Greg Rubin works in the rental department at Skjersaa’s in Bend.

Winter outdoor activities are more popular than ever this year in Central Oregon. Other than skiing, snowshoeing and cross-country are hot this year.

At Skjersaa’s, it has not been uncommon for gear rentals for the two activities to sell out from time to time.

Recreation has increased throughout the recent summer and winter months in national forests in both Oregon and Washington — particularity in the Deschutes, Mount Hood, Gifford Pinchot and Mount Baker -Snoqualmie forests, according to Jean Nelson-Dean of the Deschutes National Forest.

More people heading to the forests has made for a busier winter at some local outdoor rental shops keeping up with the demand for outdoor activities.

“Some of the things that I’ve noticed this year is that individual sports have become more popular,” said Amanda Brinduse, who has worked at 4 Seasons Recreational Outfitters in Sunriver for 13 years.

“Because we can do things individually, bike rentals were popular last year over the summer, bike sales were really popular, and it carried into the winter seasons,” she added. “Lot of people over winter break with their families for ski rentals and cross-country ski rentals.”

At Skjersaa on the east side of Bend, Marshall Holmes says that there are hundreds of people coming through the shop’s doors — more so than in previous winters — each day.

“It has been quite busy; we had a really good December,” said the rental manager, who added having a newer, larger stock of rental gear and being under new ownership has helped business as well. “Cross -country rentals have been good, ski and snowboard way bigger than we have had before.”

Because of the coronavirus pandemic, retail stores have had to adjust how they operate on a daily basis. At 4 Seasons, the already small shop of roughly 2,000 square feet in The Village at Sunriver had to revamp its insides to accommodate the crowds of people entering the store.

“Managing the customers has been a challenge,” said Brinduse. “Create a new retail space to have more space to accommodate crowds of people to space out. It has been a challenge — it hasn’t really affected business.”

At Skjersaa, the response to new safety guidelines has been leaning into online reservations, which has allowed for quicker trips for customers in and out of the store.

“The online reservation system made things easier,” said Holmes. “With cross country skis, we have reservations only because we were selling out for sure. Same for snowshoes.”

Bend

Cascade Snow Bike — snow bikes

• 20409 Trap Ct, Bend, OR 97702, (541) 728-1119

Central Oregon Rentals — snowmobiles

• 63026 Plateau Dr, Bend, OR 97702, (541) 306-6197

Powder House Ski & Snowboard — Snowshoes, cross-country skis, downhill skis, snowboards.

• 311 SW Century Dr, Bend, OR 97702, (541) 389-6234

Pine Mountain Sports — snowshoes, fat bikes

• 255 SW Century Dr, Bend, OR 97702, (541) 385-8080

Mountain Supply — Snowshoes, cross-country skis, downhill skis

• 834 NW Colorado Ave, Bend, OR 97703, (541) 388-0688

Sisters

Eurosports — Snowshoes, cross-country skis, downhill skis, snowboards.

• 223 E Hood Ave, Sisters, OR 97759, (541) 549-2471

Sunriver/La Pine

Village Bike and Ski — snowshoes, cross-country skis, downhill skis, snowboards, fat and mountain bikes

• 57100 Beaver Dr #21, Sunriver, OR 97707, (541) 593-2453

Sunriver Sports — fat bikes

• 57100 Beaver Dr #16, Sunriver, OR 97707, (541) 593-8369