The campus of North House Folk School will be extra busy on Nov. 21 – 24 during the Winterer’s Gathering. There will be a chili feed, contra dance and drop in seminars and demonstrations. Featured guest speaker for this year will be Paul Schurke, founder of Wintergreen Dogsledding Lodge in Ely and Arctic adventurer. And of course, as pictured above, there are talks on winter camping. Mark Hansen leads this group on a tent tour.
Snow is on its way, and along with it comes a celebration of all things winter: Winterer’s Gathering & Arctic Film Festival at North House Folk School in Grand Marais from Nov. 21-24.
This year’s featured speaker, Paul Schurke, is the founder of Wintergreen Dogsledding Lodge in Ely. Schurke has guided and participated in a number of polar and high- Arctic expeditions, and will be sharing the story of retracing Shackleton’s harrowing 1916 journey on Saturday, Nov. 23 at 7:30 p.m. Schurke will also teach a course on the history of dogs and animal storytelling.
The featured instructor is winter camping legend Garrett Conover, co-author of the book Snowwalker’s Companion and author of Beyond the Paddle, and the award-winning Kristin’s Wilderness. He’ll share his wealth of knowledge in three courses: one on wilderness travel, one on winter provisioning, and one on writing.
Opportunities abound during all of the Gathering classics including a chili feed, gear swap, contra dance and the winter tent camp. Friday, Saturday and Sunday are also filled with hour-long drop-in seminars and demos focusing on everything from Fat Tire Biking to Life Lessons from the Iditarod. Cost for seminars is $5 each, or buy a weekend pass for $25 at the event and become a North House member.
The Arctic Film Festival component of the event also runs Friday through Sunday and includes ethno-historic, documentary and winter travel-related films focused on people of the North. This year’s featured film is “Inuk,” a 2012 prizewinner about a 16-year-old in Greenland who reconnects with his past. Films are free, but donations are accepted to support the festival.
Also on the schedule are 14 inspiring courses including Make Your own Crooked Knife, Wilderness Survival, Snowshoe Construction and Bushcraft.
For more information and a complete schedule of events visit www.northhouse.org or call 888-387-9762.
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