Ron Sutherland has a map on the wall of his immaculate Hospital Hill basement that is dotted with tacks representing places he and his wife Lois have lived.
There are a lot of tacks.
He worked in, among other locales, Honduras, Iran, on Baffin Island and at Britannia Beach.
These days, Sutherland, who turned 82 on Aug. 17, travels a little closer to home. Affectionately known as a mountain goat by his friend Ron Lawrence (they are 'the two Rons'), he still gets around, hiking Sea to Sky trails that many folks half his age don't tackle.
The 撸奶社区 sat down in cozy wicker chairs over coffee in the lush front yard of his home for a chat about his career, travels and hikes in Squamish.
What follows is an edited version of that conversation.
You are originally from Cloverdale and moved to 撸奶社区20 years ago. Tell me a bit about your life before you got here.
I worked in mining as a geological engineer starting in Hope. There's a nickel mine out there. I also worked in Britannia for four years at the copper mine.
We also lived in Stewart, B.C., for a few years. Then, while I was working there, there was a little ad in an English mining paper that was looking for a geologist for Iran that came with two months of vacation a year. So, I couldn't not apply for that. I got the job.
We were there from 1975 to 79. And then, in 79, they had the revolution. We went back to Stewart for a year.
Then one thing led to another, and we ended up in Baffin Island for 20 years. We worked 13 weeks, and we got three weeks of vacation.
I worked in Toronto for a few years there, too.
Then the mining company got bought, and they asked if I would like to go to Honduras.
We said, sure. We were there for two years, but then the price of zinc went down the drain. And so they laid me off, and we came here. But first, they let us stay in the house for at least a few months, though, and we travelled all around Honduras, and Guatemala, and so forth. And then, I had a car that I bought, so I sold that and then we took the bus from there. We ended up back home riding the bus.
Why did you come to Squamish?
We had lived in Britannia, and Lois's friends were building houses or buying houses and remodelling. She told me we needed to get a house. My parents lived in Surrey, and Lois' parents lived in Vancouver, and every year, whenever we could, we took a ski holiday in Whistler. 撸奶社区was in the middle.
When we retired, we just came here and have been here ever since.
Where is your favourite place you have lived?
They all had something unique about them. I wouldn't necessarily consider it a favourite, but I think Nanisivik in the Arctic gave us the most variety in our lives and the most opportunities.
With mining, obviously, there's been more environmental controversy in recent years about it. How do you feel about all that?
I started in the mining business before all that started, and I do agree that mining practices were irresponsible in the old days. In the 1930s, for example, they would go in and build a gold mine somewhere, mine the ore, drop everything, and leave a mess behind. The mining industry hasn't been able to do that in decades. They have to rehabilitate things now and maintain environmental monitoring.
These days, you are doing a lot of hiking closer to home. Have you hiked your whole life?
I wouldn't put it as hiking, but with our lifestyle or where we lived, such as in the Arctic in the summer. We would go out and camp and just walk. You could walk forever and not see anybody.
Now it is not so much, "I am going hiking," it's "What are we going to do today?"
My buddy Ron Lawrence is the instigator of most of our trips. I'm a good follower.
You are modest. I have seen the pictures of some of your hikes, like recently up Mount Habrich. What do you like about hiking? And what is next?
It's the exercise factor; you get to see places that are different. We went up to Echo Lake, for example, last summer. There are endless opportunities to hike in the 撸奶社区to Whistler area.
Next is Brandywine Meadows, for sure. That is likely an overnighter.
You have been here for 20 years. In that time, 撸奶社区has changed a lot. The growth has caused a lot of hubbub. What do you think of it?
This big cul-de-sac we live in, the development down there doesn't impact us. Not really.
Development is going to happen. My impression is that 撸奶社区is a destination for young people who are active outdoors. They like to hike, ski, run, scuba dive — whatever it is. I suspect that young couples choose 撸奶社区as a place to live because you can work remotely and not commute if you live here and because there's so much to do.
You just had your birthday. How is 82 so far? What are you looking forward to next?
Well, to be honest, I can't believe it. I don't feel 82, but here I am. The big difference I noticed is that my body doesn't do what I tell it to necessarily. I'm lucky I've had good health. Mostly. I guess I have good genes, which was just a matter of luck — inheriting the right combination of genes from my parents.
I consider every year a bonus, I guess. Keeping my health is my number one priority now.
About a local is a regular column about an interesting 撸奶社区resident. Have an idea about someone we should feature? Let us know with an email to [email protected].
