Norm Hann

Hometown: Squamish, BC 

Favorite Vaikobi Item: V COLD Storm Cold Paddle Pant & V Cold L/S Base top

Norm Hann grew up on the lakes and rivers of Northern Ontario before moving out west to British Columbia to pursue his passion for the outdoors after a successful university basketball career and a few years spent as a high school teacher. Norm worked as an outdoor guide in the Great Bear Rainforest for close to a decade. In that time he was adopted into the Raven Clan of the Gitga'at people for the work he was doing with local youth.

Norm has been at the forefront of standup paddleboarding in Canada and began  paddling in 2008. In 2010, with the threat of oil tankers in the Great Bear Rainforest, he paddled the 400km proposed tanker route on an expedition called Standup4Greatbear. A few years later he was part of the award winning adventure conservation documentary called Stand, a project which again brought more awareness to the threat of oil tankers on the north coast. As a sought after speaker, Norm continues to use coastal expedition paddling and years spent in the Great Bear Rainforest to bring education to elementary and high school students through his Take a Stand Program.

Norm has competed in numerous sup events and races around the world in the last decade with highlights of being the first canadian to cross the finish line at the Molokai2Oahu Paddleboard Championships and more recently as part of the first group of standup paddle boarders to finish the 717km Yukon River. 

Norm's Expedition business offers world class multi day sup expeditions around the world and he is an Instructor Training for Paddle Canada. Norm's passion lies in big remote coastal expeditions and paddle surfing Canada's remote cold water breaks. He lives in Squamish BC with his partner Jen and his son Kiel. 

We are very proud to have Norm as part of the Vaikobi team!