Over the past 5 years Winterdance has outgrown all our expectations. Along
with this came the need for help!!!! Hank can still be found out on the trails guiding
tours 7 days a week, but we needed more guides to help him out with the dogs. We are fortunate
to have a Sir Sandford Fleming College campus in the village of Haliburton which specializes
in post graduate diplomas in Eco & Adventure Tourism Management. Through working with the
college to offer all students an opportunity to experience dogsledding, we have met some
phenomenal individuals who have not only gone on to work for us full time, but who are also
like members of our family. Being professional guides, every spring they all head off their
separate ways, pursuing their own interests, goals & careers, but while varied, they all live
to work & be a part of the great outdoor world around us.
It is with excitement however that we approach fall as the guides all start getting in touch again, and by November & December it is like a homecoming as they all start rolling into Haliburton complete with tales of their summer adventures! We feel truly honoured & privileged to have these great folks as part of our Winterdance team and those of you who have met them know exactly what we mean!!
Corey Pietryszyn |
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| Corey is returning for his 6th winter with us this year! Corey is a graduate of the SSFC Eco-Tourism program. This summer Corey stayed in Haliburton and managed the new Boatwerks Kayak store and got a lot of time on the water. In past summers you may have met Corey at Algonquin Outfitters. Corey has a great talent for photography, he also enjoys canoeing, rock climbing, pottery and has a beautiful 4 year old Siberian Husky, Tasha. He and his wife Stacey also just welcomed their first child Parker into the world on August 2nd. | |
Jon Silcox |
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| Jon will be returning this winter for his 5th year with us. Also a graduate of SSFC Adventure Tourism program his background is forestry management and he planted trees for several years before deciding to head back to school. He has spent his summer this year as an outdoor educator at Kinark Outdoor Centre in Haliburton. Jon's hobbies include canoeing, kayaking, film making & playing guitar. | |
Fraser Newton |
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| Fraser will be returning for a 6th year with us. He and his dog Nika have spent the off-season from Algonquin Park to the Canadian Rockies! A graduate of both the SSFC Eco-Tourism & Adventure programs, Fraser spends his summer's pursuing various interests including working on & inventing bikes, skateboards and numerous other kinds of sporting equipment. He also enjoys climbing, snowboarding, snowshoeing and competes in extreme endurance races like Raid the North as well as extreme mountain bike racing. Some of you may have seen Fraser on YTV a couple of years ago with some of our dogs. He and 6 of our dogs were guests of Paula during the Saturday morning cartoons. | |
Paul Braunton |
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| Paul will also be returning for his 5th winter with us this year. A graduate of SSFC Eco-tourism program, Paul took a year off after graduating and backpacked around Asia. He returned with some amazing tales! Paul also recently went back to school and earned a diploma in firefighting and is hoping to get a job in that field. In the meantime he is spending summer working in Algonquin Park with Algonquin Outfitters. He enjoys canoeing, snowmobiling and travelling. | |
Leah Blenkinsop |
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| Leah is returning for her 3rd winter with us. Leah came to us with a background in wilderness canoe/kayak trekking and a degree from Lakehead University in Outdoor Recreation. She has spent this summer working for an paddling adventure company in Ontario's provincial parks guiding canoe trips with her dog Sienna. Leah's hobbies include kayaking & travelling and she has a special gift for training our puppies. She will be the first to return to help with fall training. | |
Matthew Coppins |
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| He's back again! After guiding dogsled tours with us for 3 years Matt headed to Thunder Bay to earn a degree in Outdoor Recreation, with that complete he is now going to be attending Teacher's College in Peterborough. Much to all of our delight he is close enough again that he will be back on the runners on weekends and holidays helping us out. Matt is also a graduate of Sir Sandford's post diploma Eco-Tourism Management Program. His favourite past times include rock & ice climbing, snowboarding and kayaking. | |
Exploring New Trails...... |
Dan Mawhinney |
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| Dan has spent 4 winters guiding with us, so it will see very strange to not have him around. We wish him all the best on his new adventure! Another graduate of the SSFC Eco-Tourism program, Dan spent his summer planting trees in north central Ontario. Dan enjoys canoeing, and is busy teaching his adorable dog Zoey to skijor,he has decided to join Casey in the Yukon! | |
Casey Adshead |
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| After guiding with us for 2 years we will also miss Casey this winter. Casey and his girlfriend Christine headed west and then north for the summer on a road trip, but have fallen in love with Jack London's Yukon and decided to stay there for the winter. We do believe we have hooked Casey on dogsledding though, since he will be guiding 8 day tours for Blue Kennels out of Whitehorse. We wish them a great winter and look forward to hearing tales of their adventure when they return to Ontario! Casey too is a graduate of Sir Sandford's Eco-Tourism Management Program and also is a geologist. During the summer's Casey often works in mining exploration. He enjoys snowboarding, ice fishing and is also a very talented artist. |