They call it a kids’ camp. It’s not what comes to mind when one thinks about keeping the crew busy during the March break.

Heli skiing out at the White Pass?

For Pete Wright of Yukon Heli Ski, it’s more than just providing Indigenous youth with a rare opportunity to float through powder in the backcountry.

In some ways, it’s a recruitment exercise for Wright.

“We are hoping to teach some of them to become ski guides, pilots, chefs for this industry, for this new tourism industry in the Yukon,” Wright says in an interview as he prepares for the two-day camp this weekend.

Wright says it’s a means of providing the teenagers with another avenue to pursue, a means of encouraging them to step away from the game controllers for some wilderness adventure.

Having grown up in Whitehorse and Atlin, the 51-year-old knows the challenge of trading in the couch for something completely different.

But there is opportunity out there, he insists.

Niko Helm of the Carcross-Tagish First Nation has been with Yukon Heli Ski for five years now, and is well on his way to becoming a qualified mountain ski guide.

Wright says his clients, mostly from Europe and Asia, have told him they would find their experience more fulfilling if they were in the company of Indigenous guides.

Three local helicopter companies welcome the encouragement for more youth to consider a career in flying, he says.

Wright points out that Delmar Washington, owner of Capital Helicopters, is particularly enthusiastic about the prospect of having more First Nation pilots in the business.

For two days, 12 youth and their four chaperones from four First Nations will be immersed in the business of heli skiing.

Two of the youth are coming up from the Lil’wat Nation, in the company of Christopher Britt, administrator and outdoor educator at the Xet’olacw Community School who is helping Wright organize the camp.

While both Grade 11 students are accomplished snowboarders and skiers at Blackcomb-Whistler mountains, Britt says, they’ve never been on an airplane before.

They’ll arrive in Whitehorse by jet, and then it’s off to Fraser and into the mountains by helicopter.

“They are going to get to go heli skiing,” he said. “It’s awesome.

“It’s a really cool introduction to the tourism world.”

There’s a camera crew coming up with Britt and his students to film the camp.

Wright says above all, it’s safety first.

Whitehorse resident Marc Boulerice, who Wright describes as one of the top ski instructors in Western Canada, will be at the camp. Avalanche expert Shane Parker of Whitehorse will also be there.

So will Alaskan Mark Kelly of the Association of American Mountain Guides.

“It’s all about making it safe,” says Wright.

“We are trying to showcase everything in this business, to hopefully encourage them to work in the business.”

He points out the camp is being supported by a number of local volunteers, including artist and carver Lorraine Wolf who will be helping with the cooking. Her brother, master carver Keith Wolf Smarch, will also be out at Fraser.

In honour of last year’s inaugural kids’ camp, Wolf Smarch carved a Tlingit welcome pole.

Washington flew it into the mountains, and, together with Wright and Wolf Smarch, they placed it on a mountain top. The crew will be flying over it this weekend.

Premier Sandy Silver, deputy premier Ranj Pillai and spokesperson Louise Gordon of Atlin’s Taku River Tlingit First nation have been invited to be at the camp tomorrow.

Wright says the plan if the premier can make it is to outfit him with all the safety gear required in the backcountry, then hide him under snow.

The challenge for the students will be to locate the premier, using only their beacon detectors and probes, Wright says.

“They’ll dig him out and pull him out of there,” he says. “It’s going to be a lot of fun.”