The Origin of an Extraordinary Organization

In the winter of 1996, Dr. Sylvain Baruchel, a pediatric oncologist working in Montreal and Toronto, experienced the loss of one of his young patients. Heartbroken, he headed home at the end of a long and emotionally draining day, in the midst of a winter storm. Along the way, he reflected on what he could do to help other young patients maintain hope throughout their healing journey.

It was then that the idea came to him to offer them the opportunity to take on an extraordinary challenge—an experience from which they would emerge stronger and inspired. He contacted adventure tourism entrepreneur François Guillot to develop a first dog-sledding expedition for young people living with cancer.

François Guillot then enlisted the support of Mario Bilodeau, a professor in outdoor recreation and adventure tourism at Université du Québec à Chicoutimi (UQAC), himself a cancer survivor whose research focused on adventure activities for specialized populations. A few months later, on the Monts Groulx massif, the very first therapeutic adventure expedition took place.

From this founding project emerged a foundation established by Dr. Sylvain Baruchel, Mario Bilodeau, and François Guillot, with the invaluable collaboration of François Veillet and Annick Dufresne. Over the past 30 years, more than 80 expeditions have been organized, benefiting hundreds of young people affected by cancer, thousands of parents who support them, and tens of thousands of people within their broader communities.