places for a newbies to learn and not interfere

Justsmile · Since 20 Jul 2009 1530 Posts Not Portland XTreme Poster

"and if you standing in the middle of the shallow water with your kite at 12 like a freaking kook for hours on end, your going to get barked at. "

no one wants this to happen so where do we go. I an new to the sport and have been paddling for 15+ yrs. I have learned from the best and started out on the flats and progressed to what ever I wanted to paddle.

where do I go to keep building my skills and not interfere and become someone like this above quote referred to. I know we all learn at different paces and people forget they actually learned at some point. I want to keep learning as well as teaching my 12 yr old son. I have time during the week so the crowds can be minimal but it appears as if the places to learn are limited.

HR can be great but the crowds can be overwhelmed. My son was learning and had someone crash there kite on his blowing his safety etc and he was at the end of the sanbar.
Lyle-after reading a few posts- I need not say more

Stevenson_ there was an article in the paper last week(oregonian) and it said that stevenson was a great place for beginners but I hear different. Look at the arial photos and the launch dynamics and that does not have beginner written on it!!

Where else in the gorge is user friendly that you wont piss someone off? The Dalles?

Do we have to go to floras lake to learn, siletz bay, jones beach etc. what is the way to figure out what is blowing and what will be user friendly. I know when I paddled we all thougth we had our secret holes and rivers but books were made being descriptive of flows, times take outs etc. I am sure all of this is word of mouth to the kiting community but can you hook a brother up so we can stay out of everyones way while not endangering ourselves and asking for random people to pick us up with their wave runner etc( i have not done this but I know it has been done)

Please give me some guidance and direction along with some factors to look for so I can hit some places and become proficient so I wont piss all the seasoned kiters off.

jsj · Since 11 Sep 2006 83 Posts Hood River Â

1. try reading the forum. this question comes up just about as often as dogs and kite brands.

2. consider having your son learn the basics somewhere else.

the gorge simply isn't that beginner friendly... it's gusty, launches that aren't naturally hazardous are crowded (e.g.- HR). Even the easiest launches aren't very good for absolute newbies, since the downwind drag either doesn't exist (Lyle) or is very short (HR, Rooster on an east wind).

As the season is starting to wrap up, you may want to think about a field trip to South Padre over the winter...

3) if you/your son do learn here, try a little planning.

it's a very stressful, overwhelming thing to attach a giant kite to yourself. Instead of worrying about the spot and getting hassled, think about the comment you posted - don't just stand there with your kite over your head, period.

the biggest problem beginners have is that they don't know what to do next.... when my wife was learning, we would rehearse her actions before every launch, so she didn't have to think too hard. think it through, from rigging to launch to water entry. Look around and if necessary, wait a minute before you launch. Better yet, catch a few kites to see which way the wind is blowing and what the gusts are doing.

Just like studying a big drop, you want to know your line, where you need to be and when.... just be aware and open to your surroundings and people will be cool, really.

4) get used to the crowds... they're only going to get worse.

surfing has been overrun by hordes of marketing-driven growth; kiting is well on it's way to the same fate.

Justsmile · Since 20 Jul 2009 1530 Posts Not Portland XTreme Poster

He and I have taken three lessons in the gorge plus years of flying trainer kites. He makes his water launch and can go out and come back until another experienced kiter crashed his kite over his. NO big deal to us so I am just asking for the experienced knowledge so we can get out of the way. I will investigate the forum further but I am looking for details as what wind speed and direction works well at various spots as I do not know. I am just trying to make this fun for him to learn instead of painful. Anyone want to learn to kayak? i will gladly throw you in a class 5 and tell you to paddle. This is what it feels like to us when we are in the crowds in HR. Just an analogy before anyone else gets fired up at us!!!

we just want to learn!!!!!!

Campbell · Since 07 Sep 2008 409 Posts Camas, WA Obsessed

Cheers to that.

Justsmile · Since 20 Jul 2009 1530 Posts Not Portland XTreme Poster

I recieved one message with a nice insight. thanks so much. this is the personal message I recieved from one you all know. I was just trying to say thanks to the people who helped me and ask a question about where we were at.

"don't be such a douche bag. If you want to know about Lyle then use the search key. All you needed to know is posted within the thread you posted in!!

Access at Lyle is severely threatened and we don't need assholes advertising that it is a great place to escape the crowds and for beginners to learn etc etc etc. Is it really that fucking hard to understand? Seriously? What part of just keep the fucking launch off of everybody's god damn radar don't you understand? I don't know what is a perfect example of how fucking stupid people are; people posting threads about kiting at Lyle or people thinking the problem can be solved with a simple little gate or a sign.

Nobody is going to be happy until the RR has enough data to fully fence that fucker off and then that will be the end of it. It's amazing that the haven't already"

with love pdxmonkeyboy ( i wrote the last part)

I hope everyone who posted something with that topic got my wonderful reply. Maybe its time to remove the thread so nobodies feathers get ruffled.

Bettyboarder · Sun Aug 16, 09 12:24 pm

Bam not trying to be a jerk but that's PDX is right we (CGKA) have been working really hard for the last 2 years to keep the little access that was open to lyle and people who announce it all over the internet and stand on the f'n tracks are ruining it....they ruined it to the point that now there are cops there...There are signs in place already and it's just a matter of time before the RR puts up a fence...so please just chill out talk to your friends about it in person but not on here.

