Langskib Rising – A Story About Community and Resilience
NWL provides authentic back country canoe trips from our two island basecamps on Lake Temagami—Northwaters on island #1088 in central lake Temagami and Langskib, on Windshift island #1222 in Sharprock Inlet. In July 2023, we tragically lost five buildings to a fire at Langskib. Our basecamps are used to frame adventures, outfit our sections, send them off on their canoe trips and welcome them home at the end. When sections are on trail, Langskib is occasionally left unattended, but rarely for long. The fire started during one of these rare occasions when no one was on the island. Our staff and campers were safely off site or on trail.
The tragedy of the fire was tempered by the outpouring of support from countless individuals. To honor this support and the hard work, dedication, and love that went into the rebuild, we produced a short documentary. It’s the story of an organization deeply rooted in community, a story of loss, grief and resilience, set amid the breathtaking beauty of northern Ontario.
Our experience of the fire and the following seasons’ rebuild has been characterized by, above all else, gratitude. We are unbelievably grateful to everyone who showed up and fought the fire. The immediacy and generosity of their efforts saved our basecamp and the trees of Windshift Island. We are unbelievably grateful for all the ways the Temagami community supported us as we re-arranged the logistics of our summer programs in 2023 and completed a rebuild of the buildings lost in 2024. We are unbelievably grateful to our staff an alumni community who carried us through it all.
Whether you are connected to Northwaters & Langskib from past experiences, or just learning about NWL for the first time, this is us.
Teeth to the Wind.