Gorge Performance

Amazing service from Matt at Gorge today. He knows his stuff and was willing to go out of his way to get me what I needed for a last minute surf trip. Thanks Matt and thanks Gorge!

We decided on a whim to do some paddle boarding, and we had been recommended by a friend to try Gorge Performance the day before. We emailed them the night before we wanted to do it just to see if they had any availability, and they called us back in the morning to set up a same-​day appointment. Kim, the customer service agent on the phone, was very helpful and friendly, and let me verify that the available time worked for us before we booked it.
We were total rookies to stand-​up paddle boarding, and Wendy, our instructor, was fantastic. She was knowledgeable, friendly, inquisitive and just cool. And she tailors her teaching style to the individuals she is working with. She gave us some instruction on land first, and then we put it to practice quickly in the water. We also liked that she offered suggestions but wasn’t overbearing or judgmental, and she was cool with us just chilling here and there to sit down, get in the water, and look at the scenery. She was punctual, but didn’t make it seem like we were on a time schedule or needed to get back to the dock in a hurry. And as visitors to the area, we also appreciated that she had a lot to offer about things to do locally.
We give Wendy, Kim and Gorge Performance our highest recommendation, and would not hesitate to return!

Just rode my new 130 Liq Force kiteboard. It is Awesome! Thank you Alex. Very knowledgeable and helpful. It’s great to have a good kite shop in town.

Great experience with booking and the SUP lesson from Kim. Felt I got all I could get from the lesson and feel confident in tackling the lakes and river now. Will be hiring gear soon! Had purchased snorkeling kit before and had great service too.

Great customer service! :) I did an online order with Gorge and ended up needing to contact them but the service I received exceeded my expectations. They responded extremely quick and were beyond helpful. Thank you Bob and the rest of the Gorge crew! :)

This is a review of the rude customer service at the store. I just moved to OR from California and I have a stand up paddle board and was looking for some winter gear so I can keep paddling through the rain, I also started kite boarding back in California and was looking to continue lessons in the gorge.
After finishing a morning paddle I stopped by to look at some booties for the winter and maybe some winter layers I also thought I would ask them about any kiting teachers they could recommend. I pulled up the the store and there were about 5 people sitting on the front steps of the store, I walked up and not a single hello or «welcome! how can we help you?» just silence!
After squeaking by the people sitting on the front steps I walk up to the front counter and wait for some one to help me. The store is completely empty only me shopping. After about 5 minutes one of the people from the front steps comes inside and stands behind the counter. I then choose to initiate conversation. I ask if he can recommend any kite boarding instructors he gives me a flat out «no» after a little bit of pressing, he then asks another guy walking by if he can recommend any one, and they hand me a generic link to some kite boarding website. I ask again and he response with «well there may be some places in Hood River you could talk to» they both seemed annoyed that I would even ask a question about kite boarding, and after they answered continued to ignore me.
I did not think it was unreasonable to ask about kite boarding being as it says its one of the things they cater to on the giant sign in front of there store. But really what annoyed me was there unapproachable attitudes and complete lack of customer service. I understand they might not provide kite lessons but he could have at least tried to have a conversation with me about it being as they are the people who are selling the stuff that goes along with kite boarding. I was also making a choice to go and attempt to support a local business instead of buy on line. Because to be honest I can buy everything they sell for the same prices if not cheaper on line. Needless to say at that point I did not feel compelled to buy any surf booties and left. I just wish they had been a little nicer and more welcoming so I would want to give them my business. I guess I will just have to go to one of those stores in Hood River and spend my money there…

Best SUP store in Portland!!!
I tried standup paddle-​boarding during my recent trip to Mexico. I was hooked! I came back home and got on-​line, but really wanted to see the board in person before purchasing. I stopped by Gorge Performance and they had a huge inventory to select from. Plus, their staff was super helpful and Jackson spent over and hour with me to help figure out the best board for what I wanted to do (river, lakes, and surf). Bob, the owner is super-​helpful too and gave me lots of tips. All their staff is super-​friendly and helpful.
I think some of the negative comments on Unilocal may be because in the high-​season they get super-​busy with rentals, etc., so just be patient with them and they’ll take good care of you. They have an awesome selection of rentals too, from beginner (super-​stable) to advance (race-​style) to choose from. You can rent for 3 hours increments.
I purchased the board that is perfect for me, a 10’6″ Rivera. Their price was $ 100 lower than purchasing on-​line, they included a huge discount on the carbon-​fiber paddle (or you get a free entry-​level paddle), free leash, and FREE DELIVERY to my home! Best of all I feel better supporting local business and having a place I can find everything I need. They have a full-​selection of wetsuits (even for women, like me) and other accessories for SUP. I love this place and would give a 10-​star if I could.

