Outside Features
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A Hike for Every Day of the Year

Local personal trainer and avid hiker pens a book encouraging readers to hike all year round
Avatar photo by Nicole Vulcan

Sometime in 2015, personal trainer and outdoors-lover Jess Beauchemin came across a web forum that posed a question she found intriguing: Did anyone on the forum have a hiking photo for all the days of the year? Being a regular hiker, Beauchemin used that prompt as the seed of the book she’s putting out this […]

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Release the Craggin’!

Smith Rock Craggin’ Classic event celebrates the climbing life
by Damian Fagan

Smith Rock climbing guidebook author Alan Watts began climbing at Smith in 1975, eventually developing a new style of climbing known as sport climbing. “We were like a counter-culture movement rebelling against a counter culture,” said Watts. The style of climbing the big granite walls of Yosemite didn’t work on Smith’s volcanic rock. Bucking tradition, […]

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A Different Kind of Extracurricular ▶ [with video]

Trap shooting team aims high for this year’s competition
by Damian Fagan

High school students have many extracurricular activities to choose from in Central Oregon. There are traditional sports such as football and volleyball—but here’s one that might surprise you: trap shooting. Mountain View High School hosts a team that competes in the Oregon State High School Clay Target League. The MVHS team includes students in grades […]

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If You’re New Here: Get Your Climb on in Central Oregon This Fall

Read on to get five ideas for getting started with Central Oregon’s climbing community
Avatar photo by K.M. Collins

Are you new to town and looking for some vertical rock wall-ups? Jugs, crimps, lay backs, and sit starts, oh my! Central Oregon is chalk-full of indoor and outdoor bouldering, sport and traditional climbing. World class basalt (splitter cracks and shredder lava rock), welded ash tuff and some of the best manufactured indoor walls that […]

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Pivoting in the Sporting Events Biz

For Chad Sperry of Breakaway Promotions, the name of the game is asking, “What’s next?”
by Linda English

You can’t toss a rock in Central Oregon without landing on a business severely impacted by COVID over the past 18 months. One who knows this story quite well is Chad Sperry, CEO of Breakaway Promotions, a family-run business based in Redmond. In a typical year, Sperry organizes loads of running and cycling events, including the […]

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La Niña Benedictions

Pray for snow, well in advance of ski season, because it looks like a wet one could be ahead
Avatar photo by K.M. Collins

As the summer engulfs Oregon like a tableside service flambé in a fine dining restaurant, rumors of our precipitous savior, La Niña, are circulating. While a good portion of modern Central Oregonians are agnostic or atheist in most facets of their life, when it comes to outdoor sports, those same heathens are happy to pray […]

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What’s Up with Bend’s Whitewater Waves

If you’re new here, or just looking for ways to ride the waves, here’s what to know right now
Avatar photo by K.M. Collins

If you’re a kayaker, some pretty exciting new initiatives are happening in the Bend Whitewater Park these days. Here’s a quick rundown of what’s offered every day at the park for kayakers, followed by a listing of meetups, courtesy Adam Eno, the park’s newest wave shaper. What to expect from each of the four waves […]

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Taking the Plunge into Gravel E-Biking

Whereas a devout gravel rider tries out an e-bike for a speedy weekend
by Linda English

I‘ve cranked more than a few miles over the years on bicycles: road bikes, mountain and my true passion, gravel. I’m not speedy but I can go the distance. I don’t mind rough terrain. I love a long climb and a rippin’ descent. And most of all, I love exploring, especially the backroads of Oregon—even […]

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Serving up the 2021 Northwest Classic Pickleball Tournament

Four-day competition to feature local and traveling players in this fast-growing sport
by Damian Fagan

If you’re interested in dinks and triple drop shots or lobs and lets, you’ll want to take in the 2021 Pacific Northwest Classic Pickleball Tournament, set to begin July 28 at Bend’s Pine Nursery Park and the Bend Pickleball Zone. The tournament, which runs through Sunday, Aug. 1, is organized by the Bend Pickleball Club […]

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Explore Redmond’s Backyard

Dry Canyon and Cline Buttes offer great outdoor opportunities for hikers, bikers, horseback riders, and nature enthusiasts
by Damian Fagan

Everybody loves options. Whether it’s deciding which of the 20+ breweries in Central Oregon to visit or which trail to take, we love having choices. “There’s more to Redmond than most people think,” said Bob Gilbert, Central Oregon Trail Alliance Redmond Chapter representative. “It’s well worth the drive from Bend.” Of the many worthy multiple-use […]

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