I’m surprised nobody has covered this yet… Thinking that a DW’ing trip to hood river would be fun. Currently prone and can consistently link a handful of waves. I don’t wing and I’m not particularly interested.
Hood River DW advice:
When’s the best time of year to go?
How consistent are the runs? Best runs?
Has anyone traveled there and have hotel recommendations?
Full suit year around?
Thank you!!
While a prone surf foil board is possible dw in hood river. It’s not ideal. Rock starts or a true dw board are going to give you a much higher success rate.
July is the best month, the water warms up to shorty or even boardshort temp and the wind is most consistent. June can be good too but colder and less consistent. August has consistent wind and it’s warmer but the river flows are lower and there are usually fewer nuking days than July.
I have seen guys prone there on regular boards, but I would think most are moving to dedicated DW boards at this point. One thing that’s important to understand is that the bumps are not consistent up and down the river, there are certain spots like the Hatchery where they form up really good but a mile or two east or west they aren’t as good. This means you need to be able to get up in sub-optimal bumps if you are doing longer DW runs. It also means that the windsurfers/kiters/wingers all clump up at the best swell zones, so be prepared to be surrounded at times and a bright color helmet or rashy is a good idea
I don’t have any recs since I camp at a friends house when I go. It is a busy place these days though so early reservations are probably a good idea.
How’s winter downwinding in the Hood? Seems like you could go all year if the wind sets up?
I live in HR. The water is 38 degrees right now and ice and snow on the shore. Even if you don’t mind the cold there are only a few windy days here and there. Not consistent enough to plan a trip for me. On a windy day you may see one or two people out.
Any one school or teacher better than another? Got a buddy who wants to head up there in June and take some SUP DW or Wingfoil lessons. They only prone foil currently.
@Dfern made a last second trip to head there for Memorial Day weekend. What’s the water tempt like now? Also, looking for any campsite recs if you have some. Cheers
Couple good links for visitors to the gorge
Forecast:
Spot map/descriptions: