Every now and again we look at a product that we have sold for years and realize that it is really a great product. As ski shop operators we get so that we take them for granted. A few products come to mind.

1. Tecnica Skandia after ski boots. These have been on the market for years with very little change. Sure the sizing was revamped for us Americans and the trim color changes once in a while but the basic design is the same as it was when we started selling them years ago. Ladies call every day talking about how they are replacing an old friend when the order a new replacement pair. These boots seem to last forever.
2. Patagonia Long Underwear. Sure they change the name and modify the material but the concept is the same. A synthetic garment that doesn’t stink, washes well, dries quickly and keeps you warm. The fact that it looks great is a bonus. Who among us hasn’t used it to ski or snowboard in, Camping, shovel the drive, bicycle, hike, or jog? I would never think of going paddling without a set in my bag. I shipped a set to my dad to wear around the farm in Virginia. The last thing my son threw in his car as he left to teach tennis in Florida was a new top.
3. Merrill Slide shoes. Around us these are the comfort shoe of choice around work. Easy on and off, look good. Warm in the winter and cool in the summer. They can look dressy or casual. They are one of those shoes that seem to fit better the longer you own them. If you own one pair, you are always looking for a 2nd pair.
4. Turtle Fur fleece neck warmers. Who ever knew that you could harvest the fur of a turtle? Does it grow back??? What winter person doesn’t have at least one in the car. Our kids have grown up with it being as important as gloves when they leave for school every morning.
5. Marker Spring gloves & Montana Gloves. These

We must live in one of the greatest places on earth for anyone that likes to be outdoors! Northern Michigan is the center of the world. Within 10 minutes of our office and store we have 4 nice sized lakes (Walloon Lake, Crooked Lake, Pickerel Lake, Round Lake, and Lake Michigan). We have 2 of the best ski areas in the Midwest with a 3rd just 15 minutes away (Nubs Nob, Boyne Highlands, & Boyne Mountain). We also have as many scenic miles of nice paved roads and trails to peddle on as your heart desires. Sure we don’t have the huge peaks of the western mountains or the warm water of the southern shores but tell me where else you can find it all so convenient? Now if your idea of the perfect place to live has tons of malls surrounding you, don’t look at Petoskey, our nearest mall is almost seventy miles away and we are OK with that.

Yesterday I introduced Danna to the idea of going kayaking for lunch. We left at 1:00 PM and high-tailed it to the Stolt rd. put-in on Walloon Lake. We would have left earlier but she didn’t have a swimsuit with her (silly girl). We were able to paddle about 40 minutes on a gorgeous day, eat lunch on the water, enjoy a swim and get back, refreshed on a hot day. OK, so we were an hour and 12 minutes but we got some great photos to use for the web and print ads so it was really work.
It’s not at all unusual for one or two of our people to go skiing or snowboarding during lunch in the winter (we have groomed XC trails just 3 minutes away). We use the bike path all summer long during lunch. It goes right past the stores front door.
We are real pumped for next summer; it looks as if the city will be constructing a white water course on the Bear river. The put-in for this class 3-4 course is just 50 yards from our offices. Just think about how much fun we can have next summer, a quick run during lunch or after work!
I am a big believer that there are great places to play anywhere you live but you just have to get out and find them. Where do you play?

GH

As I see it there are 2 types of paddlers in the world. Oh sure we have Whitewater Paddlers, Touring paddlers, Sea Kayakers,……… I am talking about paddling on a more basic sense. Are you the type that goes on the river that everyone else goes to? Do you paddle the same harbor or area of the lake each time? Or do you drive around always looking, always wondering “ What is that stretch like?”. Do you have a worn-out Gazetteer in each of your vehicles? Are you always looking at the new GPS’s, searching for the perfect mapping GPS that never has dead batteries. Is Google Earth one of your most used bookmarks, not to mention Earthwind, Delorme Topo & Garmin Mapsource. As you may have figured, I am a member of the latter.

Many of my friends paddle the same place every time they paddle. For some it is in front of the house on the lake. For others it is the same section of the local river over and over again. Many people do this because there is a certain comfort factor in doing a paddle that they have done many times. You know how long it should take, where to stop for lunch, what time you will be done, etc. Chances are that it hasn’t changed all that much from the last time you paddled it. There is nothing wrong with this type of paddling but……

There are a group of us that love to pour over maps looking for new rivers and lakes that we have never paddled or that has never been attempted. Whitewater paddlers have a term for it “First Descent”, We all dream of being the first to successfully make a run or to be the first to explore an area or lake somewhere. Being the first is hard to achieve in the 21st century. The world has gotten smaller and there are more paddlers looking for new experiences. But the dream lives on. Maybe it is the same dream that motivated Lewis & Clark or John Wesley Powell. I am sure Bill Mason was motivated by that dream as he paddled wilderness rivers and lakes in Canada.

As realist, we can say “ it’s all been done!” But as dreamers we know the thrill and anticipation as we put in a new river of lake. We have studied the maps & photos and made our plans. Even though we have done the research we realize that we have to have some flexibility in the process. The current may be faster/slower than anticipated, there may be deadfalls to deal with or rocks and other obstacles that we didn’t plan on. The 6 hour trip may only take 3 hours or……. may take 9 hours to finish and we know the spouse isn’t going to be very happy!!!!!