PDX emailing people that way isn't going to help anything.

Bam like jsj said the Gorge isn't super beginner friendly try Jones beach it's a nice spot, hit Flora's lake or find a friend with a jetski to follow you guys around.

HR is crowded but there is plenty of Sandbar this time of year. Stevie is not a beginner friendly launch. Rooster Rock on lighter Easterly Winds is a great place too.

Justsmile · Since 20 Jul 2009 1530 Posts Not Portland XTreme Poster

This site appears to be possibly user friendly. what is the combination of winds, etc that make this a viable place to ride. thanks!!!

mikeinhoodriver · Since 23 Apr 2009 442 Posts down wind somewhere Obsessed

Sorry Bam.... I am in your shoes..... Just do your own thing and ignore the arrogant flamers on this site. Sorry your introduction to this sport is similar to mine,.... ouch! If you can time your trip to HR, other than the weekends, it will be more beneficial. Floras is great as well, plus much more friendly. There are just as many local, kind people in HR as there are out-of-town, rude, know it all kiters.... Look up the ones with a smile on their face...They will be willing to help you and your son. I'll be there waiting for you. Very Happy

Campbell · Since 07 Sep 2008 409 Posts Camas, WA Obsessed

Agreed. Its hilarious how the select few pricks on this site who claim to want to decrease the visibility of certain "secret spots" only increase it by their retarded comments and emails. Ironic?

wytcap · Since 10 Mar 2005 203 Posts NW oregon Stoked

Monkeys carry viruses don’t they?
They need to be kept in a Zoo!

Tommy · Sun Aug 16, 09 1:48 pm

I've been out to Jones once, basically just for some body-dragging, and it definitely felt pretty beginner friendly. It was about 9-10M with the wind coming from the north, which I gather is pretty typical. Sauvie is probably a good bet as well, a little flukier and more in the 12-14M range. I think JSJ brings up a good point, which is that we're simply NOT going to find a place that's accessible, safe and not crowded. Period. Think of it like skiing. When you're learning, you're just going to have to live with the kids on the chairlift laughing at you when you fall. Except in kiting, they won't laugh at you too much as long as you really are making an effort to be informed and safe, and taking a conservative and measured approach. And yes, in kiting, as in life, there are those who are a little more opinionated and a little less tactful than we might like, but that's their deal, not ours.

So I think the real question is not "Where are the places I can go to learn and not be in anybody's way?" but rather "How about if those of us who have a few lessons under our belts and are wondering where to go from here band together and start working as a team?" I've sent out a handful of PMs about this and gotten surprisingly little feedback. The way I figure, it's a lot less intimidating to head out and practice with somebody at your own skill level (so long as the both of you have the basics down, i.e. rigging, launching, landing, knowledge of safety systems and self-rescue, basic grasp of the wind window, etc.) than to just jump into the drink on your own...

K4L · Since 19 Jan 2009 483 Posts Obsessed

Tommy · Sun Aug 16, 09 4:28 pm **Re: places to learn**

shred_da_gorge · Sun Aug 16, 09 5:13 pm

Ditto what people said about the Gorge not being the friendliest place (kite-wise, that is, at the very least). I saved up my money and took a late fall vacation to South Padre Island, Texas, to learn to kite. I lived and windsurfed in the Gorge for a decade and knew better than to learn there (sorry instructors), and my skill level advanced quite quickly as a result. The best wind is in the fall and spring before and after the Gorge season is over, and you'll run into (figuratively) some of the same people but there's plenty of room to spread out. And it's much cheaper than the Gorge.

There are many threads on this forum about SPI, but if you can't find them with this crappy search engine just email Monkey and ask details... Wink

Slipin Lizard · Since 23 Sep 2005 88 Posts Hood River, Oregon Â

Never tried it, but east of Rooster Rock there is a huge sandbar in the middle of the river. You might even be able to paddle there from Dalton Pt. I can't speak of the wind quality, as I say, I've never been on it, but have driven past it many times and always thought it looked like a great beginner spot.

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

ironically the Gorge is one of the worst places to learn, but that's where everyone goes because of all the schools in HR and all the attention it gets.

I cut my teeth at Sauvies Island, but I think it was an unusually windy year there when I was learning. Really its a spring spot, this time of year its not that great.

Jones Beach probably is the best combination of wind and beach for learning. If its sunny in PDX, it will be windy at Jones you can count on it.

You have a long beach that runs downwind for a good mile and nice soft sand. Vs. Hood River where you have a sandbar that goes for maybe a hundred yards (depending on water level) with rocks at the end of it... crappy winds, and a billion people.

HR can be a great place when you are proficient enough to go upwind, but until then its pretty horrible.

KidCorporate · Since 10 Jul 2007 563 Posts Addicted

Look at it this way: if you learn to kite in the gorge, you'll be able to damn near anywhere, with the exception of surf conditions. Although I think the same thing applies for most Oregon surf, learn to tackle the gorge AND the coast and you're unstoppable.