Event Site

pkh · Since 27 Feb 2005 6548 Posts Couve / Hood Site Lackey

Soo...... pretty schweet eh? How long is that going to last? Twisted Evil

Good day overall, felt downright warm as long as you weren't underwater. Hats off to the guys that kited all day, I only lasted an hour or so.

wylieflyote · Sat Mar 17, 07 7:57 pm

Is the Event Site now a kite beach, with the changes in the river?

lance_k · Since 04 May 2005 561 Posts Hood River Photographer

tinyE · Since 21 Jan 2006 2004 Posts not really an XTreme Poster

i think we can milk it longer if people will stop setting up in the grass and just haul their stuff down to the sand.

rocked yesterday, but a little crowded for my tastes (I guess I got too used to the wide open ocean). I couldn't believe how many people came out to brave the cold water. Shocked

eric · Since 13 Jan 2006 1804 Posts XTreme Poster

We should be able to use the Event Site Parking forever, if folks use it as a place to carry/swim gear to the Spit. If we start rigging, we may run into problems.

Also, the dams will be releasing a lot more water sometime between April 10th and 15th. Much of what we were standing on may be under water for a month, or three.

Eric

magicmaker · Since 29 Oct 2006 895 Posts da Hood Opinionated

sure did enjoy rolling my kite up on the grass yesturday.

wylieflyote · Sun Mar 18, 07 10:19 am

Here's an recent article I discovered about the Event Site, and recreation:

Here's the latest Hood River News on the
Event Site:

Is new beach a gift
to Hood River?

By RAELYNN RICARTE
News staff writer
March 14, 2007

Hood River has inherited 26 acres of new beach - compliments of a
November flood - but the verdict is still out on whether the delta is a plus or
minus for recreation.

The county takes in more than $7 million annually from its tourism
trade, according to a market study conducted by Dean Runyan and Associates of
Portland.

So, government and business leaders are concerned that any loss of
outdoor sporting opportunities could negatively affect the local economy.

"I think it would be remarkable if they (windsurfers and
kiteboarders) didn't come because there are so many great beaches in the Gorge,"
said Genevieve Scholl-Erdmann, marketing director for the Hood River County
Chamber of Commerce.

"One beach does not an entire summer make or break - but obviously
you can't brush off a change this big, either."

Ann Frodel, who operates Gorge View Bed and Breakfast, said her
potential clients - many from Canada - have expressed worry about the new look
of the waterfront.

The eastern third of the Event Site - the prime windsurfing area -
was filled in by sediment following a fall storm. In addition, the Spit - a
sandbar that served as the key launching area for kiteboarders - now extends
north to the edge of the commercial shipping channel. The Marina beach is also
full of glacial material from Mount Hood and the cruise ship dock at the
entrance of Nichols Boat Basin has been completely blocked from access.

"The question that I keep getting is, 'What are you going to do
about it?' But there's not a lot we can do so we're just going to have to make
the best of it," said Frodel, who is a City Councilor and a member of the Port
of Hood River's Recreation Committee.

"It may work out; there may be some good things that come out of it,
but we don't know yet," she said.

Port Director Michael McElwee believes the new delta could end up as
a great asset. He said, after all, there is now more beachfront to provide
family fun - the trick is to capitalize on it.

"At first glance it looks like it could be detrimental to the
community. But it could end up being beneficial," he said. "People are out there
walking dogs, flying airplanes and building forts. So, maybe we've added
recreation in addition to traditional sports."

The port is now working with kiteboarding and windsurfing groups to
draw new boundaries for mixed use of the extended beach. However, McElwee said
it is still up in the air how much of the delta will be owned and regulated by
the port and how many acres will fall under the jurisdiction - and separate
rules - of the Division of State Lands.

Denise McCravey, a broker at RE/MAX Results, which also runs Gorge
Rental Property management, said it will be several months before Hood River
knows the fate of the tourist season.

She said most kiteboarders and windsurfers seek a vacation home
closer to summer. So, it is still unclear how they are reacting to the changes
at the waterfront.

"I think it's too early for us to know. People are asking about it
but it's just been more of a curiosity at this point," said McCravey.

The land mass formed when loose glacial sediment on Mount Hood
became inundated by heavy rains and slid down the steep slopes. Scientists
estimate that in the early morning hours of Nov. 7, more than one million cubic
yards of debris saturated tributaries and filled the Hood River, which carried
it downstream to the Columbia.

The one sure fact for the 2007 tourist season is that the cruise
ship dock will not reopen. McElwee said the cost to have the shipping channel
dredged would be at least $1 million - money the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers
does not have at the present time. He said federal officials are also concerned
about sinking capital into a dredging operation, only to have the channel
refilled by another flood.

"That's the dilemma. If you dredge, you may lose that investment
during the next storm event," said McElwee.

He said the Queen of the West sternwheeler is likely to be docking
in Stevenson, Wash., when it travels up and down the Columbia in the spring and
fall months. McElwee said it is unclear how much revenue the passengers on the
cruise ship brought into Hood River since they usually offloaded onto tour buses
that left the area.

