During this winter’s Downtown Showdown in Monument Square, an intent and curious snowboarder looked around and remarked on the energy around this urban freestyle skiing demonstration.
“Portland needs more things like this,” said city resident Trevor Camden, 28.
In Rockland, businesses have banded together to bring that kind of vibrant energy to the midcoast region.
The newly formed Rockland Outdoor Coalition is made up of three eco-tourist outfits, but these entrepreneurs don’t just want to bring customers through the door, they hope to direct and push them to the outdoors.
Chris Christie, who conceived the coalition and is the principal owner of Bikesenjava and Snowenjava, joined with Thor Emory, owner of Thorfinn Expeditions, to form the coalition.
The coalition is not a club or a nonprofit, it’s a clearinghouse for how to have fun outdoors.
Part of the idea is to beat the tough economic times; part of it is to give folks with limited time and a taste for the outdoors exactly what they want. It’s kind of like a public market for outdoors activities.
“We need to work together to share the cost,” Christie said. “At Bikesenjava we don’t market. We create events and get the name out there by doing creative and different things.”
Thorfinn Expeditions already does sailing trips combined with biking, hiking or camping. With experience as an Outward Bound instructor, Emory customizes active vacations for adventurous travelers.
“Some want a back-country experience, where they sleep on the boat, or some want to sail to Monhegan Island or Acadia and stay in an inn,” Emory said.
After Emory started his sailing and adventure guiding service last summer in Lincolnville, he started looking for a storefront location that had a fun vibe. The building Bikesenjava is located in Rockland was perfect, he said.
“Lincolnville was a pretty spot, but not ideal for what we were doing,” Emory said. “I got to know Chris. I liked his shop. We were already planning to move into Rockland. It fit really well.”
Emory’s 30-foot sailboat carries just four guests, but it offers a sailing lesson as well as an expedition.
He led 70 trips last summer, mostly day trips, and went down to the Florida Keys for more of the same.
Emory says his kind of tailored experience is a niche market, and on the East Coast there is little of this.
Christie already was doing it at Bikensjava for nine years. He added Snowenjava this winter.
With multi-sport adventure races, a hugely successful mountain-bike series for youth and free bicycle seminars, Christie has been building an all-in-one outdoor guiding outfit.
After Bikesenjava started the region’s youth mountain-bike series seven years ago, the desire for organized outdoor activities in the midcoast was evident, Christie said.
“We started with nine kids, and we are up to 50 to 75 kids,” he said. “By far the biggest age group is the 10-and-under. There is a big tent, music and families fanned out across the grass on blankets. It draws just as many spectators as kids.”
Christie’s bike and coffee shop also offered adventure races over the past several years, though none in recent years.
By partnering with Thorfinn Expeditions and possibly other guiding outfits, he expects to offer more events.
“We want to offer summer ski camps. We want to offer different things, to get people to come in and be a part of what we’re doing,” he said. “It’s like an outdoor concierge.”
Staff Writer Deirdre Fleming can be contacted at 791-6452 or at:
dfleming@pressherald.com
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