Yukon 125 Prize recipients announced

Congratulations to the three 125 Prize recipients! Seeing these ideas unfold in the upcoming year will be truly incredible. I encourage all Yukoners to follow along on social media and be inspired by these three innovative and bold pursuits. Thank you to everyone who applied to this special fund and for taking part in commemorating the 125th anniversary of the Yukon joining Canadian Confederation. 

 

40 years ago, I had this idea to compose a song about Kluane National Park and airlift a grand piano into the park for a music video. I never accomplished the project, but the idea remained and grew over the decades to include Diyet, who profoundly represents the park's incredible Indigenous culture, and to expand the music into three movements representing the park's distinct ecosystems. It's unbelievable and yet somehow fateful, to have this opportunity to celebrate the Yukon's most majestic wilderness with Diyet and together create an epic production.

I relish this idea of Matthew’s and I, to create something new in these beautiful mountains. To me, this is what looking at truth, reconciling that truth and moving forward together looks like.

Our project is a written and illustrated account of 125 years of undertold Yukon stories, big and small. It's like if John Hughes gave the reins of Weird Science to Tedd Tucker and Amy Kenny and, instead of a teen rom-com, the movie ended up being about two nerds frankensteining a high school yearbook together with comics, PostSecret, and a Pierre Berton anthology. Can you imagine traditional publishing avenues funding that pitch? Obviously not! That's why we're extra excited the Yukon 125 Prize did. This funding will allow us to create a book that defies established genre, where we can share some of the stories we've been talking to each other about for years.

We're hoping to accomplish the first ascent of a route on one of the most striking mountains in southern Yukon, Radelet Peak. Ever since moving to the Yukon the peak has held mythical status for me, with no successful attempt to scale the steep rock around it. I can't wait to see it in person and be engrossed in the unique natural environment. As a working professional, the Yukon 125 funding makes a huge difference by giving me the ability to fly into the site. This will allow me to save precious time and energy and also to bring in more gear which makes a successful climb that much more likely.