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Winter Camping Weekend
The First Women's Winter Camping weekend was a great success. Women from as far north as La Ronge Came to the Regina Wildlife Federation facility for a great weekend of fun and learning. The three instructors, Lori, Katryna and Nicole did a great job . I have enclosed some of the comments sent in by participants. Watch for more programs in 2006.
"Thanks to the facilitors all of my expections were met and I look forward to attending another winter camping weekend. I am grateful for opportunities like this to meet other women with the same interests as mine. The weekend was busy with activities, the highlight being the overnight camping. The facilitators prepared us well with instruction for proper winter clothing, nutrition, camp set up, snow shelters, and sleeping outdoor. We explored the area on snowshoes on the frosty Friday night and again Saturday afternoon. The snow quality was not the best but we were able to construct a quinzee). Two of the group slept inside the quinzee while the rest of us slept in tents Saturday night. The weekend was a perfect opportunity to meet other women with the similar interests and to form new friendships." - Debbie
Inside the quinzee
Making a hot brew over a one-burner stove.
Big smile!
Serving up some food
There is always time for snow angels
More stove work
Now that's a toque!
That's also a...toque?
"This was so much fun, and such a learning experience in so many ways! The instructors were great - competent, confident, knowledgable and practiced in the skills. The clothing/gear assessment was very good - I've never really gone for the speciallized gear, so Katryna's explanations of how these things work was enlightening. Nicole's enthusiasm and anecdotes of her own camping adventures stuck a very nice balance of gung-ho "go and do it" with a serious caution of "make sure you do it right". Lori is cheerful and amazingly competent - all of these new and strange things (building a quinzhee and assessing whether it would be stable overnight; using the very cool kicksled, the practicalities of sleeping out overnight) are just second nature and comfortably familiar to her. Made me feel that my mental difficulties with sleeping outside and crawling into a large unstable hollow snowbank were valid, but not a big deal as long as you know how to do it right. I feel quite privileged to have met and learned from these women."
And the other women on the course - what a diverse and interesting group! We ranged in age, in profession, in background, and in experience. I've never have the pleasure of working with such a group - physically fit, ready to explore and try new things, and full of interesting bits of information. It really struck home to me how much of my work is with men - both colleagues and folks I work with in rural Saskatchewan - and even how much of my recreation is male-dominated - those who share my enjoyment of hunting and the outdoors. So it was quite a revelation to meet a group of women who share such interests, and have such competence."
"Thirdly, I had a chance to chat with Lori briefly about the philosophy behind these sorts of courses - the idea that the Saskatchewan Wildlife Federation be more than game suppers and trophy nights, that it be about enjoying the outdoors and wildlife and teaching people these sadly disappearing skills, and appealing to a wider group of society than just the hook and bullet club. My husband and I have been members of SWF for a few years just to support and be respresented by a group that values hunting and fishing. However, I am most pleased to see it becoming more than that!" - Kerry
Basic essentials of winter camping
Let's all laugh at Lori
A walk in the woods
The Quinzee crawl
The GORP sisters
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