Gunter Gutsche is a fixture in the Blueback Rd. area of Nanaimo's north-end. The soon-to-be 90-year-old finds serenity and freedom on his longboard. (Ian Holmes/NanaimoNewsNOW)

By Ian Holmes

cruise control

89-years-young: age is no barrier for gracious Nanaimo senior

Sep 28, 2019 | 7:07 AM

NANAIMO — He zigs and zags down north Nanaimo’s Blueback Rd. on his longboard, thinking how lucky he is to be alive in Canada.

While Gunter Gutsche is 89-years-old, he has no problem smoothly rolling down Blueback on his distinctive wooden board to his home on Cambridge Pl.

“My body was driven to acquire that strength, if you’re a person with a sedentary life you never have that,” Gutsche said.

He invited NanaimoNewsNOW to learn what caused his longboarding ways, which often earns second and third glances from onlookers.

His strength was acquired during the Second World War when Gutsche was in his native Germany. As a youth, Gutsche and his school mates were continually driven to their physical limits, while food rations were low in the depths of the great depression and war effort.

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Gutsche doesn’t take a good meal for granted these days. After dinner if the weather is cooperating he grabs his safety vest and longboard.

“It erases that feeling that I had in my youth. It shows me that I’m still alive, I’m in harmony with the forces of the universe. Then I can settle down to my evening activity – watching the sunset.”

Gutsche came to Canada in 1954 as a refugee, where his love for an active and somewhat daring lifestyle continued with sailplaning, surfing and now longboarding.

Gutsche and his longboard have been a constant match since he moved to his north Nanaimo home in 2006.

“Any routine is good. Because routine means continuation into the future. I have some future time left, but if not it’s good too because my life is made.”

ian@nanaimonewsnow.com

On Twitter: @reporterholmes