Our friends at Loco Por La Aventura have opened a brick and mortar outdoor retail store on the Central Eastside, and Beer & Gear feature writer Ellee Thalheimer caught up with them for Oregon Business. Ellee first introduced us to Maria Teresa Lopes and Anibal Rocheta when she covered Loco Por La Aventura for Beer & Gear, which you can read here!
Loco Por La Aventura organizes hiking, mountaineering, snowshoeing, rafting, camping, mountain biking, and rock climbing trips – all guided in Spanish.
“We want to be the bridge between outdoor recreation and the Latino community, which can experience barriers of money, language, and transportation,” says Lopes, who spearheads community engagement. “That being said, our store is for everyone, not just Latinos.”
On June 13, Loco por la Aventura opened BaseCamp Mountaineering Center (544 SE Oak St, Suite 2060). It’s the first Latino-owned outdoor store in Oregon.
“BaseCamp is a fresh concept in outdoor retail; it understands today’s consumers,” says Matthias Paisdzior – co-owner of local outdoor gear brand GOT BAG and board member of the Oregon Outdoor Alliance, an organization which supports and advocates for the outdoor industry. “They connect with a younger, more diverse community and represent the future of retail.”
The new store boasts a great selection of climbing, hiking, mountaineering, rafting, and camping gear (new and used), free workshops in Spanish, led by local community members, and programs designed to uplift historically excluded communities.
Read Ellee’s full Oregon Business article on BaseCamp Mountaineering Center’s Grand Opening here, and head down to BaseCamp for all your outdoor needs.
