My Amazing Yukon Life

 Affectionately known by it's original name " The Reckless Raven", and quickly rebranded as "The Yukon 50 Mile Ultra & Relay, this race has just celebrated it's 9th year of blisters and bliss through the mountains, streams, trails, and backcountry through 80 kilometres of pristine Yukon wilderness.  This event was created over several conversations by some very communi...

 As a young girl running her own dog team on a remote trap near her small village home of Fort Selkirk, Ione Christensen gleefully pioneered her adventures and experiences into a diverse skill set that would long serve her for the many career opportunities she joyfully accepted in her adult life.  She subconsciously began working as a “leader” at a very formattable age, developing skills that woul...

Growing up in the remote settlement of Yukon's Fort Selkirk during the 1930's and 40's, Ione Christenson's life has been significantly influenced and enriched from the multitude of experiences she embraced since her arrival there as a three year old child.  As a young girl running her own dog team on a trap line west of her small village home, she quickly and joyfully embodied...

"Bino" and Lynda Ficiur struck out from Lethbridge Alberta in the 1960's as young newlyweds to live the Klondike gold mining life of hard work and adventure in the Yukon Consolidated Gold Corporation's "Bear Creek" mining camp, located just outside of Dawson City. Lynda raised their family in camp, while Bino worked tirelessly in the goldfields. He was quickly promote...

In order to live life to the fullest here in the Yukon, you have to get outside of your comfort zone and experience this place and all of its beauty, danger, and grandiose magnitude up close and personal while embracing both the journey and the destination. As they say, " if you're not living on the edge, then you're taking up too much space". The range of adventures and experi...

The need for an efficient mode of mass transit in the Yukon was answered by the all mighty tour bus, bringing not only people, but valuable supplies up the 1387 miles of Alaska Highway starting from Mile Zero in Dawson Creek BC to Delta Junction Alaska. This once infrequently driven highway, is considered by many as a bucket list adventure, and the rubber tire traffic of tourism still abounds duri...

Living in the wilds of Canada's Yukon Territory, Norm Winther has carved his life out of some of the most rugged and demanding parts of the territory, while living each and every day as an authentic trapper. With this diverse lifestyle comes the development of skills that are ever changing and as vast as the landscape that surrounds him. The urgency of the moment to live in this frozen enviro...

Artist Jim Robb has been a staple of the Yukon's art scene since the mid 1950's and is best know for his "Colourful Five Percent" books which are available in local Yukon bookstores and galleries.  His works capture the quality and uniqueness of the many varied and colourful character and places that many would argue, have made the Yukon a little more colourful than anywhere el...

At the top of the world in the Yukon and Alaska wilderness of northwestern North America, the Yukon Quest 1,000 Mile International Sled Dog Race, an epic winter sports event takes place every year on the first Saturday of February. One might ask, how many tries does it take to win the Yukon Quest Dog Sled Race?  Much of the answer lies in your own personal conviction and dedication to the sport, a...

The Yukon Quest Dog Sled Race of 2023 is currently underway and heading north from Whitehorse to Dawson City, Yukon.  Under the watchful eyes of a bevy of volunteers, race officials, and dog handlers, this 450 mile race traverses some of the most picturesque and harsh environments in Northern Canada. Hearty groups of eager dogs, mushers, handlers, and volunteer support groups along the way, make t...

June 21st remains a significant day for a great many people in Canada as the long daylight of the Summer Solstice transits into its next seasonal phase.  A sense of time, mortality, humility and gratitude, often accompanies this pivotal day, especially for the  people living in Canada's North. June 21st also marks National Indigenous Peoples Day since 1996.  It's a special occasion and o...

Like so many others who came up to the Yukon for just two weeks, Hank Karr quickly realized that Whitehorse Yukon would be the place he'd grow his roots down deep, and "stay a while". That decision came quickly, when he first travelled from Ketichcan Alaska to Whitehorse Yukon in the mid 1960's to play his guitar and sing on the stage at the local Whitehorse Inn.  Sixty plus ye...

The world was abuzz with the discovery of gold in the Klondike on August 16th 1896.  Hordes of prospectors, entrepreneurs, adventure seekers and a wide variety of "entertainers" rallied for their stake in what was to be one of the last great gold rushes of the century. For those entertainers who were unable to make this great adventure to Dawson City, a new medium of entertainment would...

