Photo: Instagram/Tristan Walker
Sleds and helicopters have pretty much nothing in common, yet they both have a special place in the heart of 31-year-old Tristan Walker. Sleds got him a medal at the 2018 Canada Olympics and are part of a glorious past. Helicopters are the foundation for the athlete’s exciting future, potentially including search-and-rescue missions. But there’s an intriguing explanation behind all of that.
“Helicopters are cool (even) on the ground,” Tristan Walker told Vertical Magazine in a recent interview. That’s quite a love statement, but the former Olympic athlete is convinced that this new passion will become his future. After competing for the last time at the Winter Olympic Games in Beijing 2022, he is ready to dedicate himself to flying, and he’s the proud owner of a commercial pilot license.
The path from the fastest sport in the Winter Olympics to flying helicopters seems unusual. But there’s a special reason for that in Walker’s case. Even though he was so successful as part of Canada’s Olympic luge relay team, he claims that he always knew he would eventually fly aircraft. That’s because his childhood was powerfully influenced by his late grandfather, who was a test pilot in the Royal Canadian Air Force (RCAF).
Len Bolger, Walker’s grandfather, was one of the pioneering CF-100 pilots in the RCAF to restart and recover an aircraft at low altitude while experiencing double engine failure.
With such a legacy, it’s only surprising that Walker hasn’t started flying sooner. But his deeply-rooted passion will take a different form from what his grandfather did. Instead of military fixed-wing aircraft, he wants to pilot helicopters for search-and-rescue (SAR) or even air ambulance operations.
Aside from this noble purpose, the former athlete is simply in love with choppers. The experience of flying one is “a little more hands-on” compared to airplanes, he told Vertical Magazine. As someone who is more than familiar with the thrilling (and dangerous) luge, he would know.
The path from the fastest sport in the Winter Olympics to flying helicopters seems unusual. But there’s a special reason for that in Walker’s case. Even though he was so successful as part of Canada’s Olympic luge relay team, he claims that he always knew he would eventually fly aircraft. That’s because his childhood was powerfully influenced by his late grandfather, who was a test pilot in the Royal Canadian Air Force (RCAF).
Len Bolger, Walker’s grandfather, was one of the pioneering CF-100 pilots in the RCAF to restart and recover an aircraft at low altitude while experiencing double engine failure.
With such a legacy, it’s only surprising that Walker hasn’t started flying sooner. But his deeply-rooted passion will take a different form from what his grandfather did. Instead of military fixed-wing aircraft, he wants to pilot helicopters for search-and-rescue (SAR) or even air ambulance operations.
Aside from this noble purpose, the former athlete is simply in love with choppers. The experience of flying one is “a little more hands-on” compared to airplanes, he told Vertical Magazine. As someone who is more than familiar with the thrilling (and dangerous) luge, he would know.
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