2010 Winter Camping Symposium, Report #1

Just back from the 2010 Winter Camping Symposium, we’re full of inspiration, up a few new friends and fresh out of patience as we wait for snow to fall in Minnesota.

The tall pines of YMCA Camp Miller in Sturgeon Lake, were the setting for this year’s event. As in past years, an ever-growing community of white canvas tents dotted the grounds.

A strong ‘do it yourself’ theme pervaded this year, extending beyond the workshops and into many of the presentations. There’s lots to read in this, our first report, so roll up your sleeves and let’s get into it!

This DIY vibe was owing in no small part to the contributions of the Brothers Maruska – Michael, Jon and Brian – who each presented on DIY winter camping gear. The Minnesota-born trio have begun to make a name for themselves already, but their collective spirit of invention seemed to inspire a crowd whose gear choices have historically been quite limited .

Campers slowly streamed in Friday afternoon, finding sweet spots for their SnowTrekker tents and gathering firewood for their wood stoves. Planting flamingo yard ornaments out front.

After a meal in the dining hall, an open mike forum was set up to share trip reports.

Following this was a screening “Alone in the Wilderness,” the classic account of Dick Proenneke, who in 1968 endeavored to live alone in the deep wilds of Alaska. For one year, he filmed himself as he built his own log cabin and carved out a very enviable life. It went so well, he stayed in his hand-hewn dwelling for 33 years. Great film and a fantastic way to set the weekend’s tone.

Campfires burned long into the night, under a full moon so bright, nobody needed to stumble around with obnoxious headlamps.

The event’s common area featured the vendor tables, most of them displaying truly artisanal gear and goods. Traditional birch baskets. Handcrafted canvas outerwear. Birch wood cross-country skis. A true pleasure to browse through.

Not that any of the vendors had much chance to sit still; those talented hands were put to work quickly during the morning’s workshops and presentations.

Using only traditional hand tools, woodworker Jarrod Stone Dahl demonstrated how to make your own “Snowshoes From Scratch.” As in, like, starting with the log. From a tree. Chopping, splitting, peeling, bending. Clearly more work than his allotted hour could contain, but we dropped in on him several times during the day. It was impressive and satisfying to see the wood slowly transform into the snowshoe frame.

Across the campgrounds, Jon Maruska presented on rocket stoves. Ooo, yummy new technology? Nope. These stoves have long been used in the third world to cook meals indoors, and with larger models, to even heat homes. All with very little fuel and a clean burn that emits very little smoke.

Beginning with a fairly brainy explanation of truly efficient fire making, Jon soon moved us outside. There, he a co-presenter demo’ed an impressive array of homemade rocket stoves. Some, modeling traditional construction, were formed with a clay-sawdust mixture. Of even more interest to the campers were the portable camp stoves. These were assembled with stovepipes, hardware from Menard’s, and sheet metal found while dumpster diving. Very low cost. You could look around at the attendees and hear gears turning inside their heads.

“The Modern Micro-Yurt” was the topic of the next session we attended, and it was a definite highlight of the weekend. Michael Maruska (brother to Jon) explained how a fascination with the ancient Mongolian yurt (or “ger”) became a quest to design his own, using modern materials and more thought towards mobility. The guy’s made 3 of them so far, with more new ideas and modifications in the hopper, it would seem.

An informal tour followed. We viewed not only his lovely yurts, but also those of friends he has collaborated with. A lovely walk through a true yurtopia (watch for a separate post on that one.)

Not that everyone was walking.

Sled dogs zoomed up and down the front field, all too happy to be part of the mushing demo by Positive Energy Outdoor Edventures. The sleds were out (rigged with wheels for off-season training,) and rides were given. Mushers could also be seen zipping around on what can best be described as dog-driven podracers. I don’t even have a dog, but I need one of these things. And I need it now.

There’s much more to report, so watch for our second post on the 2010 Winter Camping Symposium!