It was no coincidence that Andre Landau, owner and founder of Van Life Collective, found himself in the Gorge and never left.
“A couple of friends moved here and said it was the coolest place in the world,” he said. “So I checked it out, expecting to continue exploring Oregon, but ended up staying.”
As a full-time resident now, he spends his time between skiing, kayaking, kiting, and working on van build-outs for Van Life Collective. The journey to get to that point began around seven years ago.
“I had two near-death experiences six months apart, both while skiing,” he said. “The first was in 2016 on a glacier in Chile, and the second was a tree strike at Alta Ski Area that left me with a skull injury.”