Break Trail or Run the Rapids?
A Wilderness and Canoe Symposium 2021 Update You know those moments on a canoe trip when you land at the portage to carry around a frothing rapids appropriately named Hell’s Gate, or Deadman’s Doorway or Really, Honestly, Don’t Run This, but when you look into the forest, the portage trail looks more treacherous than the rapids or it simply cannot be found? You stand around trying to read the rapids. You talk to your friends. You consult the experts who wrote the map and the guide books. Then you have a snack and calculate the risks of each route. 2020 has been like this: watching, waiting, reading, talking, and making hard decisions. The Wilderness and Canoe Symposium is in the same boat as many other events for many people. For Winter 2021, we have decided to break trail rather than run the rapids. Despite (or perhaps because) the second wave of the global COVID-19 pandemic spikes the case numbers to an all-time high, we remain committed to nurture our passion and love for paddling and to keep our Symposium community safe. For this reason, we will be delivering the 2021 event live and online only. Here are the WCS 2021 trip details: We will gather in a Zoom platform. Wednesday, February 17 from 6 to 9 pm Eastern Standard Time. Hold the Date! We are planning for 4 to 6 presentations. Send speaker ideas to aleks.gusev@gmail.com. Once we have registration and speaker updates, we will communicate to the WCS email list. To join the list, sign up here! We know that running rapids can be fun, but not at the cost of our community’s health and safety. Instead, you will be able to join from the ease, comfort and safety of your pyjamas, sitting on your couch, with your various pets. Bonuses include access to the bathroom with no line-ups, your favourite snacks at your disposal, and no restrictions to bringing a glass of wine to the event this year. Plus, people who would normally not join due to travel challenges, cost, visas, and general life demands can now access the Wilderness and Canoe Symposium much more easily. We look forward to welcoming you into our first-ever online Symposium on February 17. Join us and help us sustain our community connections.
Erika & Aleks
2021 WCS Email 4: A Wilderness and Canoe Symposium 2021 Update
2021 WCS Email 5: 2021 WCS Registration is OPEN, The Enduring Ice Project
2021 WCS Email 6: Mackenzie Mountains of NWT, Donations, Digital Archives, Registration
2021 WCS Email 7: Wilderness Concert, The Legend of Ronnie Bowes, Breakout Sessions...
There's no addmission cost to attend the 2021 virtual Wilderness & Canoe Symposium.
We just completed digitization of '20 WCS and they are available online in WCS archives. This work is huge and ongoing, as we go back in time and work on the old George's VHS tapes.
If you value this work and free access to the archives, consider making a DONATION to help us offset the cost of labour and technology involved in making it happen. Two ways to make a donation:
- Interac e-transfer (free) to wcsymposium@gmail.com, with the note "Digital Archives Donation"
- Cheque to "Wilderness and Canoe Symposium" and mail to Wilderness and Canoe Symposium, 8 Valiant Road, Etobicoke, ON, M8X 1P4