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| A Wintertime Hoot for our 40th Year! Cole Lake is a mighty reach of water just north of Nobel and also the Squall’s World Headquarters, frozen and fine for all kinds of snowy adventures. Getting out on the ice brought to mind a stunned video that won the Nobel Prize for: Dog/Kicksled Assisted Circumnavigation of a Great Lake. Here she be with our dear old friend Charly, who has gone on to run the constellation of frozen lakes in the sky… https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HuhVXMNwnTw. |
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| The Kicksled Story You Might Not Know White Squall has been the kicksled capital of Parry Sound for decades – mostly because Kathy and I bought one donkey years ago and fell in love with the freedom and fun it’s given us. Since then, we’ve stocked them at 19 James St. Town Shop every year, and yup – they ain’t cheap, but that’s because they’re hand-made, and yup – they last almost forever, and yup – we don’t make hardly a dime selling them… BUT – we want to keep the story alive. And the story begins in Finland in 1933 when Erkki Lahtinen built the first kicksleds in the village of Koura – 90 years later, the original family still owns and runs the village shop using local woods and sends sleds all over the world, even to faraway Parry Sound! In some small Scandinavian villages, we’ve heard kicksleds are a normal way of getting about for shopping and errands in the snow where main roads are left unplowed. Imagine if that happened here? Sure would be in better shape I reckon! |
| Boats for Springtime Thinking of a new friend to paddle inland lakes and coastal waters? We can still get your special request tacked onto our stock orders and will cheerfully match boat show pricing. In fact we’ll match any price for the same boat anywhere in Ontario. To boot, we’ll store it til you can come and take it back if it’s not your cup of tea. Once Cole Lake warms, you can paddle your heart out and we’ll get you that cup of tea. A backwoods paddling shop with a world class offering of Canoes, Kayaks & Stand-Up Boards (whitesquall.com/kayak-canoe-sup/) Oh yes, we also have a year-round shop in Parry Sound full of paddling and camp clothing and gear ([email protected]) |
| Upcoming Squall Stuff March 22 – Paddling Film Festival & Gear Auction at the Stockey (Tickets on Sale starting January 22, 2025): whitesquall.com/2025-filmfest-and-silent-auction/ April 26, 27 – Two Day Wilderness First Aid Courses at Camp Tapawingo: whitesquall.com/first-aid/ June 22 – Franklin Challenge: https://www.whitesquall.com/franklin-challenge-2025/ |
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| Yes you Heard Right – 40 Years! Kathy and I came to Parry Sound from the west, looking for a place to call home near freshwaters. Along a dusty road beside a little lake – we found our happy place. Nope, we had no idea of starting up an outdoor business, not even in the far reaches of young dreams. We were teachers, and started the long journey of becoming local – finding odd jobs, getting teaching work and on the side, offering ski and paddling coaching to anyone who even looked our way . Neither of us can truly remember discussion or thought about starting the Squall – certainly no business plan or any idea if it would survive. Friends allowed that we were fully off our rocker as we said goodbye to pensions and security. None of this would have worked without the remarkably talented people who became life-long friends and jumped in to help us on our merry way. Here we are 40 years on, and our love of water and wilderness remains…Thanks for listening and being part of all this…can’t do it without you, that’s for sure. Had enough of this maudlin’ silliness in a transactional world? Dat’s ok, you say the word and we’ll wave farewell with a touch of the delete button. Til next time….timPS hope you can come for our ‘Squall Night’ Jan. 30, she’s gonna be good’un. |