Father Mouchet’s impact on the North is a web that runs deep through generations and spreads wide to influence who those people have become.
An Oblate priest from France, Jean-Marie Mouchet came to the Yukon in the 1950s. It was here he devoted his life’s work to converting the children of the North not to God, but to skiing. In 1993 Mouchet received the Order of Canada in recognition of his work in the North, notably the creation of the Territorial Experimental Ski Training, (TEST) program. Mouchet passed away in December 2013 at the age of 96.
Nowhere is Mouchet’s impact on the North more evident than in Old Crow, a community where he spent more than 25 years. Last Easter his ashes were spread on Crow Mountain. This Easter a decidedly less somber affair is taking place in his honour.