"Clearly, the loss of the cruise ship dock doesn't help; but, while
it has some impact, I don't think it will be significant," he said.

He said the port is planning to provide docking space for smaller
vessels in the Marina or near its mouth.

According to McElwee, the new landscape at the Event Site provides
more access to the river for people with disabilities. The new beach lies within
easy walking distance of an improved parking lot.

"Whether you like it or not, it's here to stay and we, as a
community, need to anticipate what the hazards are and how recreation can
co-exist on the sandbar," McElwee said. "I heard one kiteboarder refer to the
new beach as 'God's gift to Hood River' and that seemed like a proactive way to
look at it."

<http://www.orenews.com/cgi-bin/OCANr_order.cgi?refer=35>

sherrybohn · Since 16 Jun 2006 71 Posts

Come on...... PLEASE give me a break....
I and a lot of other people have been working/trying very hard to find an equalable solution to water access for ALL users for over a month now and I've heard/feel that we've been making progress.

I believe the next Waterfront Recreation meeting is scheduled for April 3rd. We will have the additional data from the hydrolist and access suggestions from CGKA and CGWA.

My phone has been ringing off the hook about kiteboarders using the Event Site. Please......give me and everyone else a break or this whole issue will just blow up in our faces.

Parking and walking/swimming isn't what I'm getting calls about. Rigging and launching is the problem.

magicmaker · Since 29 Oct 2006 895 Posts da Hood Opinionated

Correct me if i'm wrong but i do not recall one kiter trying to launch from the event site yestruday. AFAIK, launching kites from the event site is still prohibited.

Personally i believe, that any or all of us kiters that park at the event site and walk out to the sandbar, should not attempt to lay out lines on the event site. If we follow this one simple rule, then there obviously cannot be any launching from the event site, and this way, windsurfers will have nothing to complain about, and we will be allowed to continue to access the sandbar from the event site.

It really makes no sense to me, why windsurfers would complain about kiters using the very eastern end of the eventsite to roll up their kites. From my own experience with kiters having to share space with windsurfers at rowena, the major concern is a kiter not knowing what they are doing while launching upwind of people and crashing a kite down on another person or windsurfer. Since we are not launching from the event site, this is not even a risk or cause for conern. Lastly, windsurfers can't even use that portion of the event site to launch anyway, seeing as how there is that massive load of sandbar in their way as they ride out.

If windsurfers are calling and complaining because a handful of kiters chose to put there kites on a part of the event site that isn't even useable by windsurfers, let alone a few windsurfers who do not even have the numbers to warrant needing that part of the event site, then said windsurfers are just selfish and petty and they need to learn how to share. They also need a reality check and an attitude adjustment, cause as yesturday shows, the kiters are here in full force and we are here to stay; we easily outnumbered the windsurfers 10:1 yesturday.

I sure hope this summer, when the sandbar stretches all the way out in front of the event site, blocking launching from the entire grassy portion of the event site, that the windsurfers will choose not to walk their gear out the 100 feet to where they can lauch, they'll just leave and go somewhere else instead. I mean seriously, just goto the hatchery or rowena. It isn't the kiters fault the sandbar grew to it's current size. </rant>

Gman · Since 11 Feb 2006 4907 Posts Portland Unstrapped

sherrybohn · Since 16 Jun 2006 71 Posts

While I personally agree with Magicmaker and Gman my post was just asking for some cooperation with the existing rules/regulations until this access issue can be worked out....hopefully to the "pleasure" of all.

I guess I was just "venting" that I've been getting phone calls and e-mails complaining. Couldn't really verify or what ever because I was at work all day yesterday.

endoshred · Since 22 May 2006 232 Posts HR Stoked

this is news to me. i dont think there should be a problem blowing up a kite and rigging lines at the event site as long as kites are not launched there. this should have no effect on windsurfers. sherry, if the phone is ringing off the hook, with your position on the port you should be able to calm all the angry windsurfers.

magicmaker · Since 29 Oct 2006 895 Posts da Hood Opinionated

wylieflyote · Sun Mar 18, 07 2:08 pm

As a former windsurfer let me add this. I can recall days gone past out at Roosevelt where kiters would lay out there lines in a way that blocked the common path through the grass. This is all better out there now because it seems like we have a healthy Mason-Dixon line. But I was growled at by a kiter many years ago while I was very carefully just trying to get back to my truck, and stepping over his lines. Seemed like I was required to travel way around the kiters' setups while they were just hanging out eating lunch.
Surely this subject has been beat to death many times over the years.
I can see where I'd like to store my lines while on the sandbar, and then walk to the Event Site grass if it weren't crowed to roll up my kite on a clean surface?

tinyE · Since 21 Jan 2006 2004 Posts not really an XTreme Poster

i'm pretty new to kiteboarding... why is the event site only for windsurfers anyway?

if you look at the river at any time, it's easy to see that kiteboarding is bringing more people to hood river than windsurfing is.

boardrider · Since 05 Apr 2006 1034 Posts Ventura, CA XTreme Poster

Gman · Since 11 Feb 2006 4907 Posts Portland Unstrapped