Fun in the Gorge

[PonoBill]

I've hit 13+ on some of the big drops, but that's in a burst for me. I think the really good guys can do that longer. The big difference between Viento runs and Maliko runs (besides a certain amount of terror) is how long high speed can be maintained. Viento swells are steep faced and running against a hefty current, so boards stay in the swell a lot longer. Not dropping down a twenty foot face, but plugging into a six foot swell that connects to a four and then a five--for a hundred yards or so.

And then there's the wind. Twenty is a good day for Maliko because the fetch is a few thousand miles and it blew for the past five days. In the Gorge, twenty is marginal, the bends in the river cut the fetch. People get happy at 28 and giddy at 38, nuts at 48. The video that started this thread was at 25mph. Here's what 45 looks like in more or less the same spot.



Jim Steven shot this yesterday. I don't know who the paddler is, but the location is right at Mitchell point. It was insane there yesterday. Hardly looked like water. This doesn't show the big waves, or rather the big holes, which were cavernous.

[covesurfer]

I always liked this picture of Karen and I on a 40 knot day, shot by her husband, John. This is just west of the tunnels on the north side, I think about 4 years ago

[laszlo]

It has been a good couple of days in the Gorge. Solid wind every day, some days stronger than others but all good enough. Today I did a classic Northshore run, Drano Lake to the White Salmon. Lots of traffic with all the OC-1's and skis out on the river, as well as a big whitewater run of rafts down the White Salmon, in honor of the blowing up of the Condit Dam 5 years ago. Classic mid July Gorge conditions. Going through the Hatchery is fun. The swell is all crazy and mixed up, windsurfers carve it all up on top of the already gnarly drops. I try to not look like a kook going through there. Today was good, I went through the hatch on three or four glides, connecting one to the next. I know most of the sailors there, and I've been spending less and less time sailing there. I am at the point when I would definitely choose to downwind SUP over windsurfing. At the ripe age of 68 I'll see how long I can keep that up.

[Admin]

One of many awesome photos from Richard Hallman.  http://www.freelanceimaging.com/freelanceimaging.html

This is the Gorge at its finest.

[PonoBill]

Great photo. When I tell people I surf in the Gorge I think they assume it's little baby swells. Dropping into one of those pits and turning across the face is a real challenge.

[coldsup]

How much fun would that be........if you survived 

Think I would be on the baby swells.

[Eagle]

Those 40 kt swells look much more reasonable than that last windsurf shot.  I think baby swells would be perfectly good for me too!

[digger71]

Holy crap Admin!  That picture is crazy!  Spent a week there last August and didn't see anything like that.  Is that swell city?  And is there a particular set of circumstances (current, flow, etc) that creates waves that big?

[Admin]

Holy crap Admin!  That picture is crazy!  Spent a week there last August and didn't see anything like that.  Is that swell city?  And is there a particular set of circumstances (current, flow, etc) that creates waves that big?

That was the Hatchery in spring.  It does take a combination of current (almost always early season), a lot of wind, and location to get that big.  Swell, Hatch, Dougs, Maryhill, Wall, Rufus, Roosevelt/Arlington, Three Mile (and on occasion a few other spots) all have the potential to kick up a massive swell.  This was the Washington side.  At the same time the Oregon side had knee to waist high runners.  It doesn't have to be that big to be incredibly fun.  Average wind in the high 20's at the above spots is going to be fun at any flow.  30's is great.  A great Gorge day up near 40 with higher gusts is really something that should not be missed. 

The biggest day I have ever seen in the Gorge was at Three Mile by the Marker. 

[JP4]

Holy crap Admin!  That picture is crazy!  Spent a week there last August and didn't see anything like that.  Is that swell city?  And is there a particular set of circumstances (current, flow, etc) that creates waves that big?

The biggest day I have ever seen in the Gorge was at Three Mile by the Marker.

For sure, the biggest day I've ever seen or sailed in was at Three Mile as well. There's a long fetch out there. It's also where Jeff Young died on a crazy windy day as well.

[covesurfer]

Three Mile is a fun and almost scary place to sail on a big day. Obviously, from the video, it must've been very cold water still. It is too bad that the resolution isn't a little better but it definitely conveys the idea of what kind of day it was. The river is BIG and WIDE out there and sailing there is a lot like open ocean conditions. I remember when Jeff Young died out there too. I had never seen this tribute vid however.

The most fun downwinder I've ever done in the Gorge was Blalock to Arlington. We did it in Spring and the water was freezing. But, I actually feel a lot safer paddling in big conditions on the river than I ever did sailing. Back in the day, before kiting was invented, I can remember charging huge days at Rufus where the swell was easily mast high. My joints and ligaments were a lot more elastic then and my reactions were a lot faster. I guess 25 or 30 years will do that to you.

[Blue crab]

That photo is ridiculous.  The next time I can make it down to HR, I need to explore the the Hatchery / Swell City rather than sticking to the Oregon side.  I've only been over there once. It was a couple of years ago when I was just getting into the sport.  I was doing the run on a 2011 Naish Javelin.  I was stoked and overconfident that I had made it about 3/4 of the run without falling in without falling in, so I decided to try Swell city.  It was a complete blood bath. However, I bet it is a blast on a slightly easier board & more TOTW.

[PonoBill]

The hatchery and swell city are why I like doing runs on my 11'11" SIC surfboard. Those big swells are a blast. Very frantic, and harder to stay on the board than a similar sized ocean wave, because they have lots of texture and counterswell. Still, it doesn't take long to get the hang of surfing them. Down in the bottom it's kind of freaky becuase you can't move through them quickly, it's more like being down in a hole than riding a wave. You move through at the speed the wave chooses.

[Zooport]

One of many awesome photos from Richard Hallman.  http://www.freelanceimaging.com/freelanceimaging.html

This is the Gorge at its finest.

Holy Cow!  That's a river wave?