MOUNTAIN LIFE - Coast Mountains | Fall / Winter 2017

FALL/WINTER 2017 MLCM 53 Although you’d never realize it from Bushy’s Instagram photos, there is a downside to a life dedicated to milking the most out of each new experi- ence. Constantly blowing it if you got it can lead to a habitual disregard for any number of societal norms and rules of conduct. Bushy will trespass on a corner of your private property in order to ac- cess a perfect river beach (on Crown land). He’ll do donuts in your parking lot, drive boats without a lifejacket, and he’ll certainly climb up whatever you’ve got if it looks like a good place to jump off of. Behaviour like this, while causing no real or lasting harm, still pisses a lot of people off. The Royal Canadian Mounted Police, for example, aren’t entirely convinced Bushy handles his firearms as safely as they’d like him to. And not everyone’s neighbour is stoked on late night cacophonies of high-powered fireworks, two-stroke engines, and general free-spirited merriment, regard- less of how infrequently it occurs. It’s not that Bushy doesn’t care, or doesn’t feel genuinely bad when he inconveniences or wrongs someone – the opposite is actually the case. “I just think people make too big of a deal out of small things,” he says. “You have to be careful if you’re always fighting these tiny battles. Nine times out of ten, it’s just a distraction that’s keeping you from something much more important.” The renegade, living-on-the-edge attitude that plays so well on Bushy’s Instagram feed is not meant to be a giant middle finger to the world, nor is it a way to boast. It’s just a guy and his dog having fun discovering exactly what they’re capable of. “That Edge… everyone balances on their own lines,” Bushy says. “For me, feeling that vulnerability out at the very edge, even peeking over… it gives me a sense of being I’ve never felt from anything else. If no one ