The Gorge is my Gym

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.

We have weak high pressure across the Cascades this morning, and that’s limiting the pressure gradient, but as the north Pacific High rebounds today, west flow will reassert itself over the Northwest. By late this afternoon, we should see 10-13 from Stevenson to Hood River.

After today, a very nice, very stable classic summer pattern sets up, with high pressure over the ocean, low pressure off the coast, and warm weather in the desert. That will keep the westerlies going, with 15-18 to start tomorrow and 23-26 in the afternoon, with the strongest wind near Hood River in the morning and The Dalles in the afternoon.

The Clymb: free membership.
Access to super cheap gear including Trew, Zeal, Sierra Designs, and many more.

Thursday looks like a repeat of Wednesday, with 19-22 in the morning and 24-27 in the afternoon, with the Hatchery and Sandbar seeing nice steady wind in the morning and Stevenson, Doug’s and Rowena getting the good afternoon session.

So last night the Native Eyewear team had a big crew, like 20 people, for their ride to Mosier. Today they’re headed up to Timberline to shoot skiing and snowboarding. We were up there Saturday too, and there’s an amazing amount of snow up there for this late in the year, and it’s worth checking out if you have the time. If you’re desperate for some turns, you’ll definitely get some on the glacier.

The next public event Native has planned is a morning at the Punchbowl, so stay tuned for the details. For public sporting events tonight, we’ve got the Hood River Triathlon practice, meeting at 6pm at the east end of the Event Site just outside the Event Site entrance.

In public service announcements, 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.

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, I’d like to wish the best to the kiteboarders who were injured Friday at the Sandbar. Crossing my fingers for the best possible outcome for all of them.

If you look up at the sky this morning, you can see high clouds east of Hood River. That was our best chance for rain moving through, and also our best chance for a cloudy day. The gradient is at 06 as I write this forecast, and there’s a nice marine deck in Portland. So, let’s call it 13-15 this morning, picking up to 17-20 this afternoon from Stevenson to Rowena and Doug’s.

The Clymb: free membership.
Access to super cheap gear including Trew, Zeal, Sierra Designs, and many more.

Summerier weather makes a comeback tomorrow as a weak ridge of high pressure sets up over the Northwest. That should keep the wind down tomorrow, in the 5-10 range at most, making for a good day for road biking, standup paddling and fishing.

Stronger westerlies return on Wednesday as the north Pacific high builds over the ocean, a trough of low pressure sits on the coast, and a strong marine push sends clouds into the western gorge. We should see westerlies in the upper teens early, building to 23-26 or better near Hood River by early afternoon.

Today’s the Mosier bike ride for the Native Eyewear photo shoot. If you want to represent the Gorge, meet at the Hood River side of the Twin Tunnels trailhead at 5:30 with a longboard, rollerblades, or whatever else you’ve got. This is a weather dependent photo shoot, so if we don’t have sunshine at 5pm, consider it cancelled. However, given the better-than-expected weather this morning, we expect the ride to be on this evening.

If you can’t make the early Native ride, join the Mountain View Cycles casual ride to Mosier, leaving the shop at 6:15, and also this evening, you’ve got the option of free Tai Chi at Hood River’s Wilson Park at 5:30.

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.