Issue link: https://bluemagazine.uberflip.com/i/25037
text: robin roth_photo: dan sherwood BOARDING ON BURNSIDE Skateboarding is illegal in most of downtown Portland, but the Burnside skateboard park, under the east side of Portland's Burnside Bridge, is world renowned. Completely covered (Portland's precipitation is bogus for boards) and built by skaters for skaters, Burnside has two pools and an abundance of cavernous con- crete curves. Best of all, in the spirit of the sport itself, it's free. Call Cal Skate and Sports (213 NW Couch; 503-248-0495) for gear. FREE BIKES hour May is national bike month, but here every day is bike day. Bicvcfing Magazine named Portland one of the nation's most bike-friendly cities, with smart urban planning, intelli gent layout, and compact, uncongested streets. Portland's stringent environmental ethic led to even more biking-the creation of its yellow bike program, one of the nation's first. Yellow bikes are free for the riding here; just pick one up anywhere you find it and drop it off at any spot on the street when you're done. Call Community Cycling Center (503-288-8864). SUMMER SKIING Summer shouldn't spoil your powderlust. Snowboarders and skiers alike are drawn to peerless summer ski ing at Oregon's Mt Hood, with two resorts open during the season. Mt Hood Meadows is the area's biggest and busiest ski stop, with 10 chair lifts. But better than that: if you're turning 30 this year, ski for free on your birthday, with two forms of 10. Snow conditions: 503-227-7669. Ski areas: 503-337-2222. and Nnrth'J\J",,�t natural history with a through the scenic Columbia Gorge or the Eagle Cap Area--near the Oregon where 30,000 pioneers once trav With an ecosystem more like the than Oregon's volcanic Cascades, area was carved by glaciers in the last ice with granite and marble mountains. Call LMU,,,,,,"nf! Creek llama Treks (800-528-9609). WET DREAMS AT HOOD RIVER Drive past lumberjack taverns and the scenic Multnomah Falls to Hood River, a windsurfer's wet dream. The Gorge is drier and warmer than the coast, as low air pressure in the summer funnels wind from the west inwards to the Gorge and Oregon's eastern desert. Rhonda Smith Windsurfing Center (541 -386-9463 or 800- 241-2430) offers day classes, private lessons and weekend clinics, open 15 May to 15 September for the 1998 season. SURF THE OREGON COAST All along Oregon's jagged coast, offshore winds and Pacific swells make for supreme surf, breaking 12 to 15 feet on a perfect day. Northern winds send waves to south-facing beaches, making spots such as Shorty's, Haystack Rock and Silver Point epic even in summer. Even in warmer weather the water is a mere 62"F-and usually much cold hour radius er-so wetsuits are always required. Call Cleanlines Surf Shop (719 First St; 503-738-7888) for gear and condi- tions. CLIMB SMITH ROCK Smith Rock is a rock climbing mecca in the central Oregon desert. Vertical Ventures (541- 389-7937) in Bend teaches begin ners the basics, along with inter mediate and advanced climbing tech niques. The one- to three-day clinics also work with women and at-risk youth. WALK ON THE WILD SIDE With only five percent of the Pacific Northwest's old growth forests still standing, see them while you can. Naturalists lead Ancient Forest Adventures' trips in the peak of wildflower season. Go on overnight hikes or personalized tours through peaks, rivers and waterfalls, complete with spotted owls, great blue herons and lodge building beavers. Hikers learn to identify the hemlock's lacy foliage, the bark of the spruce tree and edible goodies such as a manifold of mushrooms and berries. Call 503-248-0492 or 800-248-0414. I' r d r !f