Ordered a snowboard that I demo-​ed last year from their online store. Excellent customer service and speedy replies through email. Will definitely be using them for more purchases in the future!

Helpful, very nice employees! Was in a rush and they were able to meet my sense of urgency and any questions I had were addressed extremely well!
Love this store… the variety is great! If your a boarder of any kind, this is the place to go!

I stopped GP by to rent a wetsuit and board and the staff seemed uninterested and moderately helpful at best. I stated it was my first time surfing and expected them to equip me with everything I needed. They gave me a wetsuit and board but no hood. When I quickly discovered this was a problem after paddling out a few mins, I was unable to use the equipment due to a painful ice cream head ache. I mentioned this at the time I returned the equipment and the check-​in employee immediately blamed my not knowing to ask for a hood on me. «You didn’t know one was included? All you had to do was ask.» When I asked him if they would consider comp-​ing me a rental day in the future since I had just spent $ 80 renting and driving to the coast and back and not getting to surf due to their failure to give me adequate gear, the employee scoffed defensively and said, «no way.»
I emailed customer service and didn’t hear anything. So I emailed them again 4 months later. Someone (they signed the email «Gorge staff» — very personal) got back to me with no apology for the delay in response and simply confirmed that it was indeed my fault for not knowing to ask for a hood. They also stated multiple times in a condescending manner that «the weather in Oregon is variable in the winter» (what does this obvious fact have to do with you guys not giving me a hood?!). I have never had my legitimate concerns so rudely twisted into being my fault while at the same time being repeatedly belittled by a «local small business that prides themselves on customer service» — their words in the email.
This place is complete garbage from its location, to the floor staff, to the management. Not sure if it is just a front for a grow operation, but it’s absolutely shocking to me that this establishment sells anything and has loyal customers based on my experience. Their pretentious attitude and lack of customer service is disgusting. In the future, I will be renting from a surf shop that cares about their customers and goes the extra mile; not a place like this that gives you the middle finger once your money is in their register.

I went into this shop looking for a new kiteboard. They had a decent selection but everything was priced at msrp. I stood there for 15 minutes checking them out and not one person came and helped me. There were two employees standing right next to me talking to an older women about buying a SUP the entire time. They didn’t even look at me. I even kind of stood there looking at them helplessly and they refused to turn their attention away from this other women for one second. There was two of them! I feel like I was stereotyped and they thought they had a better chance getting a sale with her. Too bad for them because I went to hood river the next day and bought a brand new board. Not going back.

We took a 90 minute stand up paddle board lesson with Wendy, as she came highly recommended from a friend who took lessons from her. She was amazing! She truly enjoys the art of paddle boarding and seems like she loves educating others! I picked it up a bit slower than my partner but she was able to work with the both of us at different paces! She doesn’t push you to so anything that makes you uncomfortable, but definitely encourages you to get the most out of the lesson! She was able to educate us on as much possible about paddle boarding in that short 90 minutes, and I truly feel more educated on the activity and the boards/​accessories for any future paddle board trips! I would absolutely hands down recommend her for a lesson of any skill level!

I’ve purchased quite a bit of gear from these guys and for the most part they are a pretty good group. There are a couple of ‘bros’ in there though that, if you ran into them in a line-​up (if they can even surf,) they would probably vibe you, drop in on you etc.
I took my sister there to rent some gear recently. The kid that set us up was really cool and knowledgable. We set her up with a well used 8′ NSP and 4 mm suit.
We had a fun day in the water; I got my sister into a few waves between my own sessions and she had a blast.
Here’s why I’m giving them 3 stars: a fin snapped off the board. She did NOT ride it up on the sand, hit it on a rock, or otherwise mistreat the board. The fin must have been cold-​worked by 2 dozen kooks before we got it, because it just snapped off in a normal newbie wipeout in 3′ of water.
So, I happen to have a bunch of fins laying around, and it so happened I had a cheap FCS that was nearly a match. I sent it along with my sister and the board when she returned it– I figured it would save her 10 or 20 bucks.
So here’s my beef– dude that took the return? Why did you have to be such a D about a snapped fin? It happens. Drop your pretentious BS bro– it’s an epoxy NSP with cheap a$$ fins and its a friggen rental! Plus we replaced it with a BETTER fin! Seriously dude, get over yourself.
I have friends that have had similar complaints about the ‘bro-​iness’ at Gorge and won’t shop there anymore. I don’t think I’m there yet, but all it might take is one more pretentious ‘bro’ to keep me away for good.

