Showing posts with label Canada. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Canada. Show all posts

Tuesday, March 24, 2015

Ontario Trails News - adventurer making Minnesota/Ontario trek, and find your favorite Ontario Trail!

Find your favorite Ontario Trail - use our Ontario Trails Map

Will Steger will make canoe-sledding trek along the Canadian border

By Sam Cook on Mar 14, 2015 at 9:24 p.m.
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This time, Will Steger won’t have to go to the North Pole, Antarctica, the Northwest Territories or the Arctic Ocean to mount an expedition.
 
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The Ely explorer, now 70, has found a formidable challenge right in his backyard. On Wednesday, Steger plans to embark on a monthlong, 200-mile solo trek by canoe-sled through spring break-up along the Minnesota-Ontario border.
“I feel so fortunate I found something where I could stretch my skills,” Steger said in a telephone interview last week. “The learning curve is really high.”
He will make the journey hauling a reinforced canoe-sled behind him over the ice, paddling open rivers where he can. He has made similar ice-out trips, often solo, several times over the past 20 years, he said.
Steger will leave from Saganaga Lake at the tip of the Gunflint Trail, travel through the heart of Ontario’s Quetico Provincial Park, then down the Maligne River to Lac La Croix on the border. From there, he’ll travel west to Namakan Lake in Voyageurs National Park, finishing either by continuing west to International Falls or traveling east along the border to his homestead north of Ely.
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Thursday, February 19, 2015

Ontario Trails News - snowshoers take Blue Mountain for Cancer

Find your favorite Ontario Trail!


Snowshoers take The Blue Mountains trails at Scenic Caves Romp to Stomp

Romp

Romp

Scott Woodhouse
Hailing from the Etobicoke Yacht Club, the Snow Sailors, from left to right, Chris Proctor, Debbie Jeffcoat, Len Proctor and Karen Montazeri, raised $2,500.
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Collingwood Connection
By Scott Woodhouse
They came from far and wide, with crazy names and even crazier costumes, with one goal in mind: to stomp out breast cancer.
Whether they came from Oakville, Collingwood, Toronto or Dundalk, the close to 600 participants in the 8th annual Tubbs Romp to Stomp Out Breast Cancer were united in showing support for friends and relatives who have battled the disease, by strapping on a pair of snowshoes and trekking through the beautiful trails at Scenic Cave just outside of Collingwood.
The Snow Sailors hail from Etobicoke and admitted they are more at home on the high seas than plowing through snow drifts, but they are all committed to the cause.
"I'm passionate about the cause," said Karen Montazeri. "A lot of my friends and relatives have been affected by breast cancer."
Fellow team member Debbie Jeffcoat noted they not only ask for cash donations but donations of snowshoes as well.
Their crew met at the Etobicoke Yacht Club and the Mimico Cruising Club. This is their second year participating and they are the fourth highest pledge earners. "Last year we raised $1,790 - this year we're close to $2,500 so that's great," said Jeffcoat.
Erika Boone of Toronto was part of Kae's Racketeers, a team named for her good friend and breast cancer survivor, Kae Edwards.
"She's my age, she's a mom and a breast cancer survivor," noted Boone, who has been taking part in the snowshoe fundraiser for three years.
"Kae had literally just finished her radiation treatment the week before our first event three years ago, and we've been going strong ever since."
Helping their kids get their snowshoes on, Kae's husband Perry sported a wig that Kae wore during her treatment along with a leopard print bra.
"We fought it and we beat it and I got this free wig," he joked as he helped their kids, Christopher, Amy and Paige, get their snowshoes on.
From closer to home, the Grey County Boob Brigade has been taking part in the event for four years.
Organized by Teddi Jones and her daughter Denise, the team was thinking a lot about team member Vanessa Pink's mother as they headed out on the trail.
Pink explained her mom was diagnosed with breast cancer 17 years ago. After years in remission the cancer came back three years ago.
"She has stage 4 metastatic breast cancer - which means she will always have it. Right now she's being treated with radiation and hormones."
Team Captain Teddi Jones said they've all been touched by one type of cancer or another.
"I'm involved because if we find a cure for one cancer I think we'll be able to cure them all," she said.
One of the most successful fundraising groups ended up taking part because one of their members won a pair of snowshoes in a raffle last year.
The Toronto Master Gardeners hold an annual Technical Update meeting and Tubbs, who sponsors the Romp to Stomp, donated a pair of snowshoes to be raffled off at the meeting. By the time the meeting was over, Tubbs had offered to provide the entire group with snowshoes as well as entry into the event. In return, the Master Gardeners raised close to $9,000 in 2014. This year they raised close to $7,000.
Since its inception in 2008, the Romp, which is modelled after the Race for the Cure, has raised $270,000 for the Canadian Breast Cancer Foundation. The Romp consists of a 3-km snowshoe race and a 3-km and 5-km snowshoe walk, as well as a kids race.
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Friday, February 6, 2015

Ontario Trails News - find your favorite mountain bike trail, and Greenbelt Tour in NIagara

