Hotlines: January-February 1998

Boardsailors aren't the only ones catching wind of the area's whitewater. Within the past year, several nationally known paddlers--including Olympian Rich Weiss (who recently passed away in a kayaking accident on the nearby White Salmon River) and Lightning Paddle manufacturer Lee Bonfiglio--decided to call the town home. The main reasons, they say, are more than 15 major rivers located within an hour's drive and--between rainfall and runoff--a 12-month-long boating season. "The rivers are beautiful and they run all year long," says Bonfiglio, who moved to Hood River from Colton, Ore.

Located in the Columbia River Gorge at the border of Oregon and Washington, Hood River (pop. 5,000) is perched in the middle of the Cascade Mountains and offers paddling opportunities for everyone. For hairboaters there are the Little White Salmon and Upper White Salmon rivers (home of last summer's Gorge Games extreme race), as well as the nearby Wind River and Canyon Creek. Playboaters have a multitude of surf waves to choose from, as well as the newly remodeled Trestle Hole on the Deschutes and recently revamped Bob's Hole on the Clackamas. And then there's the full-length slalom course dangling over the Hood River responsible for luring such slalom racers as Kevin Michaelson and Sam Drevo to town.

You'll find these and other boaters downtown checking out flows and sharing stories at the Nantahala-like Cascade Whitewater Co., which is fast becoming a melting pot of windsurfers and whitewater buffs. "Everyone who moved here to windsurf is now looking at kayaking," maintains CWC's Cramer, summing up the winds of change that have swept through the community. "They're just getting tired of having to wait for Mother Nature."