Canada Summer Games
The premier events in summer games, of course, are swimming and soccer, the world’s most popular sport, referred to as “the beautiful game.”
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Weasel Workers
How to ski backwards I was the newest Weasel on the mountain and set off down to the lift station to get back up to
Book Review: The Lost Pianos Of Siberia
Sophy Roberts’ The Lost Pianos of Siberia intertwines history, music, and human stories across a vast, haunting landscape.
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Pearls Of Winter Wisdom
Can winter feel shorter? Creative and historical tricks for reframing the season. Embrace Aztec traditions and modern mindset shifts
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Awg Medals History – Arctic Sports Records
What’s the story behind Arctic Winter Games records? Doug Sack uncovers inspiring performances asnd curious events
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AWG Pre-history Part 1
Your humble literary servant missed the first two Arctic Winter Games: in 1970 because I wasn’t even in Canada yet, and 1972 because I was
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The Real Story Of How the Arctic Winter Games Came To Be
The 2026 return of the Arctic Winter Games (AWG) to Whitehorse is a really big deal and may someday be recalled as the Yukon’s finest hour.
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Fitness by firewood
A Yukon retiree, 75, has three readily apparent options for a productive summer fitness program: 1. Fishing, 2. Golf or 3. Firewood.
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Cataract Surgery: A modern medical miracle
There are only two things you need to know if you are considering cataract surgery to prevent spending your retirement years like Mr. Magoo
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My favourite Johnnie Johns hunting story
A favorite story by Johnnie Johns pf being trapped inside a moose and nearly freezing to death, told often at the Caribou Hotel in Caccross.
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The pine marten aka the sheriff of squirrel country
“I can’t believe I just got myself trapped inside a damn squirrel cage.”- Doug Sack’s perception of the pine marten’s thoughts.
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The lost camel of an ancient Persian fairy tale
In Persia, there once was a wise king with three sons. He mock-banished the young princes from his kingdom so they could go out and test themselves against the dangers of the real world. Their journey became a fairy tale known as “The Three Princes of Serendip.”
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Words are a writer’s tool box
People who write a lot have different perspectives and relationships with words than those who simply read or say them. If the pen is truly
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The ballad of “Buck” Choquette
Buck Choquette spent his last days and hours in Dawson telling Jack London true stories of his long pioneering life in the Northwest. Is it just coincidence, then, that the main character in his most successful novel, The Call of the Wild, is also named Buck?
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2019 World Series Primer
Based on their 107 regular season wins, the Astros should meet the Nationals in the 2019 World Series. Yes, the Washington Nationals and Seattle Mariners
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The Joy of Northern Kleptoparasiticpredation
There are two sides to every story, sometimes more. Entry-level journalism students are taught, ad nauseum, by wizened old editors to strive to present both,
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Saved by The Caribou and wolves
Considering the Caribou RV Park at km 1403 of the Alaska Highway was established in 1974 and your humble correspondent lived in Atlin from 1977
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Interview with the raven
“Our favourite human EVER was Genghis Khan. That man knew how to put on a spread.” Raven Mythology #5 by Joe Ben Raven via Doug
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Forgotten Town: Dyea, the town Alaska forgot
Two prominent American tourism publications hit the streets recently. Neither included much of a mention of Dyea, except to list the Dyea Campground in Skagway
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Raven kronks, Leprechaun croaks
I remember my first conversation with Joe Ben Raven like it happened yesterday. It was the winter construction season of 1972-73 up on the Eagle
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Ink on ink
A tale of two tattoos Raven Mythology #4.5 “It’s not known which came first, the penny or the flag.” Cam Brewster’s World Famous Tattoo Studio
Steiner aces the rut fluff to win
March 15, 1986 at the men’s downhill in Whistler, B.C. – The Inside Edge Memoirs #1 By the time the 1986 Molson’s World Cup men’s
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From Yukon longjohns to Alberta Dungarees
“I had no idea we were opening The Calgary Stampede on the main stage in the Saddledome. That was the game changer for The Dungarees.”—Alex
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The London Tower ravens
[two_third] You may have noticed the above quotation comes to you without attribution. That’s for good reason. Nobody seems to know who muttered it or
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Ravens and Poe
Very few writers throughout history have bonded with their subjects quite like Edgar Allan Poe and the Yukon’s territorial bird – the Raven
The fastest lady in the Klondike Gold Rush
She was not only the first female river pilot on the Upper Yukon, she was also the fastest. No, her name wasn’t Klondike Kate, the
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There is more to Raven mythology than clamshells and Odin
One of my many favourite Bill Reid carvings, Raven and the First Men, is part of a Haida creation myth which is permanently displayed in the
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Alaska history
From now on, whenever Valentine’s Day pops up out of a snowbank in mid-February like a lost and lonely holiday heart/fart, my thoughts will be of Elizabeth Peratrovich and what she accomplished for all northerners.
