Rex Putnam proves tough opponent in season opener
Hood River Valley High School varsity girls soccer hosted Rex Putnam Tuesday evening in the team’s season-opener. The 3-1 loss against the Kingsmen was a tough way to start their schedule; but the girls found some strong points to build on and the game will serve as a gauge of progress for the rest of the season.
Eagles finish unsettled business
Last season ended in disappointing fashion for the Hood River Valley High School varsity boys soccer team. In round two of the state playoffs, the boys played to a draw after double overtime against Rex Putnam. The game went into a shootout, where the Kingsmen eliminated the Eagles from the tournament on their home turf.
‘Tall and athletic’
Varsity volleyball looking to improve on last season’s second in conference
In its first two matches of the season, Hood River Valley High School’s varsity volleyball team hosted Pendleton on Tuesday and Lakeridge Thursday evenings. Both matches ended in similar fashion, and although the Eagles lost 1-3 in both, the early-season competition was a good measure of the team’s strengths and weaknesses in time to make adjustments for the bulk of the season.
A long-awaited day
Ten years after injury, Hood River native returns to the slopes
Noah Smith’s entire life changed in a split second.
‘High expectations’
Eagles will push aggressive offense as team strategy this season
With eight returning varsity players and seven seniors on the roster this season, Hood River Valley High School boys soccer is looking to repeat as Columbia River Conference champions and improve upon last year’s second-round state playoff elimination.
First Gorge junior race team tests Seattle waters
Young sailors represent the Gorge at Junior Olympics
As an extension to the Hood River Community Education-based GORGE Junior Sailing program, a group of 10 young sailors traveled to Seattle last weekend to race in the Northwest Junior Olympics. The group, coached by Paul Steward, trained through the summer with GJS and learned the ropes of sail racing inside the protected waters of the Hood River Marina.
Eagles XC ready to run
Hood River Valley High School’s cross country team hits the ground running this week as it travels to Wilsonville for the first meet of the season. Much of team, led by longtime coach Kristen Uhler, has been training regularly through the summer to stay in shape and be ready for what is expected to be a solid season for both boys and girls squads.
Three Eagles play in BNC tournament
Hood River Valley High School baseball players Kyle Beam, Ryan Colesar and Ty Bofferding traveled to Centralia, Wash., last week to play in the elite Baseball Northwest Championships tournament. The invitation-only event is aimed at providing top young players from Oregon, Washington, Idaho, Montana and Wyoming exposure to college coaches and scouts.
Fighting the ‘ravages of old age’ with Hood To Coast
For Steve Becker, the Hood To Coast Relay is a must-do for anyone with an able body and a passion for true Oregon experiences. The 31st annual event — a 199-mile running relay from Timberline Lodge on to Seaside — started Friday morning and finishes Saturday when teams arrive at the finish line and beachfront party.
A trek through destruction, and rebirth
Exactly a year ago Sunday, on Aug. 26, 2011, a lightning storm passing over Mount Hood ignited the Dollar Lake Fire.
Gorge Paddle Challenge ‘shockingly good’
Results, photos, videos: gorgepaddlechallenge.com
“Off the charts,” is how Steve Gates describes the second-annual 2012 Naish Columbia Gorge Paddle Challenge.
Peterson wins Gorge Cup, again
In an unfortunate fizzling of momentum, the annual Gorge Cup windsurfing series concluded last weekend with its fifth and final race being canceled due to lack of wind. Standings as of that event were used as final results and, to no great surprise but much to his credit, Bruce Peterson finished first overall against a fleet of 37 racers. Not far off Peterson’s mark was MacRae Wylde in second and, as the star of the summer season, Fiona Wylde, finished just behind her father at third overall and first in the junior class.
Dynamos transition to fall season
With a mission of providing youth in the Gorge with competitive soccer opportunities, Hood River Dynamos teams are transitioning from summer to fall schedules with eight teams on its roster.
Gorge Tri Club makes the best of summer
Group invites new members to join year-round workouts
A group of 11 Columbia Gorge Triathlon Club members traveled recently to Windsor, Calif., to participate in the Vineman Triathlon. The event, a full iron-distance triathlon, featured a 2.4-mile swim, 112-mile bike ride and a 26.2-mile run to finish things off.
Yacht Club sails through summer
The Hood River Yacht Club held its annual Double-Damned downwind race Saturday. The downwind, every-boat-for-itself sprint from Cascade Locks to The Dalles has grown in popularity and reputation since its conception in 2008. This year’s field of 27 boats was a record for the event, and as the fleet lined up in Cascade Locks for what has proven to be 40-plus miles of gut checking, crew testing, gear breaking, mast snapping and general mayhem on the water.
