Danny Mongno

Age: 53
Occupation: Product & Field Marketing Manager for Northwest River Supplies (NRS)  
Residence: Lake Placid
Family: Wife, Celeste 
Sport: Paddling
Other sports: Cycling, Snowboarding, Cross-Country Skiing 
Volunteer: Lake Placid Outing Club youth organization

By Joanne E. McFadden

If you’re a paddling enthusiast, you’ve likely heard the name Danny Mongno. He’s been involved in the paddling world for 38 years in a variety of capacities, sharing his love of the sport with hundreds of people across the globe.

Danny, whose father was a fishing captain, climbed into in his first kayak at age 16 when he worked in a kayak shop. In contrast to his father’s 32-foot boats that he was accustomed to growing up on Long Island, the solitude and intimacy kayaking afforded him made an impression. 

It was about 15 years later that Danny, who naively considered himself a rather good kayaker at that point, was exposed to his first paddling instruction. A friend “tricked” him into his first lesson, which turned out to be a pivotal point in Danny’s life. The friend invited him out for a paddle and subtly began to acquaint him with techniques he had never seen before. “He was generous with his time to show me what I didn’t know,” Danny said. He was eager for more instruction, and his passion for paddling was born. “That’s what really launched my instructional career,” he said. 

Since that time, Danny has taught paddling all over the United States as well as in Japan, France, England, Scotland, and Canada, helping people to build their knowledge and skills, increasing their enjoyment of the sport. 

Danny was inspired along the way by Werner Furrer, Sr., a Swiss immigrant, engineer, and founder of Werner Paddles. “He was like my granddad,” Danny said. “It’s one of the greatest adventure and love stories I’ve ever been a part of. I’m grateful for the lessons and humility he taught me.”

Paddling has led Danny to many great experiences. He said that the Adirondack Canoe Classic, known in paddling circles as “the 90-Miler,” is one of the coolest things he has ever done. He participated in the three-day event which takes place along the waterway between Old Forge and Saranac Lake in 2018 and 2019. He was part of a four-person team paddling in a “Minnesota 4” canoe. The race, which has taken place on the weekend after Labor Day since 1983, encompasses the first leg of the Northern Forest Canoe Trail covering 90 miles including 5.25 miles of carries.

Creating Better Experiences for Paddlers – Danny now serves as a board member of the nonprofit NFCT. His employer, Moscow, Idaho-based NRS, is a sponsor of the trail. The 100 percent employee-owned company has a high standard for improving communities. Company founder Bill Parks believed that if his business was going to sell products to people, it should give back to the communities in which they live. 

The NFCT is a 740-mile marked waterway that winds its way through a 30-million acre forest, traversing New York, Vermont, Quebec, New Hampshire, and Maine, making it the longest inland water trail in the United States. Danny said he was honored that the organization’s executive director Karrie Thomas asked him to serve on the board. 

“We want to keep this 740-mile trail as protected as we can, and we’re really doing things,” Danny said. “It’s a passion project of mine.” NFCT hosts races and community paddles as well as building relationships between businesses and communities to encourage stewardship of the trail. Some of the projects include protecting the places where people put-in and take-out their boats, constructing parking lots, and maintaining and upgrading infrastructure such as portages and campsites. With Danny’s leadership, NRS is also a supporter of the NYS Canalway Water Trail, a 450-mile trail that encompasses the Erie, Champlain, Cayuga-Seneca, and Oswego canals. Their sponsorship supports the Erie Canalway National Heritage Corridor’s Water Trail stewardship program and annual paddling event. 

Another of Danny’s contributions to the paddling world is the Adirondack Paddling Symposium he launched in 2019. The event has the simple goal of providing paddling instruction to increase people’s enjoyment of the sport safely. The symposium’s target audience is beginners to intermediate-level paddlers of canoes, kayaks, and pack boats. Over a weekend through morning and evening classes, patient, supportive and highly skilled instructors teach attendees how their bodies and boats work together. 

To make the weekend as effective as possible for participants, Danny talks with participants ahead of time to determine their skill levels, where they seek improvement and what their goals are for the weekend. “Based on our discussions, Danny devises a training curriculum to help me achieve my goals, and he groups me with other paddlers whose needs and goals are similar to mine,” said Fred Klauser of Stafford, VA. “The fact that he tailors the training sessions to achieve my objectives has always impressed me. I know I’m not being pushed into a “canned” training curriculum.”

