Oregon Demo Tour and Road Trip
It’s that time of the year again, when kite brands come together to share their stoke for wind sports and showcase the latest products. For years Kiteboard and Windsurf manufacturers have gathered in Florida for Surf Expo, but this year they changed locations and turned the expo into an on water demo in Hood River, Oregon. The venue was perfect as the Gorge is well known for wind and many brands had already received the 2010 kites from China. It was a little early in the year for Ozone, as we continually develop our Kites until we feel they are perfected and ready, and we do not stick to any exact calendar. Yet we did manage to get our hands on the new C4 and Zephyr just in time for a Kite Tour down the Columbia River Gorge.
Patrick Nedele and I started out in the eastern end of the River Valley, hitting 3 mile canyon before sunset and enjoying a nice evening with backlit silhouettes of Mt. Hood on the western horizon. By dawn we were pulling into Hood River and stopped in town to visit with the local shops and score some freshly brewed coffee. It’s always nice to be in a resort town that caters to wind riders, as you are surrounded by like minded people. As we waited in line for java, we noticed the familiar faces of the Decosse crew enjoying the morning with Jason Slezak. We joined them and shared memories of previous Snowkite trips and discussed day dreams for the upcoming winter. Back at the vans, Sheldon showed off the latest Decosse custom board designs and reveled in the technology he puts into his designs. Patrick has been a team rider for Decosse and was lucky enough to score a proto deck before we headed on.
Down at the Best Western retailers gathered for morning clinics and discussed industry needs. In the parking lot we ran into the infamous Bad Monkeys from Montana, Tony and Noah. While they were stoked on the scene and the powered winds the previous days, they urged us to chase the wind and hit a new spot. The day warmed up at the Sand Bar in Hood River, and sweltering heat killed the wind at the event site. Down the road was the call, and we drove westward to Rooster Rock. Winds were cranking and lit up our 9 meter kites, Sports and Edges flew comfortably despite the gusts, and the 11m C4 got its virgin flight over US soil. We were nervous at first, not knowing how much power this kite would deliver, and we flew it cautiously before we realized that the depower range was better than the 9’s we were on! It was a fun kite to fly, with dynamic characteristics, rotating on its axis to turn, and relaunching effortlessly whenever it went down. After my first session on the C4 I was smiling ear to ear and couldn’t believe how friendly the kite was to fly. Locals told us that the east winds we were flying in were some of the gustiest conditions the gorge can deliver, and the C4 took it all with stride. I personally feel that this is one of the best inflatable designs Ozone has created, and I know its going to be a classic. Rob Whittall designed this wing and told me to ignore the C kite hype and just fly the kite for myself… he was right, it is not like a Fuel or any other intense C kite, this is a family friendly wing packed full of pleasure.
Saturday brought us back to the Hood, and kicked out more strong wind, with kiters riding everything from 5m kites on surf boards to the 11m C4. The event turned out to be a great scene, with friendly faces representing every corner of the industry. All the magazines and editors were there along with pro riders from leading brands. We hooked up with Remi Meum and made plans for winter competitions… it sounds like Norway will host another great event this winter focusing on Snowkite Endurance, possibly the longest Winduro yet. Bill Morrissey from Dakine was giving the low down on Dakine product and dialed in Ozone team rider and National Champion, Patrick Nedele, with the latest 2010 Pyro Harness… THANKS for all the Dakine support Bill! On the waters edge with a complete quiver of sick boards was Adrian Roper with Underground. They have a very dialed in line up this year, with sizes and styles for everyone. It’s always a pleasure to go over the new boards with Adrian as he is a technical genius and goes deeper than just graphics when he explains the innards of the decks he creates.
With the official part of the event over, and the weather in a fluctuating pattern, we rallied with some other riders and headed for the coast. Our plan was to kick out some downwinders from the Jetty and hit the surf all the way to Sunset beach. As it goes, the wind does not always cooperate, and we found ourselves grateful for the Zephyr and its light wind capabilities. Around the corner from the Jetty, on the south side of the Columbia River is a flat water lagoon that provided a perfect place to power up on the Zephyr for some out and back tacks. The wind was offshore and we tried not to get ourselves into any down wind epics… Eli has a story to tell about this, but it may take some beer to get it out of him! By afternoon we were heading south in search of waves and more wind… what we did find was a low tide at Sunset beach and enough wind to Ground Board with the new Manta 3 and Access XT kites. Several Kitesrufers and Snowkiters were able to try out the new models and carve some turns on the wheeled boards, before sunset chased us off.
The next morning Patrick and I were heading back east towards the mountains, with little wind in the Gorge, our next stop would be Boise Idaho. Sure enough, the dawn patrol kicked on on schedule and we met Eddy of Gear Daddy Kites at Lucky Peak Reservoir for the AM session. With colder than normal temps, the winds were lighter than expected, but gave us a great opportunity to compare the Zephyr with other 17 meter kites and the 15 Sport. Well, the others went down wind and the Zephyr held on to the end of the session, maintaining the most ground and giving up a fun surf board session. It was great to ride on a desert lake before driving the next 6 hours back to Utah. Can’t wait to do it all again.
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