The Yukon and Northwest Territories have been nicknamed "bear country" for many years. Now the latest issue of Up Here magazine is giving that moniker a whole new definition, with a cover story on the apparent rising popularity of nude hiking and backpacking in the region.
It's a decidedly cheeky piece of work, not least because the cover features a colour photograph of a well-muscled man staring out on a spectacular vista of woods, mountains and water near Whitehorse. The man is literally butt naked, clothed only in a pair of work socks and hiking boots.
Awesome it certainly is. But a little too awesome for Yellowknife-based Canadian North Airlines, which last week informed Up Here, also based in Yellowknife, that it was pulling the July-August issue from the seat pockets of its planes. Seems the airline and some of its passengers were taking exception to the rear view, deeming it unsuitable for family perusal. Since Canadian North usually takes 5,000 copies of Up Here's total circulation of 32,000 and Up Here brands those 5,000 with the banner "Canadian North's Official Airline Magazine," Up Here co-publisher Marion LaVigne decided to print a new cover for the airlines' edition.
"Now instead of a naked man, we have a naked fish on the cover," she explained last week. The picture of the fish refers to another article in the issue, on "frontier fish recipes" and great fishing lodges in the NWT and Yukon. The revamped cover should be available on Canadian North flights this week.
LaVigne claims to be a bit perplexed by the fuss. Her staff showed an image of the original cover to the magazine's Ontario-based national distributor, "and they thought it was okay." Moreover, "we did put words across his bum" -- a reference to the cover sell-line "Northern hikers are getting naked -- find out why!"
In the meantime, she's not all that keen on nude hiking -- unlike one of the male nudists quoted in the story, who proclaims: "You get up in the high country, in the tundra, and have a light breeze blowing, and it's absolutely magical." As LaVigne sees it, "the guy's crazy. I mean, there are a few bugs around here."
Calls to Canadian North Airlines for comment were not returned.
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