of the eddy and paddle out about another 25 meters after crossing the eddy line. This will all be pretty obvious. When you come off the feature, you'll basically wash through some class II turbulence and whirl pools. There is a small beach about 75 meters down stream of the feature; you can take out there. The toughest part is the scramble back up the bank. Be sure to wear shoes! There's a fair amount of glass and debris, and rumor has it there's a snake or two also. There is a rope along the shore, but the levels generally have to be higher to make a go of it. Walking is the best bet.

Another distinction between Hab and Lachine is the difficulty. In fact Hab is almost opposite Lachine in this respect: it's close to shore; it has easy eddy access; and a straight forward recovery with a simple enough walk to get back up to the put-in. It's a fine feature for intermediates to come and try out.

Directions:

From the Vermont Boarder:

I-91 North becomes AUT-55 - go 21.0 miles.
Take exit #34-O towards Montreal onto AUT-10 - go 75.5 miles.
Take exit #2 towards Port of Montreal/Ave. Pierre-Dupuy/Technoparcport go 0.2 miles.
Continue on Chemin Des Moulins - go 0.1 mi
Turn Right on Avenue Pierre Dupuy- go 0.6 mi

The Habitat '67 apartment complex is located at 2600 Avenue Pierre-Dupuy, Montreal. It's approximately 320 miles from Boston, about six hours behind the wheel.

Keep your eyes peeled for this complex. It's hard to miss.

The Hab play feature is located just behind the namesake Habitat '67 apartment complex, which is located on a peninsula jutting out into the St. Lawrence. As you drive down Pierre-Dupuy, the complex will be on your right. Park on the street just past the apartments next to the field. You should see the entrance to a trail running in back of the complex. Just walk down the trail and you'll see the feature just down trail a ways.

Thanks to Rob Stiles for providing the majority of the above info.