Aggie Flight Instructors Assist With Backcountry Santa Deliveries

Landing a sleigh on icy rooftops to deliver presents is no small feat, but neither is landing a prop plane full of care boxes on a remote airstrip or dirt road. But since 2019, the volunteer pilots of Backcountry Santa have done just that each year to bring important supplies and holiday spirit to the Navajo Nation, Hopi Tribe, and elsewhere along the Arizona-Utah border.

Utah State University’s Department of Aviation Technology contributed two of the roughly 50 planes and four pilots — flight instructors Brandon Parish, Kan Okabe, Dallas Brissett and John Roveri — to the 2023 flight, as the department did the previous year with flight instructors from Logan heading south with a stop in Salt Lake City to load cargo.

Michael Wardle, the pilot coordinator for Backcountry Santa, explained that the event was started by the Huish family in Salt Lake City.

“They own Huish Outdoors, which is a scuba gear company, and they had several Native American employees in their warehouse who talked about a pilot who would bring Christmas gifts to remote areas on the reservation many years ago,” Wardle said. “Mike Huish, the CEO of the company, is a pilot and decided to restart the tradition. He gathered donations and sent a request for pilots via the Utah Backcountry Pilots Association. A handful of pilots joined in, and it’s grown ever since.”

Huish recalled being struck by how different the lives of people in the Navajo Nation sounded despite living so close to other Utahns and wanting to take action.

“We realized the need was real, and providing essential items was a great way for us to give back and improve people’s Christmas and winter seasons,” Huish said. “It seemed like the perfect time to step in and take the reins to ensure the excitement and assistance continued in a meaningful way.”

Parish joined others in the Utah Backcountry Pilots Association for the first deliveries three years ago.

“From the beginning, I have found great satisfaction in being able to provide a needed service to the Navajo Nation and surrounding rural communities,” Parish said. “When I participated in 2021, the need felt especially urgent due to the pandemic. After participating that first year, I knew it was something that USU could be involved in. It is great to see the joy on the faces of those who are being served.”

By delivering donated goods by plane, Backcountry Santa is not only able to reach underserved areas, but it also makes the holidays all the more thrilling.

“People in the local communities come to watch the planes take off and land on airstrips and dirt roads,” Wardle said. “It’s fun, exciting and brings the Christmas spirit in ways that a mail shipment or truck drop off can’t compete with.”

Parish recalled that last year a member of one community was so excited to see USU's aircraft that he drew the planes on the back of a pizza box and had it presented to the Aggie pilots. This year, tribal members provided pilots with a meal of Navajo tacos.

“Imagine 50 or more airplanes landing on a remote airstrip with all these gifts,” Huish said. “Being right around Christmas and having a Santa or candy-bomber mentality really takes this experience to the next level.”

The logistics of organizing something like Backcountry Santa are complicated. Before a single plane takes to the air, volunteers receive, store, and pack massive amounts of goods. But each year — and twice in 2020 during the pandemic — the planes take off, and the event has grown with time.

Boxes filled with food and household supplies like paper towels are meant for recipients in different age ranges. For insurance reasons, the USU planes are only allowed to land on the improved, paved runways at Kayenta and Monument Valley, Arizona, and while the airstrips are paved, the site presents other challenges.

“The Monument Valley runway presents its own challenge as it is a one-way-in and one-way-out procedure due to the large mesa at the south end of the airport,” Parish said. “Other mountainous terrain and a lack of aviation fuel at tribal airstrips require extra preparation during the flight planning process as well. This year, both USU aircraft ferried a second load from Monument Valley to Kayenta, Arizona. In total, we were able to deliver over 600 lbs. of supplies to the Kayenta area.”

People interested in donating to or flying for Backcountry Santa can visit the organization’s website: www.backcountrysanta.org. Wardle explained that while donations of supplies were previously accepted, the organization now prefers monetary donations.

“We started by receiving funding from various charitable foundations,” Huish said. “But as we’ve evolved as an organization, and we’re now a 501(c)(3) organization, and we’ve seen lots of smaller donations from the public through our web page. We’re overjoyed by the number of like-minded people who have contributed.”

“They allow uniformity in the gifts given,” he said. “By standardizing what we give, it helps with equality and makes it easier to have consistent packaging for the aircraft.”

Even so, Backcountry Santa does its best to ensure its packages still meet the needs of each person who receives one, Huish said.

“We build a standard box of goods for various age groups: elders, 8th through 12th grade, kindergarten through 7th grade, and toddlers and infants,” Huish said. “We are certainly happy to discuss all donation options.”