Danny’s experience in the industry gives him access to highly skilled instructors. “In the time I’ve spent with Werner Paddles and with NRS, I’ve met some amazingly gifted instructors,” Danny said. He invites them to offer the patient and encouraging instruction that is a hallmark of the symposium. Past instructors have included some of the highest-ranking coaches in the American Canoe Association and a woman who paddled solo the entire West Coast. 

“Danny and his instructors are nothing but kind and encouraging, no matter what your level,” said Beverly Blinn-Knapp of Ballston Spa, who attended in 2023 and 2024. She described herself as “a fairly inexperienced but enthusiastic 64-year-old pack boat paddler” before attending her first symposium prompted by “the crazy idea” she had of trying the 90-miler. Buoyed by the support and skill-building she received, Beverly went on to do the event three times. 

The symposium attracts people from all over New York, the Northeast, and some have even drove from North Carolina and Iowa to attend. “We are so so happy to have people from outside of the Tri-Lakes Region coming; we would not be successful without them,” Danny said. That said, motivated by a desire for safety, he would like to have more attendees from the villages of Saranac Lake, Lake Placid, and Tupper Lake.

“My assumption is that people who live here have just grown up on the water,” he said. Paddling is something that their grandparents and parents did, and he speculates that locals would ask themselves, “Why would I need to take a class?” He knows that many people out on water in the Tri-Lakes fell into the unofficial role of “leader” in their family, social circles, or community groups by accident, just because they’re the ones who happen to know the most about paddling. “Most people paddle safe until they don’t,” Danny said. “With two days at the symposium, they could take on that role of being a leader with a little more education behind it,” he said.

According to the US Coast Guard’s 2024 Recreational Boating Statistics report, 99 people died and 57 were injured in paddling or rowing accidents. The symposium is Danny’s way of helping people be safe and efficient on the water. 

In 2024, a group came to the symposium because they wanted to learn how to paddle in a current. “They came across high winds that were creating waves, and they didn’t know how to do it,” he said. Taking suggestions from the symposium has now added a “Moving Water Canoe Course,” headed up by SUNY Plattsburgh Expeditionary Studies graduate Matt Smith.

At the symposium, paddlers of all ages, including those in their 70s and early 80s, learn how to get back in their canoes by themselves. “We’re teaching them skills to rescue themselves,” Danny said. 

Beverly Blinn-Knapp applauds the effort, characterizing the class as one that “sounds intimidating but was wonderful.” “The instructors worked with everyone individually and did a great job working with participants to overcome their fears,” she said. “I feel so much more confident in my ability to handle an on-the-water emergency.” 

After the purchase of her first kayak, Danny introduced Kerry Pflugh of Washington, NJ to people in the paddling industry, and she became hooked on the sport. She has been both instructor and attendee at the symposium. She points out that many people don’t understand that there’s a science to paddling. “There are all these things that should be thought about – safety, skills, equipment, conditions, and health, too,” she said. “Water can be dangerous. It can also be very welcoming. You just need to be prepared.” The symposium works toward that end. 

Kerry attends the symposium not only to maintain and improve her skills. “It’s really about the community and being a part of the kayaking community – hearing about people’s experiences and finding out about new places to kayak.” This interaction takes place during the symposium’s meals, evening programs, and socials. These days, Kerry travels all over the world for kayaking expeditions. 

Susan Eagle of South Amboy, NJ echoes these sentiments. “I’m a three-time alumni and even before my paddle gets wet at the Adirondack symposium, I feel the energizing joy of community – so wonderful to be with dozens of people who find strength and peace on the water!”

A Special Paddling Moment – Completing the 90-Miler twice was a paddling highlight, Danny’s greatest paddling moment was introducing his wife, then girlfriend, to paddling. “It was a very early vacation in our relationship, and Celeste was not a paddler,” he said. Danny changed that by taking her out on a standup paddleboard in the Pacific Ocean. 

Through his job, volunteer work and extreme passion for paddlesports, Danny continues to invite people to pick up a paddle. For more information on the symposium, visit adirondackpaddlingsymposium.com. 

Freelance writer Joanne E. McFadden (mcfaddenfreelance@gmail.com) was introduced to paddling in fifth grade by Pan American Games gold medalist and Ventura Olympic Canoe Club founder, Bill Bragg, the father of fellow Girl Scouts. A swimmer and distance walker, she’s now extremely curious about what she doesn’t know about paddling.