ZHOH – The Spirit of the Wolf
Previews are supposed to pique your interest and entice you to buy the book, not tell you how it ends, but there is no harm in quoting the final sentence if it is a good one:“In the distance, snow-covered peaks rose through the whiteness. Far off, somewhere below in the fog, a wolf howled.
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Ship of Sorrow: S.S. Princess Sophia
The S.S. Princess Sophia (So-PHY-Ya) under full power in a north-wind whiteout blizzard ran aground on Vanderbilt Reef, halfway to Juneau.
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Superbirds (a.k.a. ornithology, a.k.a. birdlore)
This quiet, reserved and thoughtful corner of the year-round Yukon has gone to the birds this week, namely Arctic terns, the all-time migratory champions, not
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To ‘Looks Like a Caribou’ and back – Part 6 of 6
Driving the Dempster Highway to Tuktoyaktuk, N.W.T. (located on Kugmallit Bay of the Beaufort Sea of the Arctic Ocean), is no big deal..
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Doomsday camping on Top of the World – Part 5 of 6
Grandpa, if a giant asteroid was on target to collide with Earth and everyone knew the exact day and time of the explosion to blow up the planet, where would you want to go camping for the last night?
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The Yukon’s greatest love story
Yukon icons Otto and Kate Partridge lived in the beautiful southern lakes region of the territory.
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Old tramways and new ziplines on Windy Arm
Conrad, on Windy Arm, is just the first of a new wave of Yukon campgrounds with eyes to the future.
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Yukon gold at the Games of Fundy
At print deadline for this edition, the 2018 Canada 55+ Games team was shaping up as 143 athletes competing from five Yukon communities
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Kathleen & Kokanee in Kluane – Part 3 of 6
Kathleen Lake, which is the only place in Kluane National Park you can sleep (legally) if you have rubber wheels for your mode of transportation (rather than flying machines, skis, hiking boots or birchbark).
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Banjo Sammy’s lonesome ride
Now you know why Flatt and Scruggs quit Monroe and went on their own.
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Atlin: Boom town to burnt down … to boom, burn, bust and boom again – Part 2 of 6
Of all the cities, towns and villages in northwestern Canada, Atlin’s journey through the turbulent 20th century was more dramatic than most.
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A Kenai kickoff to a new series – Part 1 of 6
Homer, on the west side of the Kenai Peninsula, is the farthest south you can drive and became my favourite place to RV camp in Alaska because of this surprise: it felt like California.
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The Yukon’s Lost Centenarian
I was astonished to learn that the Yukon Territory currently is without a card-carrying centenarian, male or female, according to the most recent age data on record which is the 2016 census.
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The Yukon’s Magnificent 11 – Part 6 of 6
It almost appears as if one of the great tourism RV destinations, Haines Road & Alaska Highway, happened by design—but it didn’t.
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The Ravenmaster: My life with the ravens at the Tower of London
“Christopher Skaife is both a raven master and a master storyteller. Compulsively readable, I devoured the book in a single sitting!”—Lindsey Fitzharris, author of The
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The Yukon’s Magnificent 11 – Part 5 of 6
The Top of the World Highway is neither on top of the world nor is it a highway, but rivals the Dempster for dramatic scenery while it lasts.
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The sordid saga of ‘Shoeless Joe’
Shoeless Joe is the only player in baseball history to win multiple World Series as a pitcher for one team and a home run hitter for another; a distinction that will last forever.
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The Yukon’s Magnificent 11 – Part 4 of 6
1949 History of Atlin & Tagish roads “decimated, through inanition, due wholly to the lack of adequate and vital transportation facilities.”
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The Yukon’s Magnificent 11 – Part 3 of 6
Sitting at Watson Lake you may wonder if you should take Robert Campbell #4 to the Klondike, afterall, it is shorter. The answer is NO!
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The Yukon’s Magnificent 11- Part 2 of 6
The Klondike Highway wasn’t done for tourism reasons. The Silver Trail Highway, on the other hand, is a highway geared towards tourists.
