The Columbia River Gorge is known for its spectacular beauty, it’s strong winds and for its recreational opportunities. People are drawn here for wind sports, mountain biking, kayaking and the incredible natural beauty. Two snow capped mountains and many tributaries lead into one of the largest and most spectacular rivers in the country. The Columbia is the only sea level cut through the Cascade Range, so it is a natural place where wind, weather and people converge. Great things can happen when the right group of people come together in the right place. 

    In the spring of 2010 Steve Gates, Managing Partner of Big Winds, invited four young athletes to form the Big Winds Junior Team. All four were already excellent windsurfers, yet at ages 12-15 they had not yet reached their potential and they were still trying new sports. Being on the Big WindsTeam meant that they would sail and play together and represent Big Winds. They would help each other and compete with each other. All four saw their windsurfing abilities skyrocket as they chased each other around the Gorge. Supportive parents had to drive their kids to more challenging sites as the team wanted to get better and sail in more extreme conditions. That first summer the team grew to trust each other. They became more than friends.

In the spring of 2011 Steve asked the group if they were interested in doing some Stand Up Paddling. Without hesitation the group jumped at the chance to do something new and exciting on the water.  So once school ended the team met Tuesday and Thursday mornings at 6:30 AM for SUP training.  Steve coached them on technique, worked them hard and everyone had a blast in the process.

It wasn’t long before several parents joined the workouts and ended up getting totally into it, too. Steve asked local pros like Dan Gavere to come out and paddle with them. The group pushed each other into the next levels of the sport.  A month after they first started paddling this group found themselves five miles up wind of Hood River jumping off the rocks with their boards into the Columbia whipped by thirty knot winds and head high swell.

They may have been nervous, but they were ready and proved very able. They paddled those five miles downwind but against a strong flood current. In fact if they were not riding the swell the current would carry them backwards. Their epic first downwinder took them right through the famous Fish Hatchery Windsurfing site where the waves jacked up to well over head high and the windsurfers were all out on their smallest gear. There was nothing but cheers from the windsurfers as this group of young green T-shirted paddlers surfed through a fleet of two hundred windsurfers. The support and respect they got from fellow watermen was incredible. This was not a competition but it certainly was an achievement.

Making it through the Hatchery was a total adrenaline rush, but they still had to make the last two miles to Hood River. That may have been the hardest part of the trip physically, because the team had to rely on their technique to battle a cross wind and a current to get themselves back to Hood River. 

Besides the two morning workouts they did each week, they also raced in the Thursday night Bump and Glide downwind series and helped host, and competed in, the Columbia Gorge Paddle Challenge. If there was no wind they would go for a paddle.

If there was wind they would make sure they got a downwinder in before they went windsurfing. Their energy fed off each other. They began to mold into true water athletes. They respected the water and each other. They instilled a sense of good sportsmanship and ethics. They were not afraid to work hard and look forward to challenges. SUP was not their only sport but they all intended to continue paddling for the rest of their lives.

In the end of August Steve sent an e-mail to the team stating that he was going to go to the Battle Of The Paddle in California in September, and invited them to join him. He realized that school would be in session and the team had returned to busy schedules. Within two days each kid had figured out how they could skip some school and go to the event as a team. This was the biggest event any of them had been in. There were 330 people in the open class! The entire Big Winds Team had amazing results, garnering 8 top five finishes including three 1st place trophies!

The consensus from the team was that The Battle Of the Paddle was a life changing event. Their results were impressive, but their sense of participation, of being part of the big picture showed a maturity that went way beyond their years.

This is a group of talented young athletes that embody a sense of honor and sportsmanship. They are not the best athletes out there (not yet) but they strive to be the best that they can and being part of Team Big Winds is supporting their efforts to reach to new heights.

The team with Kai and Conner at the Paddle Challenge in Hood River, Oregon

The Team thanking Steve on stage at the Paddle Challenge in Hood River

Photo: Bonnie Fromm

Photo: Bonnie Fromm

Photo: Mike Godsey