“I never stretch. I just walk.” — 90-year-old hiker Roger Sauvain
Article content
There are a few reasons Roger Sauvain does the Grouse Grind every day (yes, even in winter, but don’t tell the authorities).
Article content
“It keeps me fit, healthy and very, very happy,” said Sauvain, who celebrated his 90th birthday by doing the Grind.
Article content
Article content
His time isn’t quite as fast as it used to be: he averages between 75 and 90 minutes to polish off the 2½-kilometre climb.
Article content
When he was 70, he could whip up the Grind in 45 minutes. It wasn’t unusual for him to multi-Grind, once doing seven climbs in nine hours.
Article content
Story continues below
Article content
These days, once is enough.
Article content
Sunrise
Article content
“I’m slowing down,” he said.
Article content
Article content
Friends and fellow grinders showed up to help him celebrate. Sauvain has made more than a few friends during what he estimates is over 10,000 climbs.
Article content
Sauvain beamed as fellow hikers, most of them regulars on the Grind, showed up with party balloons and gifted him a shiny new set of hiking poles.
Article content
“He’s a legend,” said Deborah Jessima, 73. “I want to be like him.”
Article content
Everyone knows Sauvain, at least those who do the early morning climb, including Daniel and Henrik Sedin. The brothers sent a special gift for Sauvain: a black Canucks Jersey, signed by the whole team, and featuring his name and the No. 90, of course.
Article content
Article content
Sauvain met the Sedins on the trail, and has been well-known to the Canucks since the team sent their rookies to do the Grind one morning in 2006. The rookies were divided into five groups of six, each starting one minute apart. A cameraman waited for them at the top of the climb with team general manager Mike Gillis.
Article content
Sauvain waited a full minute after the last group had started, and somehow managed to pop out at the top first, well before the Canucks’ rookies.
Article content
Story continues below
Article content
Born in Bienne, Switzerland, in 1936, he’s been climbing mountains since he first learned to walk.
Article content
Read More
-
Grouse Mountain’s famous grizzly bear Grinder dies at 25
-
Quads of steel: Grouse Grinders compete to complete the most treks in a single day
-
Advertisement 1
Story continues below
Article content
“My father used to take me,” he said. “I fell in love with it climbing with him.”
Article content
In 1964, when Sauvain lived in Liverpool, he saw a Canadian government recruitment ad: “It said Canada was looking for people.”
Article content
Sauvain coughed up the $50 for the travel fee, and sailed to Canada on one of CP’s famous immigrant cruise ships. Montreal wasn’t the right place for him, he decided, so he jumped on a bus and came west — where there were mountains.
Article content
Sauvain settled into a job at the Westin Bayshore, where for 30 years he worked first in room service, then as a bellman before his natural people skills made him the go-to staff member for VIPs, like John Travolta and Prince Charles.
Article content
After he retired in 1996, he embraced hiking and walking in nature to fill the time.
Article content
“I first did the Grind in March ’98,” he recalls. “I did not know where the trailhead was. I got lost!”
Article content
Things are different now: the trail head had a $3½–million redesign and upgrade in 2024 with built-in stairs and a plaza kitted out with amenities like a station to fill water bottles, seating and bars to stretch.