Find your favorite Fatbike Trail

The wheels continue to turn

The wheels continue to turn

The wheels continue to turn

CARLA CARLSON PHOTO
Janet Neimer and Albino Di Santo from Beamsville, Venture Niagara’s Susan Morin and Becky Glenny, manager of the Grand Oak Culinary Market, chat about how they can help each other through the Niagara Cycling Tourism venture.  Neimer and Di Santo, members of the Niagara Freewheelers Bicycle Touring Club were, among others, filmed in different locations in Niagara and can be seen throughout the new Niagara Cycling Tourism video, showcasing Niagara.
Grimsby Lincoln News
By Carla Carlson 
More than 100 cycling enthusiasts came together at the Holiday Inn Hotel and Conference Centre in St. Catharines on Jan. 22, to hear details about Venture Niagara’s recently completed Niagara Cycling Tourism project. 
Niagara’s Olympic medallist Steve Bauer welcomed everyone by relating his personal cycling experiences to the evolution of cycling in Niagara. Bauer put some perspective on the many years of ongoing work by volunteers, local municipalities and regional staff that has brought the cycling infrastructure to where it is today.
Susan Morin, community economic development manager for Venture Niagara, was the presenter for the information session following Bauer’s greetings. She notes, “Venture Niagara received funding from the Ministry of Training, College and Universities to help hire a cycling tourism coordinator and provide resources for the project.” Key activities of the project included a cycling related environmental scan of the 12 Niagara municipalities, a survey of visiting cyclists, research on cycling friendly destinations through out the world, and attendance at several cycling related events. These events included participation in a Greenbelt workshop, the Ontario Bike Summit and staffing an information centre at this past summer’s Vélo Québec tour through Niagara.
The highlight of the morning meeting was the public launch of niagaracyclingtourism.com, a bilingual, cycling focused website with a video showcasing Niagara as a premier cycling tourism destination. To see the website information and video, visit www.niagaracyclingtourism.com. Businesses and organizations interested in benefitting from the growing popularity of cycling are invited to advertise on the site as it is relatively inexpensive to do so. In fact, several business owners in attendance at the information session took the opportunity to become among the first to purchase advertising on the site.
Numerous individuals, groups, organizations and municipalities across the region have worked towards establishing Niagara as a popular cycling destination for tourists, recreationists and locals. A variety of programs have been implemented in recent years to cater to this market. Two examples of such programs including Cycle and Stay Niagara and Share the Road- Bicycle Friendly Communities.  Cycle and Stay Niagara is a network of bicycle friendly B&Bs along major cycling routes that are willing to transfer cyclists’ luggage and purchases between accommodations while they are in Niagara. The Share the Road Bicycle Friendly Communities program is a cycling friendly designation program for municipalities. Out of 444 municipalities in Ontario, 26 are designated bicycle friendly. The Niagara region has five municipalities holding this designation. The Town of Pelham has a Silver designation and Grimsby, Thorold, Welland and St. Catharines have Bronze designations.
Much has been accomplished to develop Niagara into a popular cycling destination in recent years. However, there is still much more to be done by cycling supporters, municipalities and others to make this area the premier destination for cyclists from across the province and around the world. One of the most important partners in the future growth of this emerging market is small business in urban and rural Niagara. There are many opportunities for entrepreneurs to get on board by building cycling friendly and cycling related businesses. It’s a community project that embraces the whole Niagara Peninsula. For more information contact: Susan Morin, community economic development manager at Venture Niagara 905-680-8085 or visit the Niagara Cycling Tourism website,www.niagaracyclingtourism.com
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Wednesday, February 4, 2015

Ontario Trails News - find your favorite Northern Trail, and North Bay Snowshoeing!

Find your favorite Northern Trail!

North Bay shines in Special Olympic snowshoeing (PHOTO GALLERY)

Saturday, January 31, 2015   by: Liam Berti
North Bay's Jon Touw sprints ahead of the field in his 100-metre snowshoe event. Touw and classmates J.J Stickland and Carley Tucker all claimed at least one gold medal each over the weekend. PHOTO BY DAVE STEVENSON
The only thing brighter than the blanket of falling snow at the Clarion Resort on Saturday afternoon were the smiles of the Special Olympic Ontario Winter Games snowshoe athletes.
Among those biggest were three of North Bay’s competing athletes, who claimed a plethora of medals on their home turf in front of a screaming crowd of family and friends.
Jon Touw, 16, J.J Stickland, 17, and Carley Tucker, 17, all took to the podium in their respective disciplines and categories, each earning at least one gold medal.
“It has been amazing,” Stickland said after his last heat. “We all came together as one. We found new friendships and it has been awesome.”
On Saturday, Stickland and Tucker sprinted 100 metres to golden glory, while Touw finished second in his division of four, all against stiff competition.
“It was really hard because the second race I had, the finals, was really stacked,” said Stickland, whose mother is a former world champion in Special Olympic powerlifting.
“I didn’t know how I would do, but I feel like I did alright,” he continued. “I’m happy with the way I performed.”
Earlier in the competition, on Friday, Tucker won her first gold in the 200-metre discipline, while Touw sprinted to an impressive second place in a field of five.
“All the fans came out hard, stuck it out in the cold,” Stickland said gratefully. “That’s what North Bay is all about: it doesn’t matter if it’s warm or cold, they always come out and cheer us on.”
Despite being exhausted and out of breath in the aftermath of two days of intense competition, Touw said he had a lot of fun and that he couldn't stop thinking about winning.
What’s more, the three athletes are also classmates in grade 12 at Widdifield Secondary School.
“We are all in the same class and program, so we see each other pretty much every day anyway, but this has been fun,” said Stickland.
Unfortunately, their medals don’t guarantee their advancement to the 2016 Special Olympics Canada Winter Games in Corner Brook, Newfoundland. The Special Olympic organizers now take many different factors and combine them into a complex equation that determines their advancement.
Needless to say though, North Bay’s three snowshoers have positioned themselves well among the provincial talent, and all said the experience of the Ontario Winter Games has been wonderful.
After their final races and award ceremony at the Clarion Resort this afternoon, the athletes enjoyed a special closing dinner before the closing ceremonies and athlete's victory dance party. 
“It’s been great!” Stickland said simply. “I’ve met lots of new friends and so many nice people; other than the food, that’s been the best part for me.
“It doesn’t matter if they have a disability, they are a bunch of amazing people,” he concluded. 
Check BayToday for more soon on North Bay’s athletes in the weekend’s events
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