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1892 - 1956

Gilbert (Gil) Murray Parker was born March 16, 1937, in Stony Plain, Alberta. Prior to attending the Peace River High School, Gil moved around various towns in Alberta as his father was a teacher. After graduating in 1954 he joined the Royal Canadian Navy based in Esquimalt but then in 1955 went to the University of Alberta in Edmonton where he received a Civil Engineering degree in 1959. From 1964 to 1967 he attended night school at the University of Calgary and received a Management Certificate then in 1993 an Arts degree from the University of Victoria with a major in Russian Language.

Gil has worked on dam construction in Saskatchewan (Prairie Farm Rehabilitation), designed steel bridges and buildings in Alberta with Dominion Bridge and directed the structural department for Willis, Cunliffe, Tait ' Co. (which later became Delcan), in British Columbia. He created a solar energy firm, Ark Solar Products Ltd., in 1977 and ran it for eight years, later working in solar energy in Saudi Arabia, then in India for a year. Through Dalvos Pacific Trading, Gil managed a trading and agency representation in Eastern Russia.

As a freelance writer, Gil specializes in non-fiction, regularly publishing articles on outdoor adventure, conservation and energy issues, the environment and international issues. His articles on technology have appeared in national magazines. He has written five books and in 2008 edited the 10th edition of Hiking Trails 3 for the Vancouver Island Trails Information Society. Gil is past-president of the Victoria School of Writing and was active with the Professional Writers Association of Canada, Victoria Chapter.

It was while living in Calgary that Gil made his first forays into the mountains. During the 1950's he made several ascents of Mount Rundle but it wasn't until 1971 that he joined the Alpine Club of Canada as a Life member soon after moving to Victoria. In 1972 Gil graduated to active membership on an ACC summer camp at Fryatt Creek in the Rockies with ascents of Mount Olympus, Lowell and Parnassus. Once back in Victoria he made trips into the mountains with Syd Watts and John Gibson and then Dave Tansley became a regular climbing partner where they made many ascents both on and off the island: Mount Garibaldi, Mount Slesse, Mount Louie, Mount Victoria and Mount Andromeda. He attended several ACC ski mountaineering camps: Yoho, Adamant and Eremite Valleys. In 1976 with Dave Tansley and two others he climbed in the Tellot Glacier area near Mount Waddington and the following year he joined Ralph Hutchinson, Roger Neave and Jim Craig on a trip to attempt the unclimbed Mount Noel on the Stikine Icecap.

Other climbing partners were Rick Eppler, Paul Erickson and Ron Holmes, and on the Island he has made ascents of the Golden Hinde, Elkhorn, Mount Septimus, Mount Harmston, Rambler Peak, Victoria Peak, Warden Peak, Mount Whymper, Rugged Mountain, Nine Peaks and Mount Arrowsmith about fifteen times, and many more. However, he did not complete the Island Qualifiers as he climbed only the Southeast Peak of Mount Colonel Foster.

South of the Canadian border he climbed many of the volcanoes along the I5 including Mount Rainer three times, Mount Hood, Glacier Peak, Mount Adams, the Sisters, Lassen Peak and Mount Shasta. In 1989 he made his first trip to the Pacific Crest Trail, a 2,500 mile trail that begins at Manning Pass on the Canadian border then south through the USA to Mexico. To date Gil has completed 2,000 miles of the trail.

Overseas, Gil has trekked around Annapurna in Nepal in 1981, in the Western Garwhal of India in 1987, led a trip to the Caucasus Mountains of Georgia in the former USSR in 1990 and with a party that included Sandy Briggs, Margaret and Ian Brown, Gerta Smythe, Murrough O'Brien and Graham Maddocks made an ascent of the 5,047m Mount Kazbek. In 1997 he climbed Mount Zimina, Mount Gorelli and Mount Mutnovsky on the Kamchatka Peninsula of Russia, trekked in Mexico's Copper Canyon in 1999 and spent two weeks in Patagonia in 2001.

Gil held the chairperson's reins of the Vancouver Island section of the Alpine Club of Canada for two years: 1975 - 1976. During this tenure his executive committee was involved with B.C Parks and the ACC in trying to get funding and permission to build an alpine hut at Cream Lake. It was also during this period that the Vancouver Island sections newsletter was first called the Island Bushwhacker. From 1976 to 1980 he was the Western Vice-President of the ACC under the leadership of Don Forest, John Tewnion and Ted Whalley. He was on the Expeditions Committee when the Everest 82 was first proposed. In 2002 Parker received the Distinguished Service Award from the Alpine Club National Executive for matters other than mountaineering.

Gil has held executive positions in the World Federalists of Canada, the Solar Energy Society, Better Business Bureau, Victoria School of Writing and the Sister City Advisory of Victoria and was made an Honorary Citizen of Victoria in 1990 for developing an association with the Soviet Union and helping to start a Sister City relationship with Khabarovsk in Eastern Russia. As a member of Harbourside-Victoria Rotary Club for eighteen years, in 1988 he organized the first Rotary-Russia exchange visit and facilitated an academic exchange with Tbilisi State University in the former Soviet Georgia in 1990 - 1992. Harbourside awarded him a Paul Harris Fellowship for his work introducing Rotary to Russia and educating our citizens about the Russian Far East. To date he has made fifteen trips to Russia and Georgia.

