You don’t have to wait until August to see, talk to and learn from Ladies of the Lake instructors. Three instructors from this year’s symposium and three who have taught in prior years will be making presentations at Canoecopia in Madison, Wis., March 13-15.

Bonnie Perry and Lyn Stone, 2015 instructors, will demonstrate different ways to get back in your boat after a capsize during a session at the pool. Bonnie will also talk about “The Spirituality of Navigation: Being Lost, Getting Found and Leading Others Along the Way.”

Another 2015 instructor, Lenore Sobota, will share her ideas for “Overcoming Fear: One Stroke at a Time” and also how to “Improve Your Paddling Through Journaling.”

Past instructor Sharon Bloyd-Peshkin and her husband Alec will be presenting “Ten Tips for Becoming a Better Paddler.”

Another past instructor, Sherri Merz will let you know about “The Proper Care and Feeding of Your Boat or Board” and “Things Your Mother Never Told You About Kayak Accessories.”

And Cindy Scherrer, who has been a lady of the lake several times as a coach, will spread the word on standup paddleboarding, joining her husband Steve to talk about “Choosing the Right Paddleboard” and “SUP 101: Understanding SUP Basics on Land.”

For more details on the time, day and location of each presentation, see www.canoecopia.com.

And, while you are at Canoecopia, don’t forget to stop by the Ladies of the Lake table and say hi to Heidi. If you haven’t signed up yet we’ll have a Canoecopia special and she’ll be in the lobby helping with registrations.

Heidi always comes through with great table decorations, stop by to see what she comes up with this year.

As the days get longer and our minds start to drift to boats and open water, the weather has other ideas. Winter has dug itself in deep here in the U.P.  Temperatures of -30F and waist deep snow keep our spring fever in check.

For all of the harshness that comes with a U.P. winter, it is still a spectacular place. Summer on the shoreline of Lake Superior is not something to miss, but winter can turn this familiar beauty into an otherworldly landscape. In Pictured Rocks National Lakeshore, the summer home of our symposium, the world becomes a frozen wonderland of ice and snow. The familiar beaches transform with giant blocks of ice, the lakes and rivers freeze solid and the waterfalls become still as statues as their rushing water turns into giant columns of ice.  For those of you who have never visited the U.P. in the winter, we can’t recommend it enough.  It’s an experience unlike any other.  Here are some photos of winter in Pictured Rocks from the past few years.  You may even recognize a few familiar faces from LOL!

Just because the lake is frozen right now doesn’t mean that we aren’t hard at work making Ladies of the Lake 2015 our best symposium yet.  We’ve got our eye on summer and you should too.  If you haven’t registered yet now is the time!  The price will go up on March 10th, just two weeks away.  So make a plan to join us this summer in one of America’s most beautiful places.

Arni Ronis at the west Side of Grand Island

A frozen Chapel Rock

Grand Island Light

A frozen waterfall near Grand Portal

LOL Instructor Lenore Sobota climbing a frozen waterfall during the Michigan Ice Fest

Pancake ice around Miner’s Castle

Skiing in the winter where you paddle in the summer

Over the past few weeks we have posted several links on our Facebook page to an article by Bonnie Perry, our featured coach for Kokatat.  The article deals with setting paddling goals and working to achieve them.  Goals are a really important way to help yourself improve as a paddler since they allow you to set benchmarks for achievement.  You can read the two part article at the links below.

Part 1: http://kokatat.com/blog/2015/01/paddling-goals-for-the-new-year-why-make-them-and-how-to-keep-them
Part 2: http://kokatat.com/blog/2015/01/paddling-goals-for-the-new-year-why-make-them-and-how-to-keep-them-part-2

This article got us thinking about our goals.  At the Ladies of the Lake Sea Kayak Symposium our main goal is really simple: Help you reach your paddling goals and have fun while you do it.  Pretty straight forward, right? Everyone’s goals are different.  Whether it’s something as simple as getting into a sea kayak for the first time, or something as lofty as preparing for a multi-week wilderness trip, your goals are all equally important to us.

