Gary Bailie says it's "pretty amazing" that he'll be inducted into Sport Yukon's hall of fame this month, for his contributions to cross-country skiing in the territory. "It's not something I ever thought of. It's just the way that I live," he said.
Bailie started skiing young, when he was recruited by the late Father Jean-Marie Mouchet to be part of the Territorial Experimental Ski Training (TEST) program. Later, Bailie would go on to create the Kwanlin Koyotes youth ski program in Whitehorse, spending many hours grooming trails in the McIntyre subdivision, and showing young people the joy of staying active through the long winter months. Bailie spoke to CBC Yukon's Airplay guest host George Maratos about his life-long love of skiing, and his nomination to the Sport Yukon hall of fame.
This interview has been edited for length and clarity. For people who don't know about Father Mouchet and the TEST program, can you paint a picture of what that time was like for you? His concept was to develop character in young children through the discipline of cross-country skiing. You know, every sport is a discipline — you're just working hard and you're dedicated and stuff.
And, you know, we all got into it and it was just a lot of fun. It was very challenging at first, but when I finally got it, it was like, "wow." It just elevated everything for me.
The confidence it gives you...
you know, the sport is so great and it does these things for you, but also, I did better at school, I ju.