It’s not uncommon to catch a glimpse of Fernand Vautour on the trails at Kouchibouguac National Park in New Brunswick; in fact, it’s something he’s been doing for most of his life.
“My father used to come here skiing and I came here with my father,” he said. “At 80, they had a big marathon, it was 30 kilometres. He [did] 30 kilometres and he was 80 and it was a cold day that day, winds, he was in good shape.”
Vautour, now 88 years old, keeps with up the sport thanks to a few modifications to his equipment.
“I fell last winter, when I broke my hip in the curling club. I looked outside and there was snow and ice so they didn’t want me to go outside so I went in the basement, I put two skis underneath my walker and I went outside,” he said. “I can’t sit in the house all the time. I’ve got to be outside and last winter when I seen all that ice, I had to find out, ‘How can I go outside?’ and that’s why I decided to put some skis underneath my walker.”
Now he uses two skis on his feet and two on his walker and while they provided the extra support he needed following his injury, he admits he didn’t get it approved in advance.
“The doctor didn’t know, I didn’t want to tell him,” Vautour laughed.
The skiing senior says he gets out as often as he can depending on the weather, which lately has allowed him to ski two-to-three times a week.
If he isn’t at the national park, he says he frequently visits his old family farm house.
“A long time ago I was working in the mills and I didn’t have time sometimes to go do skis, but now when you’re retired, you’ve got lots of time,” he said.
Tim LeBlanc Murphy, acting external relations manager for Parks Canada, says he hit the trails with Vautour last week after hearing about his dedication to the sport.
“Right away [he] said we’re going to the hut … it’s one of our warming huts, and it’s two kilometres away and I thought that was ambitious, but he set the tone right away. He’s like, ‘Let’s go there, have lunch,’ and I wasn’t dragging him along. He was really telling me what he was up to that day,” said LeBlanc Murphy.
He notes the park tries to cater to all ages while looking for ways to make activities and the park accessible for all visitors.
“Like he said, one of the best parts is being out in the woods and I share that with him, that’s why I like the sport and I could see that’s what he was about, so even if we weren’t going fast, the trails weren’t great, we had a good ski and a good chat,” he said.
Vautour says he started playing hockey in his 40s and in his 60s he was the first bowler to make 300 points at the new alley and after that he took up curling, a sport he says he could still do today if the club would let him.
When it comes to cross country, he says as long as he can walk, he will be skiing.
“Good exercise will keep you a lot stronger, feel a lot better. At my age right now, I don’t feel tired, I feel in good shape,” he said. “Maybe I’m not in really good shape, but I feel in good shape.”
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