Hood River's Best Non-Trail Outdoor Activity

Hood River | Big Winds

OregonLive readers have voted on their favorite places in Hood River. The winner for Best non-trail outdoor activity is stand-up paddling. Stand-up paddling provides about a third of Big Winds business, they also provide for windsurfing and kiteboarding. Read more about Big Winds below. 

He has one of the largest sales and rental shops for stand-up paddling in the United States, if not the largest. Each sport provides about a third of his business these days, but stand-up paddling is more on an upward trajectory.
Paddling can be done by a wider range of participants than wind sports, and it has a much higher female participation than big wind sailing.
Big Winds rents about 60 boards at its shop, in downtown Hood River at 207 Front St. (bigwinds.com, hours are 8:30 a.m. to 6 p.m. in summer), with another 80 boards available seasonally down on the beach. That's where Gates runs his water sports school, at the Hood River Event Site.

SRC: Read full article Hood River's Best of the Best by Terry Richard at: OregonLive.

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