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Hood River News, Wednesday, July 15, 2015
A7
Kiteboarding 4 Cancer has biggest year yet
Huge turnouts and fundraising efforts make 9th annual event a success
Photos by Ben Mitchell
KITEBOARDING 4 CANCER drew some big crowds this past weekend, where people came out to enjoy a num-
ber of fun activities and help raise money to fund adventure camps for cancer survivors. Above, kiteboarders take
part in Saturday’s kite derby, where kiters did a total of 3,303 laps around the 3-mile course. At top right, taiko
drummers from the One World Taiko group signal the start of Saturday’s derby. At middle left, a kiteboarder
shows off for spectators at the Event Site; at middle right, one of the “Boards of Hope,” auctioned off during the
event. At bottom, another kind of board, asking, “What’s Your Story?” The board was primarily filled with sto-
ries from cancer survivors, those who have benefitted from Kiteboarding 4 Cancer funds, or individuals who have
had a loved one(s) suffer from cancer. As of press time, fundraising totals for the event neared $115,000.
By BEN MITCHELL
News staff writer
The dark clouds that gathered Saturday
morning failed to dampen the spirits of
those who gathered at the Hood River Wa-
terfront to watch the 9th Annual Kite-
boarding 4 Cancer kite derby get underway.
Legions of kiteboarders circled on the
far side of the Columbia River, then bolted
to the Event Site as the derby got underway,
racing behind the pilot boat, bolstered by
the thunderous sound of Japanese taiko
drums pounded by One World Taiko, who
opened the event. On that gray morning,
the colorful kiteboard sails and shirts of
the derby participants stood out more than
usual on the Columbia.
By late afternoon at the conclusion of
the derby, 225 kiteboarders sailed a total
3,303 laps around the approximately 3-mile
course — some racing for the entire six
hours of the derby. Event founder and or-
ganizer Tonia Farman said it was the most
in the event’s history and far exceeded last
year’s tally of around 175 participants.
“The turnout was ridiculous, in a good
way. It was way more than last year,” she
said, adding that there were “a lot more
spectators this year” as well.
Farman, who lives in Hood River, began
the event in 2007 after her only sibling,
Scott, died from acute lymphocytic
leukemia. He was only 19 years old. An en-
durance race, Kiteboarding 4 Cancer
(KB4C) is an homage to the long fight those
who are afflicted with cancer often have to
face.
All proceeds from the event benefit Ath-
letes 4 Cancer: a nonprofit that offers week-
long adventure retreats called Camp Koru
for cancer survivors ages 18 to 40.
Fundraising efforts allow the camps to be
free (minus airfare). The first year, the
event raised $30,000. Last year, the event
raised $112,000. As of Monday night, 2015’s
KB4C raised nearly $115,000 — and that
hasn’t even taken into account employer
matches, which usually come in later, Far-
man reported.
The spirit and many of the activities of
the event are the same as previous years,
but some changes were made for 2015. Far-
man said the course was tighter and more
exciting, with different buoy placements
making for a faster downwind race, “which
made it a really exciting spectacle for the
Event Site.” Farman had arguably one of
the best views of all, hovering above the
river in a helicopter, with her radio linked
up to the PA system so she could offer com-
mentary to spectators from her perch high
above the Columbia.
“You can’t really see all the chaos that
ensues from the Event Site,” she said. “I
was speechless watching all these kites.”
Also new this year was the Never-Ever
Kiteboarded-Before race on Sunday, which
saw so many participants that “we had to
turn people away,” Farman noted. Thank-
fully for the kiteboarding neophytes, the
wind wasn’t as strong as it was on Saturday
for the derby, where Farman said the wind
was averaging a healthy 18-20 m.p.h.
Like in past years, a kickoff party was
held outside the Oak Street Pub (previous-
ly known as the British Pub), and the
Boards of Hope auction occurred through-
out Saturday, where event goers could bid
on artwork created on recycled surfboard,
kiteboards, skateboards, and other items.
Music, food, drinks, games and other activ-
ities kept people entertained throughout
the weekend.
Farman attributed the large turnout, in
part due to the outreach done by lead spon-
sor Patagonia, which drew many people
from outside the area this year, she said.
But despite the large turnout, KB4C pri-
marily remains a grassroots, local event,
with Farman noting that “the community
is just so supportive and they give so much,
so many volunteers and local business that
give their time and services.”
And though kiteboarding may seem like
the focus of the event, that’s not really the
case.
“We’re getting more people coming to
this event for this purpose, for this cause,”
Farman explained. “People like to come
and share their stories about fighting can-
cer, being impacted by cancer, or healing
from cancer.
“It’s more of a celebration of life,” she
added.
DERBY RESULTS
Individual Women (Laps)
1) Rachel Callahan (65)
2) Carol Bolstad (55)
3) Savannah Boersma (47)
Individual Men
1) Grom Gorley (78)
2) Tony Bolstad (66)
3) Tamir Hayman (64)
Individual Foilboarding
1) Cynthia Brown (71)
Individual Grom
1) Bataya Boersma (51)
2) John Michael Harman (49)
3) Savannah Boersma (47)
Team Foilboarding
1) Ride Engine (Patrick Rebstock, Reed Brady,
Sebastien Sutter, Brendan Richards)
2) Liquid Force (Brandon Scheid, Julien Fillion,
Jason Slezak)
3) LP Foils (Drew Christianson, Fred Hope, Mark
Ribkoff)
Team Kiteboarding
1) Naish / Cabrinha (74)
– (Naish: Michael Duhaime, Ewan Jaspan, Katie
Potter, Jesse Richman)
– (Cabrinha: Matt Elsasser, James Boulding, Reo
Stevens, Damien LeRoy)
3) Team OG 2nd Wind Sports (64) (Mark Barnes,
Scott Edgar, Pepi Gerald, John Gilman)
Hot temperatures stressing Pacific Northwest fish
Fish and wildlife agencies encourage anglers to focus on warm-water species
By BEN MITCHELL
News staff writer
Cooler weather finally returned to the
Gorge this past weekend, ending a two-week
period where the mercury refused to dip
below 90 degrees and on more than one occa-
sion, soared into the triple digits.
