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evo Portland has opened its doors for the people of Stumptown in absolutely grand fashion. Situated in a historic, 11,000 square-foot space on the city’s Southeast side, evo’s new store was cleared out and party-proofed for a celebration that probably woke up the entire neighborhood on Saturday night.

Well over 1000 people crossed through the doors to check out the retailer’s latest digs and we were blown away. This is a supershop. Not only can you find a tremendous wall of snowboards and gear within the two stories of shop floor, but evo Portland hosts a full tuning and repair service, surf boards and a bike shop alongside a staff that actually knows what they’re talking about when you ask about product. If you want to get an experience alongside your next snowboard setup, this is the place to be.

This party was off the hook. Immediately upon arriving we were greeted by Cory Grove, Alex “Littlest” Sherman and Ted Borland slingin’ hot snakes out of the iconic Cobra Dogs trailer (Cobra Marley style, just do it) and sipped suds with the likes of CAPiTA’s Brandon Cocard, Austin Smith of Drink Water fame, K2 team fixture Shaun McKay, Burton powerhouse Kimmy Fasani and more industry powerhouses that we can list in this post. The support that was shown for the opening of a kick ass brick-and-mortar location was amazing, with brands adidas, Armada, Burton, Dakine, Line Skis, Nike, Quiksilver, Saga, The North Face, Arc’teryx, Lib Tech, Smith and YES. holding it down as the store launches featured brands.

Possibly the most important detail about the evening was how each dollar towards bar and ticket sales, plus a silent auction was raised as a benefit for Chill Portland, a non-profit organization dedicated to using boardsports to motivate youth. evo is one of its biggest supporters and over $10,000 dollars was raised for the organization, meaning there will be plenty of hype coming from kids in PDX when they hit the mountain this winter.

Closing down the night was an unexpected from Wu-Tang Clan’s fabled GZA, the genius, the head of Voltron, and the entire party got down with one of hip hop’s legendary icons.

This opening is a monumental moment not only for evo Portland, but for the snowboarding community of PDX and the art, skate, music, bike, ski and surf culture as a whole. If you want to go check it out 200 SE MLK Jr Blvd and if you aren’t in the Portland area, head over to evo.com to salivate over the best and newest gear of the upcoming season.

evo Portland, until next time…