CanoeSport Outfitters

I have led over 2 dozen wilderness destination trips and countless instructional lessons and have been fortunate to never have a serious medical emergency occur to a student or myself. This December I had the opportunity to travel to Landmark Learning an affiliate of NOLS (National Outdoor Leadership School) and take part in a 9-day intensive Wilderness First Responder (WFR or pronounced 'woofer') course, which blew any of my previous training out of the water!

After more than thirty years at CanoeSport Outfitters, I’m still frequently asked, “How did you come to start a paddling store in Indianola, Iowa?” The simple answer is I loved to paddle, knew there were few suppliers of paddling equipment in Iowa, needed to earn a living, and was living in Indianola at the time the idea came to me. Those four things in combination provided the motivation to start a store and locate it where I did. While many are satisfied with this short ans