Hood River▾

About riding Hood River

Hood River is the capital of North American wind sports, and the Event Site is its front lawn: a grassy rigging field on the Columbia where the Gorge's summer westerly blows against the river's current and stands the swell up into rolling lines. The wind here is a pressure-gradient machine, cool marine air west of the Cascades pulling through the only sea-level gap in the range toward the hot desert plateau, and the daily question this page answers is the one locals ask of the gradient: does it blow today?

The winds, by name

The Westerly. The wind of this whole page. Cool, dense marine-layer air west of the Cascades and hot dry air over the Columbia Plateau set up a pressure difference across the range, and the Gorge is the pipe it drains through. Forecasters and locals read it off the Portland to The Dalles gradient. It builds late morning as the plateau heats, blows hardest through the afternoon, and the local guides put an ordinary summer day around 18–25 mph from the west with the good days well past 30 kn. At the Event Site it comes in side-onshore over the Sandbar.

The East Wind. The winter counterpart, and an honest note: when cold high pressure sits inland the gradient reverses and the gorge runs east, sometimes ferociously. But the east wind is ridden at the west end of the gorge, at Rooster Rock and Stevenson, not at Hood River; the guides are blunt that easterlies usually do not find their way here. This page will show you an east day so you know why the trees are moving, not to promise you a session at the Event Site.

When to come

The local rule of thumb is May through September, with June to early September the solid core; the Oregon windsurfing FAQ puts strong thermal wind on the river nearly every day of that stretch. Spring brings the strongest current with the snowmelt freshet and the coldest water; late July through September is the warm-water, shorty part of the season. Winter belongs to the east wind, which is ridden downriver, not here.

What to watch

The drift doubles here: a rider in the water goes downwind and downstream at once, and both point at the Hood River bridge, whose pilings the local guides call extremely dangerous in the current. The mid-river shipping channel carries barge traffic that does not manoeuvre. The wind is gusty by nature, it is a gap wind, and it switches off when the marine layer or the gradient fails. Sort problems out early, stay upwind, and use the Sandbar as your catcher's mitt.

Getting there

Exit 63 off I-84 puts you on the Hood River waterfront; the Event Site is the obvious grassy field with the pay station, and the Hook is at the west end of Portway Avenue. The Port of Hood River manages the lot.

Questions riders ask

When does it blow at Hood River, and what does a typical day look like?

May through September, on the westerly. It sets up late morning as the desert side of the Cascades heats, peaks through the afternoon around 18–25 mph on an ordinary day, and eases toward evening. Locals judge the day by the Portland to The Dalles pressure gradient, which is exactly the signal this page's verdict is built on.

What kite sizes do I need?

A 9–12 m covers the ordinary Event Site day for a mid-weight rider; the full local quiver quoted in the forums is 7–12 m, and the nuking days call for 6 m. Gusty gap wind, so most people size for the lulls and hang on in the gusts.

Is Hood River beginner friendly?

Unusually so for somewhere this windy. The Event Site has grassy rigging and the Sandbar directly downwind to catch you, kite schools teach in the shallows below it, and windsurf and wing lessons run at the Hook, the flat sheltered pocket at the west end of the waterfront. The mid-river is a different world: swell, gusts, current and barge traffic.

What about the current?

The river flows west against the westerly wind. That is the good news, the current pushes you back upwind, and the reason the swell stacks up so well. The serious news: if you are in the water, wind and current both carry you toward the bridge, so handle problems early and well upwind of it.

Can I ride here in winter on the east wind?

Usually not here. East winds run hardest at the west end of the gorge; riders chase them at Rooster Rock and Stevenson, about half an hour downriver. Hood River itself is a summer westerly spot, and this page says so rather than promising a wind that rarely arrives.