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The Yukon’s Magnificent 11 – Part 1 of 6
The Canol Road is easily the nastiest numbered road in the Yukon and why we opened with it. The worst shall be first and the fast shall be last.
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Jack ‘n Sack 4 of 4
This is part four of a four-part series. In part three, the writer had been invited to caddy for Jack Nicklaus for the second time in his life, via their mutual friend, Vancouver entrepreneur Caleb Chan.
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The Wisdom of Yogi the Berra
Other than Samuel Clemens, who wrote as Mark Twain, few historical Americans are more oft-quoted than former New York Yankees catcher Yogi Berra, who died
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Gertie’s Begins with a Losing Streak
If anyone ever tries to tell you the first legal casino in Canadian history – Dawson City’s fabled Diamond Tooth Gertie’s Gambling Hall – was
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Jack ‘n Sack 3 of 4
Although I can’t absolutely verify the factual accuracy of the following “claim to fame,” if I’m not the only person who had the unique opportunity
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Memoirs of an Atlin School Marm
Simply stated, the best narrative I’ve read about country lifestyle in the contemporary north and the only one featuring Atlin and the Yukon.
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Grandpa’s Baseball Book – Part 4 of 4
It occurred to me while watching the 2016 World Series between the Chicago Cubs and Cleveland Indians with my grandchildren – their first World Series
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Ten glorious days of ‘PLAY BALL!’
Less than a week after Canada finally celebrates our 150th birthday, the top men’s softball (fastpitch) players in the country will be saddled with facing
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Gertie’s First Season
Once upon a time, long ago, a young truck driver in Whitehorse found himself with five days off work to celebrate the May long weekend
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Grandpa’s Baseball Book – Part 3 of 4
The kids needed “Baseball 101” It was my duty, as a retired sportswriter, to author it, a kiddie book about baseball(work in progress)
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Jack ‘n Sack 2 of 4
I knew on the Saturday morning warm up on the driving range I was in for a unique caddying experience. This was the days of
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Grandpa’s Baseball Book – Part 2 of 4
These kids needed “Baseball 101” before their 2nd World Series. It was my duty, as a 70-year-old retired sportswriter, to author it for them.
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Jack ‘n Sack 1 of 4
Although I can’t absolutely verify the factual accuracy of the following “claim to fame,” if I’m not the only person who had the unique opportunity
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Grandpa’s Baseball Book – Part 1 of 4
2016 World Series (Chicago Cubs / Cleveland Indians) – I wasn’t doing a good job of explaining baseball to my grandchildren
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Ode to Mosquitos
I love blood-sucking mosquitos In my eyes, ears and nose; On my chips, nachos and tacos, In my hair and between my toes.
Baseball’s Only Perfect Season
As a retired sportswriter who bleeds baseball Red and could steal second base before I was able to walk to first, I was recently deep
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Honeymooners Head to Augusta
When Abbotsford’s Adam Hadwin, 29, defeated American Patrick Cantlay on the final hole of the Valspar Championship in Florida on March 12 to win the
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Super Bowl LI
By every statistical quantifier known to man or beast, less one, the upstart Atlanta Falcons don’t have much of a chance against the New England
Predator and Prey 14,000 Years Ago
Zhoh, the Clan of the Wolf: Fiction of the first humans to inhabit The Yukon. I knew Bob Hayes novel would be physically accurate.
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Atlin’s Ian Fest
Ian Tyson, iconic minstrel of life in the West/North. 68yr old hearing an 81yr old singer at Atlin Arts and Music Festival felt young again.
The Ultimate Guide to Yukon Sport
John Firth’s massive Yukon Sport: An Illustrated Encyclopedia, published in November 2014 by Sport Yukon, is a heavy book.
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Techno Challenged
If it’s true there are seven wonders in the natural world, then surely this is the eighth. The world’s most incompetent techno-challenged is boldly composing
Neil Young’s Wild Ride
If there is anyone left in Canada still interested in figuring out how Neil Young’s brain functions, his second memoir Special Deluxe, A Memoir of
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Up Ghost River Without a Paddle
When Edmund Metatawabin’s (Ed) residential school memoir, Up Ghost River, jumped off the new-books shelf of the Yukon Public Library and landed in my book
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Tibetan Peach Pie
It’s not often I give myself an impossible writing assignment but I’m doing so now because I’m intrigued by the challenge. Book reviews often have