If you want to learn to kite, you want to learn from the best, and around here, that’s Cascade Kiteboarding. Why? On-the-water lessons take place at the west end of Well’s Island, away from the chaos of the sandbar. Your lesson will be one-on-one, with radio helmet instruction, this year’s gear from Da Kine and Liquid Force, and dedicated jetski assistance. And let me point out that Cascade Kiteboarding is the ONLY school with those radio helmets, so it’s the one school where you won’t have an instructor yelling at you while you’re learning. One of the lucky people on the email version of this forecast will win a two hour kiteboarding lesson later this week.
First off, congrats to the person who found the Henni’s Bar and Grill (White Salmon) gift certificate hidden on Charley’s trail in Post Canyon. Henni’s is rad, but Charley Laventure was radder, so that’s why I hid the prize on his trail. We’ll be hiding more gift certificates around the Gorge for you active people to find over the next few weeks.
We’re going to see more wind in the Gorge today. Imagine that. It’s the Gorge, after all. Your gradient this morning, provided by Mother Nature, is currently at .09 (it’s 5:40am), and that will be enough for 19-22 this morning. Models show nearly no wind for today, so this is all gut instinct. I think the wind will hold until about 1:30 near Hood River and Stevenson and then start fading.
Tomorrow brings very light wind with a chance of easterlies picking up into the 10-15 range near Stevenson and Rooster Rock. That means if you’re in the central Gorge, you’re going waterskiing, wakeboarding, standup paddling or fishing.
The Clymb: free membership.
Access to super cheap gear including Trew, Zeal, Sierra Designs, and many more.
Sunday morning starts out light too, but we should see west winds pick up to 18-22 late in the afternoon, first at Stevenson, then at Hood River.
In Native Eyewear news, the team is documenting trail running this morning at Syncline, then chatting with Tonia Farman about the Tenacity Games, then talking to board shaper Art Colier, and then this evening, they are headed down to Double Mountain for Pizza and beer around 8pm.
Today’s the first day of the Bridge of the Gods Kitefest down in Stevenson, and hopefully they can pull off as much as possible today. Tomorrow is the start of the Gorge Paddle Challenge, with hardcore watermen (including the undeniably super cute Dave Kalama) flying in to the Gorge to compete for cash prizes. Also tomorrow, as part of that event, Columbia Riverkeepers is throwing a party from 5-8pm with music, dancing and raffles down at the Waterfront Park.
Speaking of the waterfront park, from 10-noon tomorrow there’s the Paddle For the Park, a fundraiser for the Hood River Waterfront Park project. And speaking of parks in general, don’t forget that there’s a free movie at Jackson Park tomorrow night.
Finally, coming up on Sunday you can join the Columbia Gorge Offroad Association in a moto ride in celebration of Joe Lawry’s life. If you didn’t know Joe, now you’ll know that he was the driving force and the builder for many of the moto trails in the valley. Meet at the Mud Lot up on Husky Road at 10:30am.
In continuing PSAs, it’s time for the CGWA yearly windsurfer awards. You can send in your nominations here. I’m suggesting everyone nominate Dave Brown for the Dale Cook award. Dave’s the one out there on the 1990-something Hot Sails throwing huge port jumps. Other awards: Most stoked, most selfless, best grom and windsurfer of the year.
Also, if you’re around September 5th, you can help CGWA get some cash by volunteering as a semi-lifeguard for the Roy Webster Cross-Channel Swim. CGWA gets $50 for each of you who signs up to volunteer.
Have an awesome day today!
Temira
p.s. If you find this report useful, entertaining, or just want to recognize all the hard work that goes into it, please take the time to make a donation by clicking on the link below. For a suggested donation of $10, I’ll add you to the email version of this list ‘til August 2012, putting you in the running for cool prizes donated by the weekly sponsors. If you don’t PayPal, you can send a donation to PO Box 841 in Hood River, 97031.
