My friend and I got a 2 person, 4 line introductory kiteboard lesson today with Luke. Then, we took a little break and had separate individual water lessons with Luke and Dana. They got the jetskis, Bluetooth helmets- and went off to a quiet place down river away from all the other people (was actually busy on a Tuesday in September!). Both Dana and Luke were excellent instructors. Very patient, very insightful. They did everything perfectly for my friend and I. Our background is many years of wakeboarding and wake surfing behind boats. I had used a trainer kite. My friend had not. At the end of the second lesson that day- both of us were able to get up and ride both directions for a little bit. Two beginner lessons back to back was a lot. Both of us are beyond mid 40's. But we ride summer pretty hardcore behind the boats. At the end, we were spent- but felt great to have been able to do it in one day. I think we'd need at least one or two more lessons - or just supervision to get the transition of tacking back and forth down. We paid over $500 each - not including tip. But i think the price was in line with the amount of water time and jet ski support available. Anyway, I'd recommend both Luke and Dana as your instructors. Hope they continue teaching. Of course your results are going to vary greatly depending on your own experience, fitness and tolerance of water in the face when the wind blows and you're in the middle of the Columbia River!! read more

Cascade Kiteboarding - The school - Kiteboarding Near Me - Hood River, Oregon

I took most of my lessons with Tanguy at Cascade and I have to say I owe it all to his style and general approach to teaching. He was able to point out everything I needed to do differently to finally get out on my own. He's an absolute asset to the Cascade team and I'd highly recommend booking him for your next lesson, you won't regret it. Thanks Tanguy read more

Two thumbs way up! This was my second trip to the Gorge and have been extremely pleased with the experience with Cascade Kiteboarding both times. While this is probably a sport that shouldn't be taken up once eligible for social security that didn't stop the instructors. The instruction from Nadia, Mel and Mike was right on point. Each brought encouragement, helpful individualized kiting tips, and enthusiasm to the lesson. Now that they got me making water starts, I am looking forward to more lessons with Cascade Kiteboarding to continue to progress on the water. Tons of fun. read more

I have been spending money on kiteboarding schools for a long time - given that I had to get myself and my 3 kids up and kiteboarding. Nadia took my last kid who had been struggling with the last bit of technique to get riding and a 2.5 hour lesson with Cascade made it happen. Equipment was good with jet ski and radio helmets - which makes learning the sport that much easier. I would recommend Cascade as a top quality school. read more

This was a lot of fun, challenging but rewarding. Alec was an amazing instructor, easygoing, encouraging and funny! I loved every minute and I hope I can come back soon for the next lesson. Highly recommend. read more

First visit to Hood River. Heard the wind can blow and it did not disappoint! I'm a beginner and with gusts in the 40's, I got lit up and lifted up more than once. I was always in competent hands with my instructor Will. The staff there especially Katie were all very helpful. I learned tons from Will, and back home, kiting the waters of Orange County will appear calm compared to Hood River! We had a wonderful experience and would recommend Cascade for anyone looking to improve their kiting skills! 5-stars for Cascade! I'll be back! read more

Nothing but compliments and good things to say about Cascade Kiteboarding. My instructor was Liam, and I had an afternoon weekday lesson. I've taken a couple of lessons from other instructors, and there are a few things that really set Cascade apart from the others. First off, the Bluetooth helmets are an incredible learning tool. Not only do they enable two-way communication at all times between you and your instructor, but they allow consistent and constant learning (meaning you don't need to stop and wait for your instructor to catch up to you, explain what you need to do, then go after and have to wait again). The moment you fall, you get instant feedback and good to go. Secondly, they take you out to a more remote location than the sandbar that most people are learning at. A short jetski ride down the river, and you have almost an entire area to yourself that you don't have to worry about crashing into someone (or worse - someone crashing into you). And the instructor was very professional and knowledgeable. He was able to pinpoint what I needed to work on and how to be doing it. Overall, a very excellent experience, I definitely will be back and recommend these guys to anyone! read more

I was in town feeling really nervous about hitting the big river with my lack of experience so I saw the Cascade Kiteboarding kiosk and thought I would give them a try on memorial weekend. They where super quick on the scheduling, making it really painless and really gave me confidence for what I was signing up for. My Instructor's name was Ben, He isn't super chatty and when it came teaching he did an excellent job. His calm demeanor really put me at ease and he gave me feedback when I needed it. To me Kiteboarding can be really overwhelming when learning and all my previous instructors where super intense dudes on red bull and just made things more frantic. I made more progress from Ben's instruction then all 6 of my previous lessons. I can actually Kite Board now! read more

