Oregon Goodness, Corridor to Coast

Starting out in Utah Friday afternoon, and barreling 1000 miles westward on a whim has led to a great weekend of Kiteboarding in diverse conditions. After the new Xenon Boards arrived, we grabbed a couple of each to demo and headed out into the night. We were in Boise by midnight and assembling footpads, straps and fins on the new decks. By 6 AM we were up and heading to Lucky Peak Reservoir for the morning Catabatic flow. Wind was already solid when we arrived and we had an unusually long session, with wind kicking thru 10 am. Powered on 11 meter C4's, and similar sized Catalyst and Edges, we were able to cruise all around the lake, enjoying the new Xenon Boards. The first impressions were great, everyone loved the light weight feel, and the boards seemed to crank upwind and cut thru chop smoothly.

Next stop was Roosevelt on the eastern end of the corridor where I met up with the Kite-Line crew and was able to get in a great evening session. Edges were boosting huge and the C4 was carving up the swell, what a great way to cap off a long day of driving, with a kite session on both ends chasing the sun.

Sunday the wind came in with a vengeance and 7 meter kites were lit up. The swell built up huge, and we all kited till we were worn out. Back at camp the warm showers and Tequila smoothed the soul as we shared stories from the already epic weekend of Kiteboarding. It was perfect conditions to really test the smaller Xenon boards, they ate up the chop, carved the swell and felt really comfortable despite the raging gusts.

By Monday morning the wind switched off in the Gorge and we headed west again, bound for the coast. After meeting up with Josh, the proprietor of Cleanline Surf Shop, we made the call to head to Manzanita where the wind was already 18-21mph. Most riders were on surf boards, even tho it was not the best wave riding conditions. I took out the 134 Rayo and fell in love with its fluid feeling. That was the perfect size for riding the ocean swell, and the shape surfed very well, carving smoothly in and out of the little waves. I was amazed how well the board ate up the chop and how effortless it cranked upwind.

Its Tuesday morning and the forecast is even better, the plan today is to hit up as many downwinders as possible, riding from the Jetty to the shipwreck on Sunset beach. See you out there!!!

Windzup, Brian Schenck

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