Gil has been married since 1960 to Lavona and has two sons. He is actively involved with curling and is a volunteer warden with the CRD in Victoria. A long term project Gil is currently working on is to create a hiking trail the full length of Vancouver Island. Called The Spine, he is basing it on many of the long hiking trails in Canada and the USA. It is a huge undertaking so he is forming a task force of interested people to assist as there are many local bodies that will need to be contacted including Forestry Companies and First Nation groups, as well as getting towns and communities along the route involved.

Sources:
Parker, Gil. Personal communication. 2008.

Parker, Gil. Aware of the Mountains: Mountaineering as Yoga. Trafford Publishing. Victoria, B.C. 2001.

Parker, Gil. Mom, Marion and Me: A Families Poetry. Aware Publishing. Victoria, B.C. 2004.

Parker, Gil. Looking Through Glasnost: Aware of Modern Russia. Aware Publishing. Victoria, B.C. 2007.

Parker, Gil. Coast Mountain Men. Aware Publishing. Victoria, B.C. 2007.

Parker, Gil. "A Unique Village." Times Colonist. [Victoria, B.C.] (March, 2000.) p.

Parker, Gil. "Remembering Dave." Times Colonist. [Victoria, B.C.] (January 2000.) p.

Parker, Gil. "Mountains Point to Nature." Times Colonist. [Victoria, B.C.] (May, 1999.) p.

Parker, Gil. "From Russia With Curiosity." Times Colonist. [Victoria, B.C.] (January, 1999.) p.

Parker, Gil. "Embrace the Risk." Times Colonist. [Victoria, B.C.] (July, 1997.) p.

Parker, Gil. "This Heathen is a Believer." Times Colonist. [Victoria, B.C.] (February 9, 1997.) p. C8.

Parker, Gil. "A Peak for all Seasons." Times Colonist. [Victoria, B.C.] (December, 1996.) p.

Parker, Gil. "Climbing: A Peak Experience." Times Colonist. [Victoria, B.C.] (October, 1996.) p.

Parker, Gil. "Celebrating Renewal of Life." Times Colonist. [Victoria, B.C.] (June, 1996.) p.

Parker, Gil. "Rotary Goes Russian in Khabarovsk." Times Colonist. [Victoria, B.C.] (January, 1996.) p.

Parker, Gil. "Sandy Takes Another Peak." Times Colonist. [Victoria, B.C.] (March 6, 1994.) p. M1 & M4.

Parker, Gil. "SARS Spells Relief for Lost Hikers." Times Colonist. [Victoria, B.C.] (February, 1994.) p.

Parker, Gil. "John's Still Climbing, Counting." Times Colonist. [Victoria, B.C.] (January 16, 1994.) p. M1.

Parker, Gil. "Recollecting the Sooke Hills." Monday Magazine. [Victoria, B.C.] (January, 2001.) p.

Parker, Gil. "Highland Gaelic: Hiking Nova Scotia." Explore Magazine. [.] (October, 2000.) p.

Parker, Gil. "Forbidden Ski Traverse: Youth Constructing Trails." Explore Magazine. [.] (February, 2000.) p.

Simpson, John. "YMCA - Alpine Club Trip to Mt. Baker." The Island Bushwhacker. The Alpine Club of Canada Vancouver Island section. (August 1975) Vol. 3:3. p. 3.

Gibson, John. "Malaspina Peak (South Summit) and Tahsis Mountain." The Island Bushwhacker. The Alpine Club of Canada Vancouver Island section newsletter. (September 1976) Vol. 4:3. p. 3-4.

Syroid, Cliff. "Comox Glacier (Red Pillar)." The Island Bushwhacker. The Alpine Club of Canada Vancouver Island section newsletter. (November 1976) Vol. 4:4. p. 7.

Simpson, John. "Elkhorn Mountain." Island Bushwhacker. The Alpine Club of Canada Vancouver Island section. (January 1977) Vol. 5:1. p. 4-5.

Erickson, Paul. "Mts. Warden, Victoria" Island Bushwhacker. The Alpine Club of Canada Vancouver Island section. (October 1977) Vol. 5:6. p. 2-3.

Eppler, Rick. "Strathcona Traverse." Island Bushwhacker. The Alpine Club of Canada Vancouver Island section. (August 1978) Vol. 6:4. p. 3-4.

Macdonald, Rob. "Mt. Hood." Island Bushwhacker. The Alpine Club of Canada Vancouver Island section. (October 1979) Vol. 7:5. p. 8-9.

Parker, Gil. "Landalt in Winter." Island Bushwhacker. The Alpine Club of Canada Vancouver Island section newsletter. (May/June 1980) Vol. 8:3. p. 10.

Brown, Margaret. "Skiing in and out of Forbidden Plateau." Island Bushwhacker. The Alpine Club of Canada Vancouver Island section. (Summer 1983) Vol. 11:3 p. ?.

Tansley, Dave. "Lillooet Ice Cap - Manatee Range." Island Bushwhacker. The Alpine Club of Canada Vancouver Island section. 1992. p. 9-10.

Mathews, Nigel. "Mt. Harmston." Island Bushwhacker. The Alpine Club of Canada Vancouver Island section. 1994. p. 36-37.

Parker, Gil. "Rugged Mountain." Island Bushwhacker. The Alpine Club of Canada Vancouver Island section. 1994. p. 37-38.

Odgers, Chris. "Gowland Range Traverse." Island Bushwhacker. The Alpine Club of Canada Vancouver Island section. 1994. p. 41.

Erickson, Paul. "Mt. Garibaldi." Island Bushwhacker. The Alpine Club of Canada Vancouver Island section newsletter. (May 1995) Vol. 23:2. p. 7-8.

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