Results from our 2014 Participant Evaluation

After last year’s symposium, we sent out an evaluation to all of the women who participated.  It asked a lot of questions. We were looking for feedback to help us reach our goal of helping you.  We got about 50 responses with comments that ranged from small fixes to major overhauls. We took every comment to heart.  We looked at everything we do in an effort to improve. One of the questions we asked was: “Did we help you reach your goals?”  This was really important to us as it’s the bar by which we measure our success.  The results spoke for the themselves.  Of the 50 responses we received, 100% of the women answered that we did help them reach their goals.  We couldn’t have been prouder.

So as we’re working on LOL 2015, our goal this year is to once again help every woman who attends the symposium reach her paddling goals.  We aim high, and we think you should too.  Think about what you want to do on the water: plan an overnight trip, master your roll, learn to Stand Up Paddleboard, or just get comfortable sitting in the boat and moving forward.  Whatever it is, we want to help.

Are you ready to turn you day trips into overnights but you’re feeling a little intimidated?  Want to be prepared for a few days on Lake Superior or a few weeks on the Sea of Cortez?  Our Grand Island Skill Builder course can help you reach those goals.

This year we are offering a class to teach the skills you need to have a fun and successful kayak camping trip.  This special class will spend two days (Thursday and Friday) and one night paddling and camping on Grand Island, just off shore from Munising.  On top of seeing the amazing cliffs and beautiful beaches of Grand Island, you’ll practice loading your boat, learn tips and tricks for handling a fully loaded boat, and get the opportunity to navigate with a map and compass.  In the evening you’ll get to enjoy camping on the island and learn some new camping skills as well. By the end of the two days you’ll be prepared to take on whatever trip you can dream up.

This trip is recommended for Red and Gold level paddlers.

For  more info check out: http://downwindsports.com/lol/classes/special-learning-opportunities/

Registration is LIVE!

The moment you’ve been waiting for since last August has finally arrived.  You can now sign up for Ladies of the Lake 2015! We are doing all of our registration and scheduling online this year to make things easier for you.  Just click the “Register” tab in the navigation bar, the “Click Here to Register” button on the side bar or JUST CLICK HERE.  You can fill fill out our simple registration form to get yourself signed up, as well as select your classes and tours, reserve any rental gear you may need, and sign our online waiver form.

We would highly recommend signing up as early as possible for two reasons. First, it will save you money.  Registration for this year’s event costs $350, but if you sign up before March 10th and use the coupon code EarlyBirdSpecial you can save yourself $100. That’s a savings of nearly 30%.   Second, if you wait some of our classes and tours will fill up.  We have lots of great options when it comes to classes and tours and we’re confident that you will always find something you are interested in, but space is limited in some classes and all of the tours.  Last year we filled every available tour space and we are expecting to have even more ladies this year. So sign up early to ensure you get exactly what you want.

If you have any question feel free to email Heidi at heidi@downwindsports.com or give us a call at 906-482-2500.

We look forward to seeing all of you in August!

Registration for LOL 2015 officially starts tomorrow and we have some important news and updates about this year’s symposium.  We’re not shy to say, last year’s event was one of our best.  We had more women paddlers than ever before and that means more fun than ever before!  With more attendees came more challenges and we saw a few areas where we can make LOL 2015 even better.  We took your comments to heart and have made some adjustments.  Here are some of the most important things to know for this year:

Participation

Last year we announced that we would need 100 women to register in order to hold the event.  The outpouring of support was incredible and before long we had over 120 paddlers signed up.   It was great.  The need to keep attendance up hasn’t gone away. So once again we are going to need 100 registrants to hold LOL 2015. We’ve set a deadline of June 1st, same as last year, to reach this goal.  The good news is we are already 20% of the way there with ladies who signed up at the event last year.  We are confident that once again this won’t be a problem. So if you came last year and had fun, sign up again and we’ll be at 100 in no time, especially if you bring a friend!

Registration

Just like last year all registration will be done online.  We’ve changed our registration a little in order to make it easier.  You will no longer have to sign up on one page and then pay at another. It’s all done in one place this year.  In past years you’ve had to fill out a waiver when you arrived at the event. This year we’ve wrapped that into your registration.

Scheduling

Last year was the first year we offered online scheduling and it was a huge success.  We will be doing the same thing this year.  You’ll be able to select all of your classes and tours while you’re signing up.  New for this year is a color coding system to help you build the perfect schedule and make sure you get into classes that are best suited for you and your paddling goals.  To learn more about this year’s scheduling check out this post: LOL 2015 Schedule! Some classes and all tours have a limited number of available spots.  We’d recommend signing up early to ensure that you get what you want.  We will not maintain waiting lists for any of the tours or classes.  If spots open up they will be given out on a first come first served basis at the event.