I would be the first to tell you that some of the most anticipated trips have turned out to be somewhat less than anticipated but…… There are the times on a new lake or river that you round a bend and see the nesting Eagles, the Loon Family calling back and forth, or the Elk or Dear standing there. The times you find a place that demands that you stop and cast a fly, because morally it was the right thing to do. We all can remember places where we pulled over and just sat there, quietly enjoying the moment with our paddling partners.

For some of us these trips are major adventures with major planning. One of my friends hiked the Inca trail last winter, Paddled the Apostle Islands last summer and just returned from paddling Isle Royal. Fantastic trips…. Sure! Were all of these trips a fantastic experience????? Probably not ( don’t ask about the 40 degrees, wind and rain in July on Isle Royal. ). But were they all memorable? ABSOLUTLY!

For many of us these trips consist of anything from a couple of hours to a couple of days in the local area. The key point is that we are always looking, always dreaming, and always in search of the perfect trip. Will we ever find it? Hopefully not, if we do what is there to search for in the future?
GH
http://www.bahnhof.com/

PS: You can substitute Biking or Hiking for Paddling above….

When is it time to introduce your kids to Canoe & Kayaking? The answer is going to differ depending on the family. For most of us at the Bahnhof it was as soon as the weather hit the 70’s and the water warmed up. My son went in the canoe for the first time at about 2 years. He sat on the floor or stood with both hands on the yoke bouncing up and down. Missy’s kids have both followed at about 2 years and have had great experiences. I have read articles written about families touring the Boundary Waters with young children and there seems to be some basic similarities in their experiences as well as ours.

1. Buy a good fitting youth PFD. Make sure that it fits well. If you get one that doesn’t fit or is too big it, will be uncomfortable. Not wearing a PFD should not be a subject for discussion. Around the water the kids wear it. You should get in the habit of wearing yours also, If the kids see you wearing yours they won’t even think that it is an option.

2. Start off with short trips maybe just an hour in real nice weather. You need to be flexible with the schedule. Kids are just like us, some days are better than others. You may just get going and find out that it just isn’t going to work today. If that is the case don’t get upset or put out with them. Just move on to Plan B.

3. Have a Plan B! This is really important. In order to smoothly switch to another plan we don’t want to make a big deal about it at the launch site. Plan B can be as simple as sitting on the waters edge tossing stones. I’ve never meet a little boy that wasn’t infatuated with throwing stones in water. Looking for pollywogs is a good one too. This is a great time to float in PFD’s at the beach.

4. Have toys available but don’t give them out all at once. Simple items such as balls and squirt guns are great. Heck I love playing with my water cannon. Make sure that whatever you take can get wet and doesn’t have great sentimental or monetary value. Things do fall over or get dropped overboard. I had a trip on the James River where I had to paddle hard to catch one of my then 3 year old daughter’s new Nike shoes that thought it was entered in the duck races!!! I would think long and hard before I took a child’s favorite blanket or doll.

5. Dry clothes, diapers, and cleaning supplies. Sun Screen and Hats.

6. As adults we travel on our stomachs, it’s even more important with kids. gorp, cheese & crackers, summer sausage, peanut butter and jelly sandwiches, M&M’s, Juice and Water. You don’t have to wait until they tell you that they are hungry or thirsty. When you see their attention wandering offer them something. Make sure the snacks are not messy.

7. Take the opportunity to point out birds, animals, etc. along the way.

Above it all, MAKE IT FUN. If they have fun at these young ages, we will create adults that enjoy paddling.

http://www.bahnhof.com/

As paddle sports enthusiasts we have watched it appearing on the horizon for the last couple of years. The choice is whether to Paddle a kayak sitting down or to paddle standing up on a paddle board? Kayaking is one of the most traditional forms of on water transportation and recreation, the equipment and style has remained basically unchanged for centuries. You sit in a shell with your feet out front and paddle with a double ended paddle. Sure the boats & paddles are a lot more hi-tech, but the idea is the same. If you live in a water community like I do you see lots of kayaks on the roofs of cars and hanging out of the back end of pickups. In the morning, throughout the day and in the evening you see people kayaking on Lake Michigan as well as on all of the inland lakes around us.

Lately you may have noticed that there seems to be more and more surfboards on the roofs of cars around time. They are longer old school type boards, at first one might think that people have been hitting the garage sale circuit pretty hard. These are a lot bigger than what we see on ESPN in the big waves of Hawaii. At the put in, you watch them unload the board and then pull out a real long canoe paddle! They flop the board on the water, Jump on and paddle away. Welcome to the world of Stand Up Paddle Boards (SUP for Short). Developed by Surfers for use when the waves are smaller, people are getting a great core workout in flat water as well as in big waves. Check out some of the You Tube videos when you have a chance, they are amazing.

In surf communities SUP’s are popular. In Northern Michigan they are just catching on.. Most of us are looking at them as a fun, new method of getting that workout. We see a lot of people paddling around the harbors on them.

The learning curve seems pretty straight forward. People that are surfers or Sailboarders have it made. They “step into it” easily. Skiers and people that come to it from sports that require good balance and coordination quickly get to the point where they can paddle upright in flat conditions. Check out Lindy, a lifelong skier, after just 5 minutes on a SUP. How long does it take to learn to handle the big waves? Time will tell.
Check out the great selection of Stand Up Paddle Boards fron Bic, OxBow and Naish available from Bahnhof Sport.

http://www.bahnhof.com/