Portland Outdoor Activities

With more than 25 years of maritime experience, Shane St. Clair captains Scovare Expeditions' fleet of sailboats, unveiling the windblown channels of the Willamette River to budding sailors and sightseeing passengers. During sailing tours, passengers can bob across the river while taking in the views of the volcanic caldera of Elk Rock Island or feast on three-course meals as the sails fill up with wind like a balloon ruining its dinner. On frosty winter days, a heated Norwegian Harbor launch vessel or a cozy, covered Hunter 260 sailboat keeps guests toasty. Those interested in learning the ropes can sign up for sailing lessons, where savvy instructors teach novices how to command the helm, guide the lines, and barter with miserly seagulls.

Having reeled in 25 years of experience as a licensed fishing pro, Steve Roberts shares tricks of the trade during half-day and full-day fishing trips, welcoming avid anglers and beginners alike onto his fully equipped fishing vessels. Throughout the year, Steve and company track down seasonal targets. Winter trips focus on chinook, or winter steelhead, and autumn trips chase after coho salmon—a feisty fish notorious for fighting under water and starting bar brawls on land. No matter what the target, every trip with Steve includes all the necessary gear and an endless stream of expert advice.

A former three-sport standout at the University of Oregon and current Oregon sports commentator, Jordan Kent employs his athletic experience to lead kids' day camps filled with football, basketball, and soccer drills and competitions. Part of the nonprofit Jordan Kent Foundation, Jordan Kent Skill Camps seek to build self-confidence and discipline in young athletes of all ability levels. For one week, campers train under Jordan and his team of coaches comprised of local high-school athletes, former college athletes, and adult volunteers. The camps aim to teach boys and girls ages 7–13 the value of character and hard work as they engage in a series of scrimmages and contests. A nutritious lunch is provided each day to keep energy levels high, and coaches also build nutrition education into the camps to jumpstart healthy eating habits. On the last day, campers leave with a cookbook full of good snack and meal ideas, as well as a SportHill T-shirt, helping kids remember their time at camp without having to create elaborate cave paintings on the walls of their forts.

When Matt Antis was in college, he was introduced to the practice of parkour—an intensely physical sport focused on efficiently navigating obstacles such as walls, bars, and whatever else happens to be nearby. After college, Matt Antis headed off to train for the US Army, then served in Iraq. When he returned in 2010, he married his fiancée, Whitney—and a year later, he took over ownership of Revolution Parkour.

Now, Whitney, who's also a parkour enthusiast, manages the front desk as Matt and his team of instructors teach students the gravity-defying skills of parkour and free running. Within a gym drenched in reds, blues, and spots of graffiti-style artwork, they lead classes ranging from beginner parkour to Parkour Fit, which emphasizes endurance and speed with challenging courses. Students balance on beams, vault over small barriers, and swing across bars, building strength and coordination. The staff emphasizes safety, keeping a watchful eye on students, taking the time to teach proper technique, and positioning cushy pads and magic carpets to break falls.

At each of several one-day festivals held throughout the country, thousands of revelers unite in an epic clash of pulp, beer, and live music. Armed with a cache of 300,000 tomatoes, participants don protective bathing suits and goggles and hurl the fruit at one another during a two-hour battle. Throughout the afternoon, live music and costume contests offer an entertaining respite from the front lines, as bartenders dispense drafts of beer to attendees older than 21, refueling soldiers' morale before they resign to writing goodbye letters to their produce vendors back home. All tomatoes used during the event are past ripe and already fated for disposal, making the battle an efficient means of tossing them before their cursed transformation into singing Muppets.

For its 2012 Halloween season, Four Horsemen Haunted Attractions treats fright-seekers to a double helping of scares with two connected haunted houses spanning more than 18,000 square feet. The gut-wrenching walkthroughs kick off with Grimtales, a ghastly spectacle that brings out the horror hiding beneath the surface of the Brothers Grimm’s famous fairytales. Dressed in macabre interpretations of such characters as Little Red Riding Hood and the Pied Piper, Four Horsemen's actors elicit screams through dialogue and shocking reveals, elevating the genre beyond cheap-and-dirty scare tactics, such as jumping out from behind a door or dressing up like each guest’s high-school gym teacher. Pestilence plunges already on-edge patrons into a necromantic nightmare, walking them through the story of an evil cult that has begun to reanimate the dead. Scripted live-action sequences and seamlessly integrated video back up roving monsters, creating a uniquely immersive haunted experience.