Cancellations

In the past we have carried all canceled registrations forward to next event, sometimes for multiple years.  This became more complicated with higher attendance. From this year forward, we are no longer carrying registrations forward.  We will offer partial refunds to all cancellations.  If you sign up and are unable to attend please let us know as soon as possible.  If you let us know you can’t make it before April 15th we will refund 75% of your registration fee.  If you cancel between April 15th and July 15th we will refund half of your registration.  No refunds will be given for cancellations after July 15th.

If you have a registration that is being carried over from a previous symposium, this will be your last year to use it. This means that if you can’t make it to this year’s event we will not carry it over to 2016.  We are unable to offer refunds on registrations carried over from previous years.

Wet Exits

In past years we have required participants to demonstrate a wet exit prior to taking any classes or tours.  This helps our instructors know that every person on the water is capable of getting out of their boat if they tip. We are updating that requirement this year with the help of our new color coding system. This year participants categorized as Green or Blue level must complete a wet exit Wednesday, Thursday or Friday in order to attend classes or tours. This can be accomplished by enrolling in the following courses, which will have instructor-assisted wet exits incorporated into the course work: Au Train River Tour or In, Out, Up and Down. The wet-exit requirement can also be satisfied by completing an instructor-assisted wet exit from 4-5 PM Wednesday or Thursday, and on Friday morning from 8:00 – 9:00 AM before classes begin. Participants categorized as Red and Gold will be evaluated by instructors, who may deem that an individual should perform a wet exit based upon instructor assessment. It is assumed that those signing up for Red and Gold classes are comfortable and practiced with wet exits as well as self and partner rescue.

Location

We announced last year that LOL has found a permanent home in Munising, and we meant it!  Munising is a paddler’s paradise with great access to Lake Superior and some of the most beautiful shoreline you’ll find anywhere on the planet.  LOL headquarters will be located upstairs at Sydney’s Restaurant where the always friendly staff do their best to cater to our every need.

Cost

One great thing about registering early is that the sooner you register, the less you pay. If you sign up any time between this Friday and March 10th, your registration will only cost you $250!  If you sign up between March 10th and June 1st, registration will cost $300.  After June 1st, the price will rise to $350.  This fee gets you world class instruction and all of the breathtaking tours that are offered at the event.

If you choose to take the optional BCU 3-Star Assessment class it will cost an additional $150.  Learn more about this class HERE.

Questions?

If you have any questions or if there is anything we can help you out with please email Heidi at heidi@downwindsports.com or call us at 906.482.2500

After a winter of hard work, we are super excited to announce that we have finished the schedule for LOL 2015!  We poured through all of the feedback from last year’s event and decided to take a new approach to symposium scheduling.  We found that one of the participants’ biggest issues was getting into the right classes and tours.  Classes are meant to challenge you and help you progress as a kayaker. This can’t be achieved if the class is too easy or requires skills you haven’t yet learned.

So, with that in mind, we would like to introduce our brand new color coding system.  We were hoping to come up with a cool name for it – but you can’t win them all. This new color coding system will help steer participants into a schedule that pushes them to become better paddlers but does not leave them overwhelmed.  It should also help group similarly skilled paddlers together so instructors can focus on the skills the group needs to work on.

During your registration you will be asked to complete a skill assessment quiz.  You will answer a handful of questions about your paddling experience, skills, and goals.  The answers you provide will determine your paddling color: Green, Blue, Red or Gold.  Throughout the registration process, as well as throughout the website, you will see these colors repeated over and over.  Any time you see your color you can be confident that the class or tour is designed for a paddler with your level of skill and experience.

This isn’t to say you are limited to only taking classes and tours in your color group.  This is only a suggestion.  We want you to be challenged and push yourself to grow on the water and off.  If you see something on the schedule that you really want to do but it doesn’t match your color, go for it, but be aware that it may require skills that you don’t have yet or may be teaching skills you’ve already mastered.