Matt answered the phone and answered all my questions. When I arrived, the groms that work there greeted me quickly enough to feel like these kids might give me some decent service if they ended up being my personal helper. Matt helped me select the my board and had already set aside a board bag to match it.
Matt was a great help and he didn’t make a big deal about the lack of a tag on the board bag. It had just come out of the box, so I didn’t expect it to have a tag.
Overall it was a great experience and Matt had a great sense of humor and a mellow attitude. I will definitely be going back and will have no problem recommending this shop to others

Ricky at Gorge Performance is a lifesaver. Well, that may be a bit dramatic but he definitely went above and beyond for this newby surfer. When it looked like my ordered surfboard wasn’t going to be to the shop in time for me to pick it up and dash off to my first girls’ surfing weekend at Otter Rock :), Ricky took it upon himself to go to the shipping warehouse and pick up my board at the crack of dawn to insure that I had my new board for my trip. He rocks. Thanks Ricky! I will definitely be a customer for life :)

I just completed my intro to stand up paddle boarding with Matt. He had me standing within 10 minutes! It was awesome as we paddled across the Willamette. I was a little shaky, but Matt calmed my nerves and guided me through the paddle techniques. I can’t wait to go again!

Don’t bother. Especially on a Saturday morning when the help is hungover and clearly doesn’t want to be at work. After purchasing two surf boards and an SUP there, I thought it would be an easy chore to have them fix a few small dings in the SUP. The ding repair dude claimed the board was beyond repair and wouldn’t touch it. Even though I bought it there the week before for $ 800.00. Awesome!

During my visit to Portland from San Francisco, I had an itch to go paddleboarding on the Wilamette river. I’m glad I found Gorge Performance for SUP rentals.
They charge $ 30 for a SUP for 3 hours, which seems like a great deal compared to the prices back home. Only after I asked what type of boards they had available, did I learn that they had both full displacement hulls and planing hulls. I took a 12′ NSP touring board, but I also saw they had an NSP racing board and a BARK Dominator, and a few other other brands I wasn’t familiar with.
The nicer boards cost more to rent — $ 45 for 3 hours, which is more in line with home… but still, I was happy that they had nice boards.
They also had carbon paddles — both adjustable and some cut to specific lengths, also at an up-​charge. But I had 4 hours to kill and I was psyched to have a nice setup for a long haul.
Apparently floatation vests must be carried on board (not necessarily worn), but they didn’t have the NSP board laced up with bungee cord, so there was no easy way to carry it without wearing it. It seems a shame that they didn’t take advantage of the boards tie downs. :(
Also, it would have been nice if they had a spring coiled leash, instead of the standard leash — at least on the faster boards.
Lastly, it’s about a 5 minute walk to get the board into the water at a nearby park. They strapped my board to some wheels to make it easy to wheel to the park, but it wasn’t something I was expecting.
Still the staff was super friendly — seemed genuinely happy that I was excited to go out for a paddle and didn’t charge extra when I came back 30 minutes late.
Oh, and the river itself was OK. I guess I was excited to see down town Portland from the water, but in hindsight, maybe it would have been better to stay near the wild life refuge. The river near down town has lots of freeway traffic noise. I stopped for lunch — I think there’s only one restaurant right on the water (Newport Bay?). Still — it made my day to get a nice long paddle in on super flat water.

Just stopped by this week to check out snowboards for a gift for my boyfriend. The staff was super kind and helpful; showing me the new boards from this season and taking time when I told him I was on a budget to show me last years models that were super discounted, as well as their consignment section (available on-​line as well). Even though I told him I wasn’t planning to buy anything that day they were still super helpful and patient and showed me all they had to offer and answered my questions.
Ended up going back a few days later to get snowboard boots (the snowboard will have to wait till I have more money in my pocket!) and again Al helped us out and was super patient no pressure and helped us pick out a great pair of boots.
If your into supporting independent local businessess this is your ticket, and they are super helpful with returns, etc and their prices are competetive and often better than big stores; plus you get one on one assistance from people that actually use and know the equipment they sell (but don’t act pretentious about it) A breath of fresh air in the current retail world.
It is shops like this that make it worthwhile to buy something in person and not on-​line.
And Their website is also super complete and easy to use.
And If your driving at a time that there is any traffic and your coming from Macadam, just take a left on Miles (or go straight from Taylor’s Ferry). There are directions on the website (under rentals) it’s not really a big deal you don’t have to risk your life to get there.

I bought a pair of snowboard bindings here because I like to support local shops, and these guys have been around for many years.
I destroyed two pairs of Flow bindings in two years, and they truly went above and beyond to help me out.
I was super impressed because it had been almost two years since I bought the bindings, and after my second pair blew apart I really thought it was going to be the manufacturer’s problem. But they were happy to send them back to Flow for me, and follow up to see what was going on a week later.
What put them over the top to a five star rating in my eyes, was that they were willing to apply the purchase price of the Flows to a different brand and model, and I just paid the difference. They could have just given me the warranty replacement pair Flow sent, but they let me buy a sweet pair of Gnu bindings that have been amazing: the best I’ve ever had and way more solid than the Flow bindings.