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Here are
a few tidbits of information from
Hood River.
What's
new at Windance?
We
have a new way to get
questions answered. Check
out our new message
board and post your
questions, messages, or answers.
I (and others) will be checking it
regularly to respond to questions.
This should be a great way to
speak your mind.
We
have been busy this winter
re-organizing the store to
better serve you. We have
expanded our wetsuit
selection to be much easier to
find that perfect suit. The
new Pro-limit and O'neill
suits are really looking good for
2001 - some of the most
comfortable suits that I have ever
worn. Check them out at http://www.windance.com/windstore/newwetsuits.htm
All
2000 Sails are 35%
off!
We still have a fairly good size
selection.
Selected
RRD Boards (2000 Wave cults, and
Freerides) are also on Sale for
$895!
The
2000 wave cult is perhaps the
perfect Gorge board. We
still have a few left, and at a
bargain price!
Hood
River Bridge study in full swing.
To check
out the progress, you can visit http://www.rtc.wa.gov/studies/sr35/ for
the latest developments. I am
on the Citizen Advisory Committee,
and was surprised to hear that one
of the 6 options for a new
river crossing was just down river
(up wind) of the Event Site.
Not only is it an option, it is one
of two options that have received a
"high" recommendation for
further study! As you
might expect, I voiced my opinion
loudly, but I think some opinion
letters would sure help. It
would be a real drag to have a
bridge upwind of the Event Site.
If you would like to give your
opinion to the consultants on the
subject, here is a link to
their survey:
Here
is the breakdown of the tentative
recommendations so far:(You can
check out the map from the website
above.)
Location
Priority for further study
West
Corridor (near the Hatchery):
Low
City
Center (West of Event Site):
High
Existing
Low Corridor (Near existing Bridge):
High
Existing
High Corridor (White Salmon to
Windance): Low (thankfully)
East
Corridor A (Koberg to Bingen): Moderate
East
Corridor B (East of East Corridor
A):
Moderate
If you
would like to see the study (so
far), you can check it out at
Windance.
The
Casino is back in the news.
After
about 2 years of dormancy, The
Confederated Tribes of Warm Springs
have brought the idea of a Hood
River Casino back into the news.
Rudy Clements, chairman of the Warm
Springs' tribal gambling board
states: "We're not trying to
work with the community," he
said. "We're looking out for
ourselves. We're coming. If they
don't like it, that's tough."
Most
people in the Gorge are
opposed to a casino opening in Hood
River county (a county survey in
1998 found 72.3 against, and 26.0 in
favor). The idea of locating
it right near the entrance
to the newly re-built Mosier Twin
Tunnels has some people steamed. Many
issues are still unresolved, like
how the 2 story, 150 million dollar
casino with 6 level car garage
will effect traffic, utilities,
etc.... Another question
is how will gamblers get to the
casino? Because the 40
acres of land where the casino
is proposed is "trust" land, they
are exempt from many rules normally
imposed by the National Scenic area, State,
and County.
Have a
great Spring, and we will see
you on the water!
February
2001 Newsletter
February
15, 2001
Hello Windsurfers,
Kiteboarding:
For
the last few years, I have watched the
amazing sport of kitesurfing grow here
in the Gorge. At Windance, we sold
trainer kites, and a few of the boards,
but were reluctant to fully commit to
the sport. This year, I have decided
against selling kitesurfing products
altogether. We will continue to sell the
small trainers, but beyond that, we will
not pursue the kite market. This will
allow us to continue to focus on windsurfing,
where our roots are.
The difficult decision to not sell
kites at Windance is not because we are
anti-kite. Far from it, many of our staff
members plan to continue kiteboarding,
including myself.
We will leave our kitesurfing info
page on the Internet at http://www.windance.com/InfoSource/kiteboarding.htm to
give our kiting customers some
links to other places. Hopefully
this decision doesn't bum out too
many people. If you have any comments on
this or anything else, you can send them
to us at windance@windance.com
New
Home Exchange Category
We
have added a new "Home
Exchange" category to our free
Windance Classifieds section. It
is located at www.windance.com/classified/ .
Now you can post your own home on line,
and possibly connect up with other
windsurfers to exchange homes.
Josh
Angulo Wave Camp at Solo Sports!
If
you are ready for some warm weather, and
also learn a bit about wavesailing, you
might want to check this out.
Ezzy,
RRD and Solo Sports have teamed up to
put on a Josh Angulo Wave Camp at Solo
Sports in San Carlos, Baja. For more
info, contact: http://www.ezzy.com/solo.htm The
dates are the 17th-24th of March (just
one month away).
Windance
Swap Meet
This
year we'll be having one BIG
HUGE Swap Meet on May 20th
which will draw people from all over the
Northwest and Canada. The Swap Meet
starts early in the morning at 8:00 am,
and ends in the early afternoon. This is
a great place to find some real
bargains.
Free to buyers, $10.00 for sellers
(personal gear only).
