Who We Are

Founded in 2024, Yukon Alpine Adventures was created to help bring people out on the land to experience the power of Yukon’s nature, as well as help hikers gain the skills and confidence to go explore our territory’s rugged landscape. We hold the belief that venturing beyond our comfort zones in the backcountry can lead to exhilarating moments that far surpass the ordinary.

Low Impact Travel

The trips we offer were developed because we think immersing yourself in a landscape without other people, with no trails or infrastructure is something special. That being said, we recognize that our commercial use of these spaces can have a detrimental effect on these delicate, northern ecosystems. To help manage our footprint and honour the history and integrity of these spaces, we will commit to the following principles:

* Make Leave No Trace Principles a cornerstone of our trips.

* Honour First Nations’ wildlife and land protocols.

* Coordinate with other guiding companies to minimize over-usage of campsite locations.

* Limit access to fly-in locations to a maximum of twice a season.

* Conduct environmental self-assessments and document campsite disturbances.

* Continually rotate routes and campsites to minimize impact.

Recognizing Yukon’s First Nations

Commercial guiding is a resource extraction business. We access the Traditional, settlement and treaty Territories of Indigenous peoples and extract the tourism profits of the Land. Far too often, none of these profits reach the communities that have been stewarding these lands for generations. In the spirit of reconciliation, we will commit to the following three ideas.

•Consent•

We commit to getting permission from First Nations before travelling through traditional and settlement lands. We will also ask for guidance and follow proper protocols when going out on the Land as well as respect any requests to avoid certain areas.

•Non-Compete & Collaboration•

We commit to doing our best to not compete with any local Indigenous guiding companies and will endeavour to share trip logistics and adjust trip itineraries if asked by the local First Nation. We also commit to working towards integrating Knowledge Keepers and community members into our trips. We also commit to developing a mentorship program for aspiring Indigenous guides within the next 7 years (2031).

•Profit Sharing•

We commit to working towards making meaningful financial contributions to the First Nation communities whose lands we access. We will donate 5-6% of our gross revenue to an organization or group chosen by each First Nation. We also commit to being transparent with who and how much we are donating on our website.

Reconciliation

Canada was founded on Indigenous territory theft and the industries that grew this country were based largely on immense profits extracted from the Land. This wealth never benefited the First Nations, Métis and Inuit who lived and continue to live here and unfortunately, a few hundred years later, we’re awkwardly talking about making things right while seldom taking the important steps towards true reconciliation.

As an outdoor-based company that brings people out on the Land, we are interacting with a landscape that defines the culture, identity and life of people who have been stewarding this territory since time immemorial. It is of vital importance that everything we do here at Yukon Alpine Adventures is done through a reconciliatory lens, as well as with utmost care to include First Peoples in our planning, engagement and adventure offerings.

We want to set the bar high and be a beacon of potential for what the adventure tourism industry can be here in the Yukon. Unfortunately, there is currently no requirement to consult or engage with First Nations in the Yukon for any wilderness tourism operation that wants to operate on crown land or in territorial parks. None of the park fees, permits or licenses required to operate go towards the local Indigenous communities. This has to change.

To hold ourselves accountable, we will continually update a report on how things are developing and how we are meeting our goals.

Read our accountability report here.