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The icy delights of human kites

A brand new sport blows into the Arctic

JANE GEORGE

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Instructor Minnie Annahatak helps Jocelyn Barrett with her first try at paraskiing. (PHOTOS BY JANE GEORGE)

Benoit Havard finished a two-year trip by bicycle around the Arctic with his dog Mischa. When he returned, he was determined to introduce paraskiing to the North.

Markusi Qisiiq of Kangiqsujuaq says he’s hooked on paraskiing after gliding around on the sea ice in Kangirsuk.

On paraskis you can travel almost as fast as on a snowmobile.

Just ask Jobie Tukkiapik of Kuujjuaq, who was introduced to the sport of paraskiing in Kagngirsuk last month out on the sea ice.

“I love it! There’s nothing quite like it,” Tukkiapik says.

Para-skiing is best described as a mix of skiing and parachuting at speeds from 20 up to 60 kilometres an hour. Para-skiing, like windsurfing, uses wind as a traction force to pull or slow down the sails — and it’s suited to the Arctic because ice and frozen ground provide the ideal gliding surface.

To get ready to paraski, you simply buckle yourself into a harness, fasten on boots and skis, and then attach yourself to one of three colourful sails — depending on the speed you want to reach.

Paraskiing isn’t only for athletic men, either — Jocelyn Barrett of Kuujjuaq also tried out paraskiing in Kangirsuk, and after a few minutes of instruction, moved with ease across the sea ice.

Makivik Corp. helped bring Kunoki, a paraskiing company, to Kangirsuk, so those at the annual general meeting could try paraskiing and spread the word about this sport back in their home communities.

Markusi Qisiiq of Kangiqsujuaq also tried out paraskiing while in Kangirsuk — and he says he’s hooked on it, too.

“They’re telling me I’m a natural,” Qisiiq says. “It’s not too easy, not too hard, and it’s fun.”

This enthusiasm comes as no surprise to business partners and paraskiers Guy Laflamme and Benoit Havard.

“You see lots of smiles — every time people come out here, they like it,” says Havard.

Havard came up with the idea of bringing paraskiing to the North after he finished a two-year trip by bicycle around the Arctic with his dog Mischa. Along the way, Havard gave speeches, encouraging youth to realize their potential.

A book called Une autre route [“Another way”] tells the story of how Havard, who was born with cerebral palsy, trained for years before he embarked on this tour. The trip ended up being a personal quest to prove he could do anything.

Havard’s enthusiasm for paraskiing led him to bring the sport to the North.

“I told myself it’s a secure ecological sport. Let’s travel in complete autonomy, without snowmobiles.”

So the two paraski enthusiasts founded Kunoki, a paraski instruction and sales company, based in southern Quebec. The name, which roughly means “our Knud” in Inuktitut, is intended as an homage to the Danish-Greenlandic explorer Knud Rasmussen. Last December, Kunoki started a program, called “Smile,” which is specifically designed to introduce paraskiing to the North.

This past winter, Kunoki also went to Igloolik during the Qikiqtani youth council’s annual general meeting in March. The paraskiers have also visited Puvirnituq and several of the James Bay Cree communities. Next week, they will be conducting an initiation camp in Kangiqsujuaq.

So far, youth have taken to paraskiing. In Kangirsuk, older students at Satjuit School were introduced to the activity this winter, as a way of providing youth in the community with a new pastime.

Minnie Annahatak, 14, of Kangirsuk likes paraskiing so much that she decided to qualify as an instructor along with two others in the community, Alec Kudluk and William Nungak.

These three are now qualified instructors and can pass on their skills in paraskiing to others. Paraskiing equipment is available to all residents on a “sign and go” basis at the new Kangirsuk Kunoki Club house, which provides quick and easy access to equipment and the tools to fix and maintain sails or skis.

The club has plans to build its own qamotiit adapted to carry the equipment. Paraskiers can easily access the Payne River, nearby mountaintops or Post Lake.

The crew at Kunoki says they’ve received requests from many communities in Nunavut and Nunavik to introduce paraskiing. An entire kit of “ParaskiFlex” equipment costs a few hundred dollars — and ideally a community club is the best way to keep interest up in the sport, says Kunoki.

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