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When the centrepiece of the Team Canada Paralympic and Olympic opening ceremony kit was revealed, fans and critics alike had a lot to say about the blanket-vest mashup design from sponsor Lululemon.
But when para snowboarder Tyler Turner first saw it, his imagination started to percolate.
“I love skydiving and I love wingsuiting,” he said. “And when I first saw the outfit, I was like, wow, this is pretty cool — a massive maple leaf right on our chest. And then I thought, it looks like a flying maple leaf. So I figured I was gonna try it at some point.”
After much safety planning, Turner’s crazy idea took flight last weekend over northern Vancouver Island.
That’s when the Oyster River, B.C., resident donned the jacket, climbed into a Cessna 206, flew to 10,000 feet and jumped out, turning the officially named “convertible quilted wrap vest” into Team Canada’s unofficial wingsuit.
“It was –25 C when we jumped out of the airplane, but good thing I had a really nice warm blanket on me,” he said.
“There’s always a little bit of excitement trying something new. But it was not just a spur of the moment thing where we said, oh, let’s put this on and go. I’ve been thinking about this for quite a while.”
The skydive was recorded on a 360-degree camera mounted on Turner’s helmet. Fellow jumper and videographer Krystal Janicki, captured the breathtaking flyby footage.
“We were excited to find out if this thing actually works like a wingsuit, or as people know it, a squirrel suit,” said Turner. “And the answer is it kind of did… It definitely had some really good forward flying properties.”
An instructor at the Campbell River Skydive Centre, Turner estimates he’s jumped out of a plane nearly 1,000 times. That includes the one fateful jump in 2017 that caused him to lose both legs below the knee.
“I’m actually a para athlete because of skydiving,” he said. “I made a mistake while doing a jump, but this is what I do for a living. I teach skydiving. I film skydiving. And I love it.”
The flying maple leaf wingsuit is next appearing in its more conventional form early next month at the Milano-Cortina Paralympic Games when Turner, co-captain of Team Canada, marches in the opening ceremony.
After that his focus shifts to defending the gold and bronze medals won at Beijing 2022 in men’s SB-LL1 snowboard cross and banked slalom.
“It’s a lot of pressure and I’m ready for it. I’ve never been so ready for something,” he said. “I wish it was here tomorrow because I’m raring to go.”
At the same time he’ll have to manage the onslaught of athletes from other countries who’ve seen the wingsuit video and are now offering trades for the famous item.
Even with such leverage, Turner’s not sure he’s ready to part with it just yet.
“It’s not the last time I’ll take it for a jump,” he said. “I think I’m gonna be able to create a really awesome flying machine out of this opening ceremony outfit, which is so freaking cool.”
“And, and you know what? For those that see it out there [at the opening ceremony], and know the back story, it’s a little Easter egg.”
