Kiteboarding Trip in May-June-July .. new to the NorthWest

Biz · Since 16 Apr 2007 2 Posts New Member

Hey whats up ? I was looking for some epic areas in the NW to go kiteboarding for the week.. I 've been raised on Cape Hattears, North Carolina week long trips and have now relocated out west.

I keep hearing greating things about the Gorge and I was wondering if that is the go to scene and if so / if not -- where else to go ....

Interested about the following --
Downwinder
Consistent Wind
Swell
Scene

And for my girl friends who are getting into the sport and coming with me...
Beginner beachs

thanks / peace

magicmaker · Since 29 Oct 2006 895 Posts da Hood Opinionated

hmm, not much for a down winder at the sand spit / event site, but you can go west up the highway about 10 miles and launch from viento and do a down winder to hood river.

we get really consistent wind here in the gorge, the only thing is, is that it is consistently gusty Shocked

The wind will blow 10 days in a row during the summer, can't really beat that.

If the wind is really strong we get some pretty epic swell out in the columbia. you can also ride up wind from the sand spit / event site to swell city (takes about 30 - 45 minutes depending on how fast you can tack up wind) but it is definately worth the ride upwind on those really crowded days during the summer.

hmm, scene, yes we have a whole crowd of local folk and people who are here all summer that hang out, drink and party post sesh all the time Exclamation

definately bring your girl friends to the event site / sand spit Very Happy

i'm sure there will be plenty of beginners learning at the sand spit again this summer. It might not be the most beginner friendly spot like it was last year, but there will definately be enough kites out and about that if anyone gets in trouble, they are almost guaranteed help to get back in. Yesturday proved that when two people towed in a kiter and his kite. props to those individuals that helped out.

Bettyboarder · Mon Apr 16, 07 9:30 am

At the top of the page there is a "Spots" link that has a nice write up on the spit which is the main spot in Hood River. There are alot of schools there so you can drop your friends off for some lessons while you ride.

http://www.nwkite.com/guides/

Biz · Since 16 Apr 2007 2 Posts New Member

sweet thanks for the heads up ...

how about South Padre Island for the summer ... is it pretty good or does it not get any wind? Im guessing it has some solid downwinders. What other locales are out there?

Just trying to figure it out ya heard?

thanks & cheers

tonyb · Mon Apr 16, 07 4:23 pm

Hi Biz,

Some more info for you:

Stevenson to Home Valley is a nice 4 mile downwinder, Stevenson to Hood River is a killer 17 mile run.

Most of the summer is westerlies with the wind blowing against the current which really helps out beginners early in the season when the river is running it's fastest. I've seen beginners at Stevenson park the kite overhead and the river carries them back up wind above where they started from.

The north Oregon coast has some fantastic downwinders and fun wave riding. I'll let the coast guys chime in on this as I haven't spent nearly enough time out there to know what I'm talking about.

The west and central end of the Gorge has very predictable winds from June through August although there always seems to be a week where things shut down late in the season when Portland gets it's annual heat wave. Winds are gustier than SPI, not as bad as Maui, and the swell that builds up on the nukin' days is a kick to play in.

The Bridge of the Gods Kiteboarding Festival will be going the weekend of July 21st this year and that is a fun scene to catch.

If you make it to Stevenson be sure to say hi.

Tony