Author Topic: Back in the Hood  (Read 5497 times)

yugi

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Re: Back in the Hood
« Reply #15 on: March 19, 2017, 12:33:53 PM »
Nice shots, Admin!

I wrote previous post as you were posting. But, yes! Exactly.
Put’s the steepness in perspective.

Nicely!

PonoBill

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Re: Back in the Hood
« Reply #16 on: March 19, 2017, 12:35:05 PM »
The Oregon side is hard to access for most of the run. Railroad embankment and highway. So it's tough to video. There are surprisingly few videos of downwinding the columbia, despite the huge number of people doing it compared to anywhere else--even more than Maui. This is a ski, but it's a good idea of what the glides are like.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E_YIrl5KmIQ

This is an old video by Nikki Gregg. The didn't get the best spots or the long glides, but it gives some idea of size and how it works.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=prrPG5Fc8I8

And here's Kai doing a bit of everything. I remember when they took that mat down the White Salmon. I think EVERYONE got hurt.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O_LNnr5vWUw
Foote 10'4X34", SIC 17.5 V1 hollow and an EPS one in Hood River. Foote 9'0" x 31", L41 8'8", 18' Speedboard, etc. etc.

Badger

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Re: Back in the Hood
« Reply #17 on: March 19, 2017, 02:07:06 PM »

Admin, yeah that's what I'm talking about. Those are excellent shots and the waves look awesome.

Pono, I've seen plenty of videos that "give an idea" of what it's like but very few if any actually capture what's going on. Nikki Gregg looked like a novice and on a displacement board no less. I did see a few good waves in that one though. I know it was from a few years ago.

I'm looking forward to seeing some good footage this year.

.
« Last Edit: March 19, 2017, 02:12:17 PM by Badger »
Kalama E3 6'1 x 23" 105L
Axis HPS 980 / PNG 1300
Sunova Flow  8'10 X 31"  119L
Me - 6'0" - 165lbs - 66yo

Admin

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Re: Back in the Hood
« Reply #18 on: March 20, 2017, 06:32:23 AM »
One thing to consider is that 95% of SUP downwinding is happening in the smaller bumps outside of the main channel.  The big swell do not form everywhere and they are not typically the fastest in terms of laying down record times.  The surf skis are in the swell zones a lot but not the SUP's.   That is not to say it doesn't happen.  In many of the best and most consistent big swell locations you are right in the mix and are in plain view (read on display).  It is very hard to look good on a SUP in the Gorge in the swell line on a big day and very few do.  There are some locations that get used much less that develop huge swells that would be epic for SUP.  That is something I would love to get footage of this summer.

Most downwinding footage is pretty bad.  Wide angle lenses and poor vantage points are to blame.  I do think that drone footage with zoom lenses will be a good answer.  I am ready to try.

PonoBill

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Re: Back in the Hood
« Reply #19 on: March 20, 2017, 07:02:27 AM »
With the roaring current we have right now, if we get some wind we'll have epic bumps. Got to be 5mph most of the time.

I pick up a Hobie Mirage Eclipse today. That should be a hoot in the current.
Foote 10'4X34", SIC 17.5 V1 hollow and an EPS one in Hood River. Foote 9'0" x 31", L41 8'8", 18' Speedboard, etc. etc.

lucabrasi

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Re: Back in the Hood
« Reply #20 on: March 20, 2017, 07:36:21 AM »
Your snow pack upstream, at least in the entire Snake River drainage is epic. They are starting to empty already to make room. I don't think there is enough room for it either. I was quite surprised to see how full some stuff was a couple weeks ago and that they had waited so long to start increasing flows to make room.

PonoBill

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Re: Back in the Hood
« Reply #21 on: March 20, 2017, 07:57:42 AM »
It's a delicate operation. The Columbia river is actually a series of lakes from well into Canada all the way to Bonneville Dam, and most of the tributaries and branches are dammed as well. Increasing flow from any dam affects all dams, either in terms of upriver level, or downriver sink, eventual or immediate. I used to have to explain this stuff to media folks. I'd rather explain it to kindergartners. At least they'd listen a moment before asking the vapid questions they had already thought of before they learned a thing.

The section we play on in Hood River is between the The Dalles dam (yeah, "The" is part of the name) and Bonneville Dam. If you know who to call you can actually ask to have level or flow changed to help an event--if it fits in the boundary parameters, they'll do it. Feels more than a little godlike. It's a big chunk of water. Of course if you asked this time of the year they'd either yell at you (gets a little tense in load dispatch) or tell you thy might change it by two inches. In midsummer they can go a foot or two pretty casually. Might cost BPA a few million bucks today, but they'll get it back tomorrow. More likely, if you want the lake higher, they'll take more power from The Dalles and less from Bonneville.

Anyway, this is what it looks like. Not what people expect:
« Last Edit: March 20, 2017, 08:12:35 AM by PonoBill »
Foote 10'4X34", SIC 17.5 V1 hollow and an EPS one in Hood River. Foote 9'0" x 31", L41 8'8", 18' Speedboard, etc. etc.

lucabrasi

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Re: Back in the Hood
« Reply #22 on: March 20, 2017, 03:17:17 PM »
Cool map. I was looking at the Columbia drainage last year a little and didn't realize it was so damn big itself without the Snake. Even bigger looking now. It is a delicate operation. Peak runoff downstream is or can be a month ahead of upstream. Even if not that many miles between really. Spring weather, which is unpredictable kind of has the last say I think. Cool, warm, wet, dry. I and others I know scratch our heads some years. Last time there was this much or similar snow pack they waited too long to release so when they did have to, the downstream tributaries, uncontrollable by dams, were also at peak which just made a mess of the whole thing at least up in my neighborhood. Most of the dams for the Snake, or at least upstream of Treasure Valley are for irrigation and power generation is secondary if hydro is even there so reservoir storage and outflows are what's in mind. Farmers rule the release. Canal companies, etc. At least how I understand it and see how flows fluctuate through the year. Recreation has some input but really just kind of brushed to the side it seems as the water for crops does rule. The dams I am familiar with that generate power as their main use have reservoirs that are pretty constant and stable through the year for the most part and not wildly fluctuating like the water storage for irrigation reservoirs. So tough to get good fish habitat for such fluctuating reservoirs. Where some may spawn could be dry the next year or after they spawn. Bugs lay their eggs in the water then it's dry, all sorts but some do flourish and do rather well depending on the species. Just put Pike or Kokanee everywhere.......

PonoBill

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Re: Back in the Hood
« Reply #23 on: March 20, 2017, 04:30:08 PM »
Fluctuation is good for most species. Before the dams everything fluctuated like crazy. The reason for all the flood plains along the Columbia is that it all used to flood and meander. You can dig a hole almost anywhere in the Northwest and find round rocks--river rocks. Almost everything that's now called a basin use to be a river bed at one time or another.  And then an ice dam in Montana that made the Wall in Game Of Thrones look like a sandcastle, broke and let an inland sea roll across the region in a wave of unimaginable destruction.

Interesting place.
Foote 10'4X34", SIC 17.5 V1 hollow and an EPS one in Hood River. Foote 9'0" x 31", L41 8'8", 18' Speedboard, etc. etc.

starman

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Re: Back in the Hood
« Reply #24 on: March 20, 2017, 05:29:52 PM »
Speaking of dams and their effects on the eco system, this is a great short film on the subject:

https://susitnarivercoalition.org/super-salmon/

Gotta love those salmon.

 


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