Grue|some|kite [f] gruesome kite refers to adverse conditions that prevent you from kiting. The heightened form of gruesome kite is usually seen at perfect kite locations in the form of unsuitable material after dragging across entire continents. A special form of gruesome kite is the sudden change from several completely wind-free weeks to unkiteable choppy winds. The feeling of happiness is similarly high: Shooting wasabi peas out of your nose and biting your own arse.
A flatmate from school drives me over to Hood River at 10am. I’m almost the first kiter. The wind is strong. Very strong. I soon see 9s, 7s and a 5. I only have a 12 from 2004 with less depower. The wind stays above 40 km/h all day, average 50, gusts over 60. No chance with my equipment. The most violent thing I see is a 120kg chunk with a 10. After a quarter of an hour with about 15 falls, he gives up. The locals with their 7s easily do 10-second jumps. In the afternoon, nobody dares to go out for an hour.
That’s just too much. Right in front of Paradise, I don’t have the right key. I don’t even know why I’ve carried my kite stuff for so many kilometres. Looking for locals, want to buy a small one. But I have neither the money nor the strength for another 8kg of luggage. I sit on the beach, get a sunburn on my stomach, rescue flying boards and smoke one cigarette after another. Frustration.
My further route planning also gets out of hand. No stays so far for the next 10 days. And I apparently have to go back up to Washington if I want to drop off my hire car in San Francisco. It’s weird: one way from Oregon (south of Washington) costs $199 (= double the price for a week). From Washington, one-way is free. Must have something to do with different deposit systems.
Frank Woelky, born in 1973. Kitesurfer since 1998. Since 2006, I have been combining kitesurfing and web design on trips lasting several months off the beaten track.