First Yelp review in my life and its only because the experience was THAT good. Did the intro lesson with Dana and had the best time ever! She is a great communicator, patient, and very knowledgeable. For anyone out there who is interested in kiteboarding but might be worried it'd be too difficult or scary, please please pleeeeeeease do yourself a favor and take a lesson so you don't miss out on a seriously amazing experience. They provide all the equipment you'll need for the lesson and it was all in great condition, plus, Dana made the whole process safe, fun, and really easy to understand. We accomplished everything we set out to that day and gained a lot of new skills and confidence even though the wind was a little unpredictable (sometimes gusty and sometimes at a lull) and I have to credit all my success despite the challenging conditions to Dana's instruction. I would recommend this sport to anyone I know and, even more than that, would recommend Cascade Kiteboarding as the place to learn. If Dana is any indicator of the caliber of the rest of the staff, you'll be in amazing hands and have an awesome time with any of the instructors there! Thank you Dana and everyone else for an amazing time! Can't wait to see you all for the next lesson!! read more

Before reading further, if you are considering going here DON'T prepay your lessons as the owner Tonia tells you to do. Now onto the rest of the review. Paid for 6 water lessons with a jet ski in advance. There was some slight discount for that. Had 3 lessons with one instructor Burgess who was excellent. He was great in his style of teaching, great input but not overwhelming. I had one lesson with another instructor there who was awful. Pretty much seemed disinterested in teaching, spent the entire lesson on his jet ski, seemed to have no clue about how a harness should fit. Furthermore the kite itself and bar system were broken, the chicken loop was elongated and the depower cleat wouldn't hold the rope resulting in the kite have max power the whole day. Some people are not cut out to teach. He was a nice enough guy but weak instructor. My girlfriend did a land based kite flying intro. The owner of the school Tonia tried to apply a full water lesson which I prepaid to her lesson. The normal land intro kite lesson is over 125 bucks less. No jet invoved, less equipment etc.. After a bunch of back and forth after the fact the owner Tonia agreed to credit me the difference to be applied to either my cc or future lessons. She handled that well. What she didn't do is acknowledge the fact that I only had 4 lessons. She cancelled one of my lessons due to light wind. That exact slot I walked over to another school who had time and I had one of the best sessions of the week with them. After a couple emails and attempts to reach by phone it appears she isn't refunding the credit on the kiteflying lesson or my lesson. This has been a 450 buck lesson as why Cascade Kiteboarding should only be paid as you go. There are many many great kiteboarding schools in that area and great shops such as bigwinds who have instructors to refer you to. Businesses who have no respect for customers money, and don't respond to the customer knowing the customer is upset deserve to be exposed for what they are. STAY AWAY from CASCADE KITEBOARDING The charge will end up being disputed. read more

If I could give more than five stars, I would. These guys are literally the best. I've taken four rounds of lessons over the past three years with Cascade and the experience never changes - super professional, friendly and encouraging. Kiting has been the hardest thing to learn for me, and they've been the ones who have gotten me to the point where I'm pretty much independent. HUGE shout out to Nadja, who took me through major progress this week, and was patient, encouraging and gave me thoughtful advice that worked! I loved learning with her. I'll be back! read more

Cascade has top notch equipment: North (now Duotone) kites, jetskis, and two-way radio helmets. But I was disappointed by the quality of my instruction this year, especially relative to the cost of my water lessons, $330/pop. I took lessons with two different instructors on two different days this week. One guy was super positive and cheerful, but couldn't really direct the lesson or provide responsive command as an instructor, perhaps owing to his very young age. The other was a heavy-set older guy who had been teaching for 10+ years. He had experience to speak from, and some of that was very helpful as we were reviewing safety protocol, but in the actual lesson he didn't always talk in a way that was clear or easy to understand. I also felt he talked at me a lot, instead of feeling out where I was in my situation on the water and with my experience level. I have taken probably 30 or so kiting lessons all over the world: Peru, Brazil, Turks & Caicos, Mexico, Sherman Island, CA. I have paid less money for better instruction elsewhere. read more

I'm a fairly advanced kiter but wanted to learn some new tricks, so I signed up for lessons from Tonia at Cascade in the summer of 2012. She's a fantastic instructor -- great with descriptions and demos, clear with feedback, super encouraging, and really visibly in love with teaching. I'm also a professional instructor (in mountain biking) so I'm often a difficult student to please (because I know just how awesome instruction can be). But the lessons I took with Tonia were more than worth my time and money. I'll go back to her this summer for sure. There's always more to learn! read more

Great people at a beautiful location. Tonia and her crew are as nice as can be, very professional, and were extremely accommodating of my schedule. My instructor, Liam, then got me up and surfing in really difficult conditions. It was a great time and I can't recommend them enough. read more

I stopped by to inquire concerning gear rental prices and was quoted $185 for the day. This is a RIDICULOUS price for an IKO3N certified rider. I stopped by another vendor also at the event site and paid $65 for a half-day. I rode on new gear and was fully set up with a wetsuit, board, bar, etc. I won't say the name of the vendor, but you should check the other vendors before renting from Cascade. read more

The fine folks at Cascade taught both my husband and myself how to kiteboard. We worked with most of their instructors, and they were all great teachers. There was genuine concern for our safety, and they were perhaps as excited as we were when we each finally got up and moving around. I cannot recommend them highly enough. read more