NOW Outdoors: Madison

We're very excited to announce that due to this event's popularity over the last 10 years, we are moving from our 40-acre base camp in Waupaca to the much larger Wisconsin Lions Camp (WLC). Our new venue offers an ENORMOUS outdoor camping space for tents, hammocks, hot tents, and even RVs. We have a well-stocked woodpile for campfires and woodstoves. If you love the idea of winter camping but you're not quite ready to sleep outside, we now have indoor lodging available.

Join us Friday through Sunday for a variety of presentations, workshops, and hands-on skills training. Whether you arrive Friday or Saturday, check-in time runs 7am-9am. Workshops will start at 9am each day and most presentations will run about an hour. Some of our sessions will take place indoors and others will be entirely outside. We have special guest keynote presentations both Friday and Saturday night followed by a bonfire social.

This year, you can bring your own camp meals, or you can opt for catered buffet style meal provided by our friends at WLC. We have a great menu planned for the weekend. We can also accommodate special diets.

Keynote Presentations
Friday
Jeff Kelm, international ice fishing champion and award-winning writer and co-host at Wisconsin Outdoors Radio.

Saturday
Michael Neiger, Arctic Ocean expeditioner, author, and head of Michigan's backcountry search and rescue (MibSAR) and long-range special operations group (LRSOG) that works between Upper Michigan and the Arctic Ocean.

The best winter hammock camping event in the country! Your family might think you're nuts but we know better. Come hang out and kick off the new year right. This event is always FREE and always fun.

The Wisconsin Frozen Butt Hang is a short "pulk or toboggan towing" trip in deep snow country. We like to get out there and really put ourselves and our gear to the test! We've been lucky enough to have some of the coldest temperatures the Midwest has to offer and routinely have the coldest of all winter hang events.

Where? This year we will be back in Pearson, WI near Jack Lake and hiking in on the Ice Age Trail. I will arrange to have a parking area plowed for us by Jack Lake.

The Route: We will hike in 1.5 miles on the Ice Age Trail (IAT) in Langlade County near Jack Lake. The parking lot on County J Road, Pearson, WI will be plowed for us and from there we can head south on the IAT past the western side of Jack Lake towards Game Lake. The park is closed to the public so we have the entire area to ourselves. There are picnic tables (might be buried under the snow) and a grill grate we can use. There is also an outhouse at camp. Be sure to bring snowshoes or skis.

This event has always been a celebration of the coldest weather we can hope for. That said, there are lots of opportunities for beginners to dial in there gear before the hang such as our Winter Workshop event in December. You can contact us at [email protected] for more info on this, or other beginner friendly trips here in WI.

This event is not recommended for beginners with little to no experience camping in the cold. Please also leave your fur babies at home for this event.

In the spirit of snow walkers, trappers, and arctic explorers from the past, this is a real high-adventure expedition for anyone who absolutely loves the cold.

Join us for an EPIC 9-Day traditional snowshoe expedition through the vast Boundary Waters Canoe Area in Northern Minnesota. We follow in the footsteps of the early fur trade trappers by means of snowshoe and toboggan during the day and sleep in traditional canvas “hot tents” at night. We use wood burning stoves to warm the tent, cook meals, and dry clothes each night. Even if the temperature drops to -40F outside, we can be comfortable with light layers in the tent. Local wildlife includes moose, otters, wolves, beavers, eagles, lynx, and more.

Our winter expeditions are a fun and challenging experience for the hardy individuals who love playing in the cold. Working and living in the cold for extended periods requires good teamwork and a variety of skills. Participants will strengthen all of these skills and more on this trip.

• Dressing appropriately for conditions
• Maintaining proper nutrition and hydration
• Selecting, harvesting, and processing firewood
• Using snowshoes
• Packing toboggans
• Axe and saw use
• Ice chisel use
• Winter cooking and baking
• Winter fire building and stove use
• Ice safety
• Winter survival skills

We'll meet at 5:00 pm Saturday, February 1st and stay at a local lodge. On Sunday morning we will check our gear and head to the put-in to start our journey!

This is a loop trip with 7 days on the ice. We travel most days and plan for 1 or 2 layover days (itinerary may change due to weather or other variables). We will travel roughly 30 miles in total. There are lots of places to explore along our route such as frozen waterfalls, artifacts from the old logging days, and more. We fish for monster trout on layover days, polar plunge, or practice winter survival skills. We will hike out Saturday, February 8th, spend the night at a lodge, and depart on Sunday February 9th.

All meals on trail are included. If you have special dietary restrictions, please let us know well in advance and we will do the best we can to accommodate.

Difficulty: Challenging
This trip is for experienced winter enthusiasts. You should be very comfortable camping and working in sub-zero conditions. We will be towing toboggans upwards of 6.5 miles per day at a steady pace. You should be able to provide sufficient personal clothing and sleep gear as per the provided gear list. Everyone will be provided a toboggan outfitted with tanks and a "day box" to hold your gear and group gear. This is an expedition style trip which means we all work together as a team to help with camp tasks such as tent set up and take down, collecting water, processing firewood, etc.

AS ALWAYS >>> A gear list and details will be available upon registration via access to the event group page on our website nowoutdoors.org.

Price: $2,300
You can also pay a $600.00 non-refundable deposit to secure your spot. This deposit will be put towards your final balance.