We have lots of new classes this year that are sure be both fun and educational. These new classes will shake things up a bit and give a few fun surprises to the paddler who think they’ve seen and done everything that LOL has to offer. We are also offering some off the water classes this year.  This will give you a chance to rest tired muscle or get out and see some of the other beautiful things that the Munising area has to offer.

You can see the full schedule of classes and tours as well descriptions of each by clicking on the classes or tours buttons on the navigation bar. Take a look, get some ideas of what you would like to take at this year’s event and start planning your schedule.  Registration will open this Friday.

This year we are happy to announce that we will be offering a BCU 3 Star course.  The course will held over two full days on Thursday and Friday.  It will be taught by featured coach Bonnie Perry and  will cost $150 in addition to the symposium registration. Space will be limited.

In Bonnie’s words:

“BCU 3 Star Award is an internationally recognized step in a paddler’s development. Achieving this award signifies that you have transitioned from a novice to an intermediate paddler. The BCU 3-Star training is designed to assist you in achieving that transition. As such it is an intermediate sea kayak course. This course does not start with the basics, but rather seeks to improve existing skills for experienced kayakers who are ready to move up to the next level. If you have been paddling for a while, or are planning a sea kayaking adventure, 3-Star training is an excellent way to refine skills and build confidence. At the 3-Star level, paddlers will show skill with a variety of strokes, maneuvers and rescues. Participants will train on efficient forward paddling, maneuvering on the move, and linking strokes into maneuvers. Basic understanding of tides and navigation are also covered in this course. I think the best trainings are fun. So I include games and scenarios as an essential part of the learning process. The training will take place over two days. We’ll be on the move as on a journey and will be off site for most of each day. Bring a packed lunch, a helmet, a tow belt and a smile! At the end the training Bonnie and Lyn will sit down with you and work out a plan as to what steps you may take to be at a point of passing the 3 star assessment.”

For more information, here is the BCU 3 Star syllabus http://paddlesportsnorthamerica.s3.amazonaws.com/downloads/bcu-3-star-sea-kayak-syllabi-v3-0-oct13.pdf

You will be able to sign up for this course during your registration.  If you have any questions please feel free to call us at (906) 482-2500. Stay tuned as registration will be opening soon!

This year’s Featured Coach will be Bonnie Perry. Bonnie has been coming to LOL for many years and is always one of the highlights of our stellar coaching team. On top of teaching all weekend she gets up early on Sunday Morning to put on the always popular Blessing of the Boats.

Nothing makes Bonnie happier than coaching and paddling with people in ALL sorts of conditions. She has had the opportunity to paddle and teach in the Midwest, Maine, Canada, Baja, Scotland, England and Wales. Last year she took students to paddle in Scotland, next year it will be Wales.

In the BCU, Bonnie is the fourth woman in North America to be awarded the 5 Star Leader on the Sea. She’s also a Level 3 Sea Coach, a 3 star assessor, and 3 star open boater. In the UKCC she is one of three people in the US with the Level 3 Discipline Specific Sea Kayak Training. In the ACA, Bonnie is a Level 4 Open Water Instructor Trainer and in Paddle Canada she’s a Level 2 Instructor. Bonnie would also like you to know that when she was a Girl Scout she earned the Housekeeping, Sewing and Camping merit badges ! :) When Bonnie is not on the water she is the Rector/Senior Pastor of All Saints’ Episcopal Church www.allsaintschicago.org

At this year’s symposium Bonnie will be offering a special 2 day BCU Three Star course on Thursday and Friday.  Stay tuned over the next week for more information on this as well as other announcements and the opening of the registration for the 2015 Ladies of the Lake!

Every year at Ladies of the Lake we kick off the symposium with welcome event on Thursday night.  Typically this has just been a low key chance for us to give out the latest information and you to catch up with friends you may not have seen since last summer. In 2015 we would like expand on this by throwing a little food and drink into the mix.  We’ll provide the snacks and libations and you bring that winning LOL charm that we’ve come to love so much.  Of course we will still be doing all of our announcements  and we’ll have the store set up so you can check out the latest and greatest in paddling gear and get all of the things you may need for a weekend full of classes and fun. This will be a great chance to meet the instructors and share some fun paddling stories as well as go over your schedule for the weekend and maybe make a few friends.

Stay tuned for more announcements about the 2015 Ladies of the Lake.  Class Schedule will be posted soon and registration will open shortly after!