Short track race a good sign for Cascade Locks
First event held on city’s new Easy CLIMB trail
In its first summer since being constructed, Cascade Locks’ Easy CLIMB trail was host Sunday to the Oregon Bicycle Racing Association Short Track State Championships. The event saw 150 riders registered — mainly from the greater Portland area — to compete in a fast-paced race around the scenic 1.2-mile trail on vacant property owned by the Port of Cascade Locks.
Special Olympics: Much more than fun and games
It may not have been London’s Olympic Stadium, but to the athletes of the Hood River Special Olympics Team, the State Games still represent the culmination of months’ and years’ worth of hard work and determination.
Trail work the old-fashioned way, sort of
The soil on Hood River County’s southeast forests can get extremely dusty during dry summer months. In the worst areas, powder-like dirt 6 inches thick makes for coated clothing and plenty of grit in the teeth for anyone traveling in a group of more than one.
MaiTai highlights Gorge as sports, tech hotspot
Kite-based event combines business with pleasure
Kiteboarding isn’t just for beach bums and boardheads anymore. To be fair, it never really was; but in the sport’s early days gear was more physically demanding and much less safe, so participants were of the young, athletic, risk-taking type almost by default.
Surveyor’s Ridge Trail lives up to reputation
This is the best time of the year — when trails are often crowded, dry and dusty and temperatures climb into the 90s — to take advantage of the county’s many upper-elevation recreational outlets. Stretching between Highway 35 and Dufur, Road 44 is a long-established route through the densely forested transition zone between southern Hood River and Wasco counties.
Bridge of the Gods Kite Fest
13th-annual event draws top competition, will follow with amateur contest this weekend
The annual Bridge of the Gods Kite Fest proceeded Saturday afternoon with an action-packed showdown that will be remembered as one of the best rounds the freestyle kiteboarding competition has seen in its 13-year history.
Fall sports season coming soon
Time flies; especially this time of year, and even more so when you’re a high school student soaking up fleeting days of summer vacation.
You’re never too old to be a kid at the fair
I’ve been to the Hood River County Fair nearly every year since I was a kid; since back when I was too short to get on all the rides, too stubborn to give up trying and too excited to not spend three months of lawn mowing and hay bucking money on snowcones, cheap sunglasses and many of the very same carnival games that were there this year.
Technology added to Meadows
Summer changes aim to alleviate crowd issues on peak winter days
Mt. Hood Meadows Ski Resort announced last week that a new technology will be installed and ready for the upcoming season to address what it says is the resort’s most complained-about issue.
Coach of the Year honor highlights Horizon success story
Horizon Christian School Coach Darrin Lingel last month was named the 2012 Oregon Athletic Coaches Association Coach of the Year for 1A boys basketball. The honor came after Lingel led his varsity boys squad to a 28-4 season and a 1A state championship; the first state title the Horizon Hawks have claimed in school history.
Wrestlers back from Nationals
Six Hood River wrestlers return from ‘toughest tournament in the world’
Hood River wrestlers Katie Eddy, Juan Karlos Hernandez, David Brunk, Christian Marquez, Jessica DeHart and MaKenna Sullinger return this week after a long and all-around successful trip to the national wrestling tournament in Fargo, N.D.
Ro-Sham kite contest highlights growing trend
Pro kiteboarders Sam Light, Brandon Scheid and Alex Fox finished one-two-three Saturday in an exciting final heat of the week-long Ro-Sham-Throwdown kiteboarding contest. Using a “terrain park” of jumps, rails and sliders anchored at the east end of the Hood River delta, the event brought some of the sport’s most progressive athletes to town to compete in the fast-evolving niche of “slopestyle” kiteboarding.
Experience Mount Hood on the Cooper Spur trail
In this first installment of a new series, titled “Get Out,” the adventure gets up-close and personal with Mount Hood, high up on its north face on the Cooper Spur Trail.
U14 boys make state
Young team feels ups and downs of the game this week
With a gratifying sense of accomplishment, Hood River’s 13-14-year-old Junior Baseball of Oregon team traveled to Gladstone High School Monday to face Sherwood in a play-in round of the state playoff tournament.
Oilers baseball begins playoffs
HR team finished second in league
Hood River Valley High School baseball players are getting a healthy dose off-season action this summer as the Carson Oilers finish its regular season and head into the district playoffs.
Destination Gorge
With North American Laser Championships in town through this weekend, Cascade Locks is highlighted as world-class sailing destination
Big-time sailing action is in Cascade Locks this week as the town host the 2012 Laser North American Championship from July 19-22. The continental championship is held in a different place each year and is in Cascade Locks for the first time in its history.
DeHart: National Champion
HRVHS wrestler claims girls’ cadet freestyle title Saturday
Hood River Valley High School wrestler Jessica DeHart won five straight matches to claim a national title over the weekend in Fargo, N.D.
Seven Streams closes Saturday
Ice storm prompts clearcut of forest around one of county’s most popular trails
The history of Seven Streams trail dates back to before bicycles had fat tires and full suspensions; back when the term granny gear was associated with crochet needles and dentures, not riding up steep hills with relative ease.
