The flags chosen for this display are the flags of countries, individuals or teams from which are well known in Nordic winter sports circles, all of whom have a connection to the city of Revelstoke. All have, at one time or another, performed in Nordic events here.
Renowned for its skiing facilities, Revelstoke has in the past been referred to as the "Switzerland of America" and the "Canadian Alps".
The sculpture, of stainless steel, is an abstraction of a pair of downhill skis which morph into a ski jump on a very steep mountain side. It was quietly installed, apparently without much fanfare, on April 19, 2012. According to sculptor Rob Buchanan it was designed as an homage to local Olympian John McInnes, a Canadian ski jumper who performed at the 1964 and 1968 Winter Olympics. The sculpture is bolted to a large rock, on which is a stainless steel plaque relating the name of the work,
Flying Without Wings and the names of the creators, Rob Buchanan & Robert Maraun. Behind the sculpture and the flags is the lower trailhead for
Mount Revelstoke Trail, which can lead one 1353 vertical metres, right to the top of Mount Revelstoke, should they so choose.
You'll find the sculpture, amid ten flags, on Track Street, north across the railroad tracks from Victoria Road, behind the railroad museum.
Read more about
Flying Without Wings and Rob Buchanan at
The Revelstoke Current