Many different people and organizations have helped create Frostbite! If you have the chance, support these businesses, organizations and people. They are dedicated to making things happen.
KEYNOTE PRESENTERS:
Tim Smith, Jack Mountain Bushcraft
"Tim Smith founded the Jack Mountain Bushcraft School in 1999 and has been a Registered Master Maine Guide for over 20 years." As a warning, it is important to note that, "He was on one episode of a reality tv show a long time ago that no one saw, but still demands to be treated as a celebrity."
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If you are looking for more details, be sure to visit the website for Jack Mountain Bushcraft. The school operates a wide range of courses, from weekends to multi-week semesters. www.jackmtn.com
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Al Wardale, Moose Country Outfitters
Story teller, outdoor educator, forester, outfitter and friend. Mr. Wardale has been part of the Alberta outdoor community for decades, and has shared the campfire with dozens of members of the Frostbite community. As Keynote 2023, Al will bring together many different strands of our community; the history, the teachings, the community, the youth and so much more. Thanks for all you! You can read more about Al's adventures HERE.
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SPONSORS:
Kevin Kinney and Empire Wool & Canvas have been supporters and participants in the area of traditional wilderness livings skills for many years. Kevin designs and builds functional outdoor clothing from wool, canvas and leather that is designed to last a lifetime of use in the woods. Around fires and in the cold. If you want quality, then visit Kevin. We are also very appreciative of his support for Frostbite in the form of a raffle item.
Frost River equipment comes from a long tradition of making things well, by hand, with the end user in mind. Their bags are timeless, but still well designed for the modern outdoorsperson. If you have the opportunity stop by their manufacturing facility in Duluth, MN. You will meet the person who cuts the canvas, the one that trims the leather to shape, the seamstress that creates a finished product, those that tap every rivet by hand, and finally in a small corner under the stairs, the worktable where every piece passes quality control. Frost River has invested in Frostbite Symposium, because they respect those who spend time in the outdoors and that will challenge their design, quality and tradition through real world use.
For many years, Snowtrekker® tents have provided the standard in lightweight canvas tents for winter trekking. If you have any questions, the Lottig's are only a phone call or email away, and will happily answer questions about their equipment. Lightweight, durable, well designed, and provide an incredible living space for summer or winter.
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Snowtrekker® Tents maintains a strict, sustained commitment to provide only gear of the highest quality and durability to withstand the most demanding winter environments in which it is designed to perform, safely and reliably. This is our mission. And yes, we proudly build our tents in the USA.
In 1960, Åke Nordin founded Fjällräven in his basement in the Swedish town of Örnsköldsvik. Since then, Fjällräven has made a commitment to high quality and functional design, while staying true to our mission of developing timeless and durable outdoor equipment and apparel, acting responsibly towards people, animals and nature and inspiring people to get outside. Today the company has presence in over 30 countries worldwide.
Whisky Jack Outdoor Co. is a hobby gone too far. What started off as finding a way to get into the woods during the winter months has turned into a passion for building top quality winter trekking equipment. Unsatisfied with the limited availability on the market, we started designing and building freight toboggans for winter camping and traditional backcountry travel. After years of designing, building and testing, we decided to open our doors and let people see what we’ve been up to.
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At Whisky Jack Outdoor Co., we put in the time to do things right. We not only design and build our equipment ourselves, we use it too. We are proud of what we build, our love and passion for the outdoors drives who we are and what we do. You’ll see that in the quality of our freight toboggans.
We’re located in the Niagara Region of Ontario, Canada.
VENDORS:
Karamat Wilderness Way is Randy and Lori Breeuwsma. Randy is a braintanner and primitive skills and modern survival practitioner. Lori is into natural crafting, crafting, primitive skills, and the needle arts. These two are responsible for introducing this community of instructors to each other during the annual event, RatRoot Rendezvous.
Contributors, Volunteers and Instructor Affiliates:
Mammut Bushcraft is active in Central Alberta providing training in bushcraft, survival and traditional wilderness living skills. David Delafield, the lead instructor, has been an integral part of the background team with Frostbite! since the first event. Without him, you wouldn't be visiting this website.
Wildside Wilderness Connection is Kelly Harlton, one of the most respected bushcraft and wilderness skills instructors in Canada. Fortunately, he doesn't hold this same opinion of himself, which makes him an even more capable instructor.
Beaver River Bushcraft is a a new venture by an accomplished outdoorsman. Ted Dahr has spent years compiling plant knowledge, survival skills, tool use skills, in addition to facilitating many emergency preparedness programs. With a passion for sharing knowledge in family-friendly environments, Ted especially enjoys passing on these skills to young people, and is currently developing a project working with local First Nations' youth and leaders.
Dave is the founder and lead instructor for the International Canadian School of Survival Inc. located in Lac Du Bonnet, Manitoba. He served 25 years with the Department of National Defense, 19 years as a Search and Rescue Technician with the Royal Canadian Airforce. Volunteering with local ground search teams, the Civil Air Search and Rescue Association (CASARA) and running tracking/search dogs, he gives a unique perspective on survival and rescue. His objective is raising awareness through education to prevent suffering and loss of life, by equipping individuals to help themselves in an emergency situation and assist in their own rescue. www.survivalbytraining.com
Three Ravens Bushcraft is Brian Rice, and he is the driving force behind the creation of this event. Brian is located in Edmonton, AB and is active in providing bushcraft and survival training to youth and adults, in addition to community organizations.
Good Note Community Farm: is the Borch Family. They are involved with homesteading, farm education and music. We are excited that Maryann will be leading out a workshop on willow basketry.
Ross is passionate about examining the predator-prey relationships and dispelling the myths of trapping and wildlife habitat that is so vital to real conservation. Together with his wife Deborah, they operate, North Trapping and Bushcraft, teaching trapping and other bushcraft living workshops. You can follow them on their Youtube Channel.