Two days and six stages of white-knuckle action
Oregon Enduro series brings best bikers around to Hood River trails
The Oregon Enduro Series stops in Hood River this weekend for the third race of its 2012 tour. The two-day, six-stage event is a mix of cross country and downhill mountain biking on the forested single-track trails of Hood River’s west side.
Saving middle school sports
Riverside, HR Inn aided team effort to keep kids active
When the Hood River County School Board was faced with budgeting for a nearly $2 million shortfall two years ago, a variety of programs and services faced the chopping block. Among the restructurings, reductions and eliminations the board was faced with, axing middle school sports would save the district about $100,000 for the budget cycle.
‘Bigger and bigger every year’
367 runners, 102 walkers at 2012 Kollas-Cranmer Memorial Run
More than 450 walkers and runners turned out Wednesday morning for the annual Kollas-Cranmer Memorial Run. Sunny skies and cool temperatures greeted participants with near-perfect running weather, and as more and more people passed through the registration tables, it was clear the crowd was the largest the run has ever seen.
Roller Girls take on Melon Smashers
Gorge roller derby travels to Hermiston for first official bout
With only a few months of practice under their belts, the newly formed Gorge Roller Girls competed last weekend in the team’s first-ever bout against the Hermiston Melon Smashers. Roller derby is noted as one of the fastest-growing female sports in the country and teams like GRG and the HMS are popping up all over the Northwest.
Back to mixed-use
High water level prompts Event Site access change
In response to continued high water on the Columbia River, Port of Hood River Waterfront Coordinator Liz Whitmore requested to the Board of Commissioners that the Event Site be reopened to kiteboard landing and launching until the Hood River sandbar is reasonably accessable for the rest of the summer.
HRV swimmers ‘treated like royalty’ at U.S. Olympic Swimming Trials
Hood River Valley Swim Team standout Scott Bergstrom traveled to Omaha, Neb., this week to compete in the USA Swimming Olympic Trials
Eagle baseball finishes 50/50
Varsity squad ends season with first-round playoff loss vs. fifth-ranked Ashland
The Hood River Valley High School varsity baseball season came to a close Wednesday with a 5-1 loss against the Ashland Grizzlies. The Eagles (13-13 overall) traveled to Ashland (17-9) for the first round of the OSAA State Championships, which it qualified for with a 9-1 play-in game victory last week against Milwaukie.
Work parties highlight cross-party cooperation
The Columbia Gorge Windsurfing Association and Columbia Gorge Kiteboarding Association have been working together on a variety of issues over the last couple of years.
Work parties highlight cross-party cooperation
The Columbia Gorge Windsurfing Association and Columbia Gorge Kiteboarding Association have been working together on a variety of issues over the last couple of years.
Eagle baseball finishes 50/50
Varsity squad ends season with first-round playoff loss vs. fifth-ranked Ashland
The Hood River Valley High School varsity baseball season came to a close Wednesday with a 5-1 loss against the Ashland Grizzlies. The Eagles (13-13 overall) traveled to Ashland (17-9) for the first round of the OSAA State Championships, which it qualified for with a 9-1 play-in game victory last week against Milwaukie.
Horizon baseball has to win to stay in
Down by three runs in the bottom of the seventh inning, the Horizon Hawks baseball team had a last-ditch rally that put Stanfield/Echo unexpectedly on their heels Tuesday evening at Collins Field.
Breakout performances
When all that matters is district, Last Chance Meet gives Eagles one more time to get everything right
Columbia River Conference track and field athletes gathered Friday for the annual Last Chance Meet at Hood River Valley High School. Appropriately named, the event is the final competition of the regular season, giving athletes one final opportunity to fine-tune their events before the district championships; to be held this year May 19-20 in Pendleton.
Barrett Park gets the green light
The Hood River County Planning Commission Wednesday night narrowly approved a conditional use permit application filed by Hood River Valley Parks and Recreation District to develop 31.4-acre park on property the district owns near the corner of Barrett Drive and Alameda Road.
Schmidt, girls headed to state golf
Varisty girls finish second as team, Torey Schmidt third for varsity boys
After dealing with a particularly foul spring season on the links, Columbia River Conference golfers were awarded this week with low winds, sunny skies and T-shirt temperatures for the high school district tournament at Indian Creek Golf Course.
Third in District, freshman Ryan Andrews heads to state alone
Freshman standout Ryan Andrews will be the lone player representing Hood River Valley High School at next week’s OSAA high school state tennis championships.
Girls go toe-to-toe with the best
Down by one goal with less than a minute left to play, senior attack Makenzie Bassham fielded a loose ball in the backfield. With six goals on the night already, including one just a minute earlier, Bassham ran the ball the length of the field, past several Lincoln defenders, and straight to the goal.