Gorge Games 2009 ?

surfboy1968 · Since 17 Jun 2008 224 Posts south padre island Stoked

Are they happenning this summer ?

surfboy1968 · Since 17 Jun 2008 224 Posts south padre island Stoked

Just heard that they will not happen in 09.....

surfboy1968 · Since 17 Jun 2008 224 Posts south padre island Stoked

Just heard that they will not happen in 09.....
I got an email from one of the marketing peoples saying it would not be happenning in 09..... Evil or Very Mad

pdxmonkeyboy · Tue Feb 24, 09 8:55 am

The gorge games was brought up at the last CGKA meeting. Apparently, the organizers have reserved a date (I think it was in July) but they are still uncertain if they will actually hold the event. The mood at the meeting was that it was unlikely.

Bigbeezer · Since 31 Aug 2008 33 Posts Portland, OR

Was it a cost issue? I would assume so given economy, etc. We should start a fundraising movement, this is a great event and last years deal was awesome..at least the kiting part. Let's see what we can do!

Chooch · Tue Feb 24, 09 9:39 am

I don't think it something worthy of fundraising since it was run for profit. Let's focus our fundraising on the important things like the CGKA and KB4C Cool

pdxmonkeyboy · Tue Feb 24, 09 9:48 am

I think it was an issue of poor attendance. Probably because their website made it seem like you needed to pay cash just to watch the competitors. umm, you mean I have to pay money to watch amateur down hill bikers go down a trail I have been down a 1,000 times? no thanks.

pkh · Since 27 Feb 2005 6549 Posts Couve / Hood Honored Founder

They shot for the stars and only made it halfway to the moon. I think they were being a bit unrealistic about the whole thing.

KB4C and BOTG have a way cooler vibe and are not commercialized but rather fundraisers for chairtable causes.... I'm more down for those events. If some of the other sporting groups in the area want to start scheduling their events around the same time then perhaps a more grass roots Gorge Games type festival could emerge.

You really need volunteers to be successful and nobody wants to volunteer just so a few folks can make some $$$$.

forrest · Tue Feb 24, 09 10:03 am

Yea man, I walked all the way out on to the Sandbar thinking I could avoid the admission fee... Once I got out there I realized no one was checking for tickets and walked all the way back and then onto the event site.

It seems like the Gorge Games have been plagued by epic fails all along. The only events that work in the Gorge and events from the heart, not the pocket.

Kraemer · Since 24 Apr 2006 1736 Posts Sky Pilot Unicorn Captain

DROCK999 · Since 31 May 2007 852 Posts Left Coast Opinionated

pdxmonkeyboy · Tue Feb 24, 09 4:28 pm

I never wanted to say it before but since everone has already brought it up, I think the Gorge games is totally weak. There was a time when it was cool but now one does get the idea that it is all about the money.

Pepi · Tue Feb 24, 09 4:28 pm

The Gorge Games was a great event in it;s original format run by the original owners.
The combination of reliance on big$$money sponsorship dollars and the promise of huge-assed marketing and attendance all pretty much contributed to the new owners self-fulfilled failure. They refused to acknowledge local participant interests and feedback (with the exception of kiteboarding which was 100% due to Janet and Tybo).

It sucks, but the Gorge Games are done with for good now. I am personally as bummed as everyone else about this.

Forrest is right, events need to be organized and run by people that do it for the love of it and as part of the local community.

Pepi

tekko · Since 20 Feb 2006 376 Posts White Salmon Liquid Force

Yes.. and just to stir the pot a bit more.

While Janet and Tybo did a KILLER job running the kiteboarding event, when all was said and done the organizers didn't back it.

Despite charging decently large entry fees for competitors, and trying to charge for spectators, they never honored their commitments and paid any of the winners!!

Tonia took 2nd, filled out IRS forms and everything and never received the $200 or whatever she was supposed to win. I have spoken to other event participants who have the same story, never got paid.

What a waste!!

Back in 2000 I came to the Gorge for the first time as a Gorge Games competitor in the kayak event while I was on tour that year as an athlete for RIOT Kayaks. Driving back from the White Salmon river across the HR bridge the first day in town I saw kiting for the first time... blew my mind. Instantly we cruised out to the sandbar to check it out. That was the day when I realized I was chasing the wrong sport... and really the day that was the beginning of the end of my 5 year lifestyle chasing whitewater.

That was back when 2 lines, bindings and pickleforks were the key setup of choice for a kite event at the sandbar! At the time the riders we met who were pushing it in the Gorge Games were Lou Wainman, Mauricio Abreu, Chris Gilbert, Fadi Issa, Chuck Patterson, Elliot Leboe, etc. It was only the next day when I met a videographer named Chris Tronolone following a safety meeting in the sandbar parking lot when he gave me a copy of a video called 'HIGH' that it all started to make sense.

He was here filming his sequel to HIGH, LOADED. That same event Brian Caserio was in town filming for his kiteboarding movie 'Strung Out' which was truely a monumental film at the time, with a really good Gorge section.

What's even crazier is that during this same weekend a woman named Tonia Farman accepted an invitation from some friends to come down from Seattle to check out this killer multisport event. This was the first time Tonia saw kiteboarding as well. To think, we were both in the same place, for the same events, parties, etc and never crossed paths. Only to have us both get so hooked by that event that we both ended up in the kiteboarding industry within a year. Tonia took the marketing job at Slingshot and I helped some friends open a bright red kite shop in Cape Hatteras.

So... long live the memories of the Gorge Games. The GG brought me to the Gorge the first time and introduced me to kiteboarding. The GG brought Tonia to the Gorge the first time too and was her first introduction to kiting as well. In the end you could say indirectly, the Gorge Games and the lure of kiteboarding brought us together and brought us both to settle down in the Gorge!

endoshred · Since 22 May 2006 232 Posts HR Stoked

having many personal experiences with one of the individuals that purchased the gorge games it is no suprise that the competitors were not paid.

Pepi · Tue Feb 24, 09 9:57 pm

It's a bummer to hear the competitors still have not been paid. I didn't want to mention it and end up sounding negative. In addition to competitors, there were many local businesses/people that completed contract for the Gorge Games that have yet to be paid as well.
This really pounded the nail in the coffin for Hood River to ever have had any hopes of keeping the Gorge Games running, of course because it is a privately owned event we have zero control.

I, my wife and many of our friends (both local and out of town) competed in many different Gorge Games events over the years. It was always a blast and we would always look forward to the whole week of events and parties.

I guess we'll just have to make up our own local events from here on out and make sure to always keep them locally owned and organized.

Pepi

Bigbeezer · Since 31 Aug 2008 33 Posts Portland, OR

I guess my comment really brought out some deep emotions about this event - which is great. What I will really miss and what brought about my concern was being able to go to an event to see some of the best kiteboarders in the world compete in one of the best locations in the world. I too loved KB4C event, especially given the good that comes out of it (and the work that goes into it!). And I know there are other events we can look forward to. My hope is that we'll still bring in some of our top professional kiteboarders to HR.