Hood River, OR is the Aspen of windsurfing. It is literally one of the premier sailboard and kite boarding locations in the world. Why is that? The main reason is the unique combination of location, geography and weather.
The Columbia River Gorge has a unique weather pattern, in that strong winds blow up the river valley for much of the year. The sunny, hot and dry east side pulls air up the Gorge from the cooler and wetter west side. The winds are often strong enough to create whitecaps on the water. In extreme conditions, the winds cause lots of spray on the water, aka "Liquid Smoke" to Sailboarders, with really fast sailing, if you're good enough.
The river flows the opposite direction of the wind's normal direction. This provides windsurfers with a natural "ski lift". Instead of being blown away from their starting point, and then having to tack back upwind, which is difficult, especially for beginners, the current helps bring them back to where they started. It's also not so fast that they get swept downstream easily.
So the entire Gorge is well suited to Sailboards, and Hood River became the hotspot, since it's close to Portland while also being far enough east to escape the worst of the bad weather that the Gorge is also known for, yet still being in an area where the wind is still strong.
Board suppliers and manufacturers have located there, and it caters to boardheads from around the world.
The Columbia River Gorge has a unique weather pattern, in that strong winds blow up the river valley for much of the year. The sunny, hot and dry east side pulls air up the Gorge from the cooler and wetter west side. The winds are often strong enough to create whitecaps on the water. In extreme conditions, the winds cause lots of spray on the water, aka "Liquid Smoke" to Sailboarders, with really fast sailing, if you're good enough.
The river flows the opposite direction of the wind's normal direction. This provides windsurfers with a natural "ski lift". Instead of being blown away from their starting point, and then having to tack back upwind, which is difficult, especially for beginners, the current helps bring them back to where they started. It's also not so fast that they get swept downstream easily.
So the entire Gorge is well suited to Sailboards, and Hood River became the hotspot, since it's close to Portland while also being far enough east to escape the worst of the bad weather that the Gorge is also known for, yet still being in an area where the wind is still strong.
Board suppliers and manufacturers have located there, and it caters to boardheads from around the world.
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