Canoecopia - 2024 Presentations by Category

Canoecopia is presented by

Presenting Sponsor

Location
Alliant Energy Center
1919 Alliant Energy Way
Madison, Wisconsin

Show Hours
Friday: 3 PM to 8 PM
Saturday: 9 AM to 6 PM
Sunday: 10 AM to 4 PM

Tickets
1-Day: $15.00
3-Day: $30.00
Ages 17 and under are FREE
Cash or check only for tickets purchased at the event

Parking Fees
1-Day: $8.00
Cash or credit, fees collected by Alliant Energy Center

Feedback

Storytelling/Humor

John Bates

A Far Side To Birding

Algonquin - main floor Sat 11:30am-12:15pm

Birds! Their evolution, natural selection, population dynamics, adaptations, reproductive strategies, behaviors, migration, management - here’s Birding 101 in 45 minutes through the comic lens of Far Side cartoons. Laugh your way to enriching a paddling adventure by knowing more about the birds you’ll see and hear on the water and along the shores.

Timothy Bauer

Mistakes Were Made

Superior - main floor Sat 11:30am-12:15pm

Ever paddle down to a bridge and realize that you left your form of transportation at a different bridge - or at a wholly different river? Ever leave your boat at a bridge, run the shuttle, and discover that someone had stolen your boat in the meantime? Yeah, us neither. But ask Timothy, and that’s another story - several stories, actually. If tragedy plus time equals comedy, come be regaled by a smorgasbord of schadenfreude as Timothy shares his “pro” tips on what NOT to do while paddling in ... Read More

Kevin Callan

Happy Camper Canoe Tripping Tips and Tricks

Quetico - main floor Sun 12:30pm-1:15pm

Kevin Callan (a.k.a. The Happy Camper) will present on a number of tips and tricks he’s learned over the years of canoe tripping in the wilderness. Kevin will touch on: staying warm and dry, making a one-match fire, having a lighter pack, portage etiquette, choosing a good campsite, making a good camp meal, proper canoe strokes, navigation, dealing with bugs and bears, first-aid, how to make a good bush martini... and many, many more. If you’re a novice or an experienced tripper, you’ll ... Read More

Kevin Callan, Mona Gauthier, Marty Koch

The Aluminum Chef Competition

Quetico - main floor Sat 4:30pm-5:15pm

Once again, our three Aluminum Chefs will test their camp culinary skills against each other in true outdoor style. Kevin Callan returns as our unstoppable emcee in this fast-paced event. Woods-woman Mona Gauthier and former park ranger Marty Koch go up against local chef Luke Zahm of the Driftless Cafe in Viroqua, WI. Using MSR stoves and cook kits and a pantry of simple ingredients you might have on your next camping trip, our chefs will compete for the best appetizer, entree, and dessert. ... Read More

Will Collins

America By Canoe - Stories and Lessons from 4,300 miles on the Yukon & Mississippi Rivers

BWCA - main floor Sat 12:30pm-1:15pm

Big rivers, wild country, and two adventures of a lifetime. Join wilderness guide and podcast host Will Collins as he shares stories, lessons, and insights from two trips on Americas largest rivers: 103 days solo canoeing the Mississippi and 70 days canoeing the Yukon River.

Learn about exploring America from the low-down view of a canoe, including seeing barges, wolves, salmon runs.

Cliff Jacobson, Kevin Callan, Pete Marshall, Rob Kesselring

Q&A With the Experts

Quetico - main floor Sun 10:30am-11:15am

Got questions about canoeing and camping? Join Cliff Jacobson, Rob Kesselring, Kevin Callan, and Peter Marshall in this lively, fun-filled panel discussion. Together, these experts have more than 200 years of collective outdoors experience, so they really know their stuff. Last year’s panel was filled to overflowing, so come early if you want a seat. Submit questions beforehand to chloem@rutabaga.com with subject line: EXPERT Q&A. These experts will do the rest.

Rob Kesselring

Campfire River Stories from Anywhere and Everywhere Part II

Quetico - main floor Fri 4:30pm-5:15pm

Canoecopia participants from years past always ask Rob Kesselring for an entire session of his tales of adventure and misadventure. Last year, Rob shared some goose-bump-inducing tales from his lifetime of paddling the world. Grizzly bear charges, hippos, starvation, broken bones, elephants, floods, pins, tip-overs, whirlpools, bullet dodging, all true and all spun with enthusiasm and panache. But last year was just the beginning; this year, hear Part II. If you have joined Rob on a guided ... Read More

Marty Koch

Mission Impossible - 30 Years A Ranger

Superior - main floor Fri 5:30pm-6:15pm

Take a break from all of the serious paddling presentations with this hilarious telling of stories from Marty’s 30-year career as a park ranger and outdoor guide. Your mission, should you accept it, is to tell truth from fiction. Guaranteed to brighten your day.

Colleen and Jonny Kuehl, Colleen Kuehl, Jonny Kuehl

Backcountry Couples - It's All About Adventuring Together!

BWCA - main floor Fri 3:30pm-4:15pm

This backcountry couple started out with passion, 60lb packs, few paddling techniques and basic camping skills only to realize they could go further and deeper into the wilderness if they did it together! Come join, as they showcase gear, share tips, stories on how fun and cool it is adventuring as a team in all seasons.

Jeffrey Rohr

Oh, What a Trip!

Caribou - upstairs Sun 1:30pm-2:15pm

Oh, What a Trip is a memoir of the first years leading up to how Jeff Rohr became a wilderness canoe guide for over 40 years. It is a humorous book that talks about the excellent adventures that most people would not embark on. The presentation will include some of these adventures and certainly would hope to inspire people to do their own excellent adventures and, most importantly, how to be successful and safe in the wilderness. The planning, including research, equipment, packing, and more ... Read More

Michael Stout

The Lake Rider - Eight Great Lakes Solo Crossings

BWCA - main floor Fri 5:30pm-6:15pm

What started as summer fun on the local lake evolved into an obsession with extreme sport, high adventure, and personal achievement. Mike Stout’s crowning achievement was solo paddling across Lake Michigan a record-setting seven times and Lake Superior once. Stout will share with you the excitement of a new journey, the splendor of being surrounded by a magnificent sea of blue, taxing the mind and body, the worry of not surviving, and the exhilaration of completing another Great Lakes crossing.

Jeff Wilson, Terry Daulton

Wrong Tree: Adventures in Wildlife

Algonquin - main floor Sat 1:30pm-2:15pm

Jeff Wilson’s stories bring you along on his wildlife adventures, whether you ride in his canoe as he observes nesting loons, join him climbing into an eagle nest atop a super canopy pine, or crawl with him deep into a bear den. From his Iowa farm youth, Wilson’s love of adventure lured him to the Northwoods of Wisconsin where his 30+ year career as a wildlife technician for the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources found him moving problem bears and beaver, assisting with research on ... Read More