JANUARY, 1950: SKYMASTER FLIGHT #2469 DISAPPEARS OVER THE YUKON. IT’S NEVER BEEN FOUND.  VIEWERS JOIN THE SEARCH WHEN SKYMASTER DOWN PREMIERES ON documentary CHANNEL SUNDAY JANUARY 16, 9 p. m. ET/PT Tune in to CBC February 25th at 8:00pm ET 2024 to watch  Documentary filmmaker Andrew Gregg has made many films in Canada’s North often examining some of its great secrets.  But there is one very puzzl...

#023 – “A Yukon Game Warden’s Stories” by George Balmer Retired Yukon Game Warden, George Balmer, humorously recounts more than 40 years of incredible outdoor adventures during his patrols to some of the territories most stunningly beautiful places. Reflecting upon his chance meetings with wonderfully unique people along the way and the occasional “day gone sideways” mishap, George’s newly publish...

#022 – How do you cross country ski your way from the wilds of the Yukon to the PyeongChang Olympics? Olympic Competitor Dahria Beatty,  reflects upon her passion for cross country skiing, and the winding journey her professional career has taken her on.  To listen to the full M.A.Y.L. podcast show series, please click on MyAmazingYukonLife.com where you’ll find each weekly podcast link along with...

#021 Balto & Togo - a musical history lesson from the 1925 Diphtheria anti-toxin to the Covid 19 vaccine In late 1925, Diphtheria broke out in the remote town of Nome Alaska, and so began "The Great Race of Mercy".  20 dog mushers and 200 dogs swiftly mobilized their teams to bring the much needed anti-toxin to the ailing group of 1430 townspeople separated from any means of contact...

#020 - Memoirs of a 10 year old Donna Clayson.  Moving from Dawson Creek to Haines Junction in the mid 60s Travel in the Yukon in the 21st century is literally a breeze compared to the earlier modes of transportation. Waterways, wagon roads, horse trails, and traditional foot roots all paved the way towards the comforts we enjoy today, and eventually train routes, roads and air travel developed ov...

#019 - Garbage Truck Santa - Come ride along with Yukon's one and only Wayne Henderson Wayne Henderson spends the weeks leading up to Christmas making his list, checking it twice, planning his route, and scraping the ice, as he prepares his electric light garbage truck and Santa suit for what has become a Yukon winter tradition for nearly three decades now.   Yukoners delight at the opportuni...

#018 – Exploring the North with ExploreNorth.com founder, Murray Lundberg In today’s interview with Murray Lundberg, we discuss the adventures, challenges, and changes in researching and presenting the fascinating history of the Yukon. We discuss how social media, WYSIWYG website development, PDF books and the ever changing Internet has been both a challenge and a blessing to this entrepreneurial...

#017 – Piecing Together Yukon’s Rocky History – An Interview with Head Yukon Surficial Geologist, Jeff Bond.  In today’s interview with Jeff Bond, we discuss the adventures, challenges, and changes in the field of Surficial Geology and how recent scientific analysis techniques have aided Yukon’s mineral exploration industry. Jeff’s lifelong learning mindset and commitment to the field of geomorpho...

#016 – The passing of guitar legend Eddie Van Halen.  In today’s podcast, we jump back to the year 1984 with the rock band Van Halen. This was the time in musical history when guitar wielding, string bending, finger tapping virtuoso axeman Eddie Van Halen commanded the stage and rocked arenas around the world, not only with his incredible technique but with his stage presence and confident demeano...

#015 – Restoring the Fokker Super Universal CF-AAM aircraft to her halcyon days. In today’s podcast with Donna Clayson, we learn about a research project she complied discussing the dedicated team of pilots, engineers, historians and many others behind the scenes who worked diligently for 18 years restoring one of the first aircraft to serve in the Yukon.  The rebirth of the Fokker Super Universal...

#014 – Bhangra Dancing in the Yukon with Gurdeep Pandher  Gurdeep Pandher arrived in Whitehorse with a burning desire to share the joyous and unique style of Bhangra dance to Yukoners in every town and remote community throughout the territory. When his first 2016 Canada Day Bhangra dance video went viral overnight on the Internet, he quickly realized that through his social media presence, he cou...

#013 – Keeping Yukon's History Alive and Well. An interview with historian Donna Clayson.  In today’s podcast interview, we only began to scratch the surface of Donna Clayson’s lifelong passion and enthusiasm towards preserving the Yukon’s rich history. As an accomplished writer of short stories, news articles, research papers, and often times history presenter at the Yukon Transportation Mus...