And while the return to more typical July
temperatures (highs in the low 80s) were un-
doubtedly welcome for many Gorge resi-
dents, the heat wave and low water levels
have had negative effects on Pacific North-
west salmon.
Starting at the beginning of the month,
multiple fish hatcheries around the North-
west, including ones in the Gorge, began re-
leasing salmon earlier than usual into area
rivers due to the high temperatures and low
water levels that were stressing salmon. In
the Gorge, the Little White Salmon and
Willard national fish hatcheries on the
Washington side of the Columbia River re-
cently released a total of six million upriver
bright salmon a week earlier than usual, an-
ticipating a rise in river temperatures that
are already unusually high, and mark the
third summer in a row where temperatures
are higher than ever, according to the U.S.
Fish and Wildlife Service.
“As rising temperatures alter our land-
scapes, we must also pay attention to the way
that our riverscapes – the lifeblood of our re-
gion – are being altered,” said Roy Elicker,
assistant regional Director for fisheries in
the service’s Pacific region. “Reduced snow-
pack and warmer weather have changed the
aquatic environment and we need to adapt
our management.”
The warm temperatures can stress fish by
making them more susceptible to disease. A
couple weeks ago, the Oregon Department of
Fish and Wildlife found around 45 “dead or
distressed” sockeye salmon in a four-mile
stretch of the Deschutes River, beginning at
the confluence with the Columbia as well as
several dead sockeye from the banks of the
Columbia near the confluence. ODFW re-
ported that the fish had died due to a disease
called columnaris, “a bacterial infection typ-
ically associated with high water tempera-
tures and/or low levels of dissolved oxygen.”
The fish were identified as “fin-clipped
smolts” that appeared to be from the Colum-
bia and were “bound for other upriver loca-
tions who likely swam into the Deschutes in
search of cooler water.” Rod French, an
ODFW fish biologist who works in The
Dalles, expressed concerns about the num-
ber of fish kills increasing if the Pacific
Northwest doesn’t see a change in drought
conditions.
“These low water levels and high tempera-
tures can be lethal to some fish,” he said. “If
there is any good news, it’s that the native
Deschutes redband trout and steelhead are
genetically adapted to withstand periods of
warmer water.”
Earlier this month, the Clackamas and the
Willamette rivers reached temperatures of
69 degrees and 80 degrees, respectively, ac-
cording to Rick Swart, public information of-
ficer for ODFW’s northwest region. He said
those river temperatures are “10 degrees
warmer than a year ago.” On the Columbia,
the temperature at the same time had risen
into the mid-70s.
Despite the unusually high temperatures,
Swart said he was not aware of any ODFW
hatcheries on the Oregon side of the Gorge
that has released fish early, noting that
“every hatchery is different and has a differ-
ent set of circumstances and a different set
of goals.” He did say, however, that the ques-
tion of whether or not to release fish early is
“one that comes up a lot,” and hasn’t been
ruled out. Swart added that ODFW would
also consider other options to reduce stress
on the fish, such as covering hatchery race-
ways (an artificial channel used for rearing
fish) or increasing the oxygen content of the
water by altering its flow into the hatchery.
As a result of the water conditions, fishery
managers in Oregon and Washington have
altered the daily catch limit for salmon fish-
File photo by Adam Lapierre
CHINOOK SALMON get ready to spawn in the waters of Eagle Creek in this photo taken last Oc-
tober. Unusually high temperatures and low water levels have put stress on salmon and other fish
species this summer.
eries “on the Columbia River upstream to
the Oregon/Washington border, 17 miles up-
river from McNary Dam.” The new catch
limit holds anglers to one adult chinook
salmon per day — whether or not it is
marked as a hatchery fish — as part of their
overall catch. Since mid-June, anglers have
been allowed to catch two adult chinook a
day, but were required to release those not
marked as a hatchery fish by a missing adi-
pose fin. Ron Roler, Columbia River policy
coordinator for WDFW, said the new catch
limit is designed to reduce the number of
adult summer chinook salmon that are
hooked and released.
ODFW reports that the low water levels
and high temperatures have been affecting
the number of fish anglers have been able to
catch, although the agency noted that both
summer sockeye and chinook returns have
exceeded preseason estimates. Rick Har-
grave, ODFW information and education di-
vision administrator, said that as conditions
deteriorate and fish become more stressed,
they “stop biting or retreat to deeper, cooler
water where they are harder to catch.”
ODFW advised anglers to take a number of
steps to reduce stress on the fish during
catch-and-release fishing, such as fishing
earlier in the day when temperatures are
cooler, fishing in high elevation lakes or
shaded streams near headwaters, using bar-
bless hooks, and landing the fish quickly.
Hargrave also said ODFW is adjusting stock-
ing schedules to put fish in waters that have
the best conditions.
Swart also said ODFW has been “focusing
on warm water fish and directing people to
the warm water fisheries.” He said fish
species such as walleye and bass “become
more active in these warmer waters and they
may actually be improved, and that makes
them a good alternative to cold water fish-
eries.” He said Henry Hagg Lake in Forest
Grove is a “world-class warm water fishery,”
and ODFW also identified ponds along Inter-
state 84 near the Hood River/Wasco county
line as another good place to fish for warm
water species.
For more information regarding regula-
tions and fishing recommendations, go to
ODFW’s website at www.dfw.state.or.us and
look under the “fishing” tab.