Dag lives like a hermit in an abandoned school bus deep in the wilds of British Columbia with no phone, no internet, and no desire for the conveniences of modern life.
By Pamela Collins
OUTSIDER: An Old Man, a Mountain and the Search for a Hidden Past
Author: Brett Popplewell
Publisher: Harper Collins 2023
In Outsider: An Old Man, a Mountain, and the Search for a Hidden Past, journalist Brett Popplewell delivers a compelling true story of Dag Aabye, an 82-year-old recluse whose life stretches from World War II to the present. The book is both a biography and a profound statement on aging, human endurance and the need for solitude.
When Popplewell first heard about Dag Aabye, an aging former athlete who lived alone on a mountain and ran day and night through all kinds of weather, he was intrigued and determined to meet this man. What he learned was incredible and makes for a story worth reading.
Popplewell finds Dag living like a hermit in an abandoned school bus deep in the wilds of British Columbia with no phone, no internet, and no desire for the conveniences of modern life. He spent six years researching and following Dag to gain some understanding of a man living off the grid of society, defying age by pushing the boundaries of the human mind and body beyond what anyone could endure.
Popplewell chronicles Aabye’s personal history as born in 1941 in Nazi occupied Norway (under Hitler’s Lebensborn project to increase the birth rate of “racially valuable” Aryan children in support of Nazi racial ideology). He was abandoned by his mother and later adopted so he suffered from feelings of displacement and struggled with his identity.
He went on to a career as a stuntman with bit parts in movies, including Goldfinger. He finally settled in BC near Silver Star Mountain and became best known to the world as the pioneer of extreme skiing. In 1966, he moved to the Whistler area where he worked as a ski instructor, but became best known for the first ski descents of the mountain. He is credited with helping to make Whistler the famous ski resort it is today.
Aabye is also legendary as an ultramarathon runner known for feats of endurance. At the age of 62 he competed in grueling events such as the 125 km Canadian Death Race in the Rocky Mountains. He was still running day and night in his ’80s.
Outsider captures the paradox of a man who has achieved fame yet rejects it, who has lived through extraordinary experiences yet prefers anonymity. It explores endurance not just as a physical pursuit but as a philosophy of life.
Popplewell was never able to get to the core reason for Aabye’s life choice to give up fame for a life of self-punishment and isolation, so don’t be disappointed.
This book is a must-read for sports enthusiasts, especially skiers and marathon runners.
What captivated my interest was the profile of the man himself, the vivid description of his history and daily routines: the psychology behind a man who chooses solitude and hardship with the need to constantly push himself beyond the limits of endurance well into his ’80s, leaving behind an incredible story. It challenges our beliefs of aging and human accomplishment.
Dag Aabye is still alive at the age of 84, living alone in BC’s Okanagan.