For sellers, this is a great way to turn
that old gear into cold hard cash. If
you are selling gear, we recommend
bringing a tarp or something to lay your
gear down on in inclement weather.
Take
Care, Brian
January
23 NEWSLETTER
Hello
Windsurfers,
It
has been so long since a newsletter,
many of you may have forgotten about the
Gorge. Those of us who wintered here
have been buried under thick clouds of
gray for months, and are wondering when
the sun will shine again. It has
been damp and cold in the Hood River
valley, and too warm on the mountain. We keep
hoping that Spring, or at least the
sun is somewhere at the end of the
tunnel.
There
has been a lot happening in the Gorge this
winter. Here are a few highlights. This newsletter
is a bit long, so I don't have room to
tell you about the great Winter
deals at Windance. To check them out, go
to our home page at www.windance.com
, and follow the links from there.
THE
HOOD RIVER WINTER WINDSURFING SHUFFLE:
There
has been a construction boom in
windsurfing retail businesses in Hood
River. Windwing is moving into
the building where the River City Saloon
was (on 2nd street). That landmark
building is going through major
renovations, both upstairs and down. Big
Winds leveled their old place, and
rebuilt a new larger store in the same
location. Pro Motion has built a
new bigger building in their
location next to the post
office. The three windsurfing schools at
the Marina {Brian's (not me), Big Winds,
and Rhonda Smith's} have also been
moved. Their small buildings are
in a permanent location closer to the
water, but still not interfering with
the public space. Let's see... did
I forget anyone? As far as I know,
Sailworld, Gorge Surf House,
Doug's Sports, Bart's Boards, Swiss
Swell, Pete's Rentals and Lester
Polyester are all staying in the same
place. Oh yeah, Windance is still in the
same spot as we have been for
17 yrs. (wow, how time flies!).
PORT
OF HOOD RIVER
The Port of Hood River, under the
leadership of Port president Nancy
Moller, have done some great
improvements at the waterfront. The long
overdue bathrooms at the Event Site
are almost finished. So are new
bathrooms at the East end of the
Marina point. The present
port commissioners (and interim director
Jim O'Banion, and now new director Dave
Harlan) have done a tremendous job of listening
to their constituents and also
getting along with the city. As a
result, many positive things have been
done. For example: The waterfront plan,
which is basically everything North
of the freeway, has finally been able to
proceed with the support of most of the
community. The new plan, which I
personally think is great, can be seen
at the Port offices near the Marina.
Wouldn't
you know it, but just as things start to
go smoothly (in my opinion), a new
election is coming up this Spring. Three
out of the five port commissioners positions
are up for grabs again, and there
is the strong possibility of the port
falling back into the gridlock situation
we had for years...This election is
vitally important for the future of the
Hood River Waterfront. Nancy
Moller is running in a difficult
three way race, and needs all the
support she can find. Bart
Vervloet (yes, of Bart's best bet
fame) will be running for a
different port seat. I will be
supporting these two candidates. The
third position has Don Hosford
running unopposed. Peg Lalor,
and Bob Nichols are not up for election at
this time.
MOSIER
BEACH IMPROVEMENTS
The
following is as reported by Diane
Barkhimer, director of CGWA
:
CGWA
was instrumental in forming the Columbia
Gorge Recreation Coalition.
Recently $500,000 in Scenic Area
recreation funds was awarded to the City
of Mosier for waterfront improvements
including the Rock Creek windsurfing
site.
Wilton Hart, CGWA treasurer and Rock
Creek liaison, has set up a web site for
the Recreation Coalition which includes
detailed information on the proposed
improvement plans for the Hatchery,
Viento, West Mayer, and the Mosier
Waterfront. He has also included a list
of our supporters with copies of their
letters and has posted pictures of the
1996 flood and the effect it had on Rock
Creek. Pictures may also be viewed from
the Mosier Celebration of the $500,000
award and the presentation made by US
Senator Gordon H. Smith, Oregon.
It is our hope that the web site will
answer many of your questions regarding
the Recreation Coalition and its efforts
to obtain recreation construction funds
to improve windsurfing and other forms
of recreation in the Columbia Gorge
Scenic Area. The web page will grow as
the projects move along. This is a work
in progress.
Columbia
Gorge Recreation Coalition: http://cgrc.mediaforte.com
Please
take a look and e-mail ( cgwa@gorge.net
) your comments.
3
MILE CANYON
This report is a bit old, but some of
you may not have read it yet. This
is also reported by Diane Barkhimer
Changes
have been happening at the Three Mile
Canyon windsurfing site. Many
of you have asked what was going
on, and we wanted you to know that the
CGWA has been working with
the US Army Corps of Engineers to
maintain a
windsurfing site at that location.
We had waited a few weeks so that we
could give you an informed answer
with correct details. However, the Corps
has not yet prepared a
statement but should be sending one
soon. We
didn't want to keep postponing
sending you information so very
briefly...access
will be just east of the existing
boat ramp, and an access road will be
improved that travels south and
west of the property to give you access
at the west end as well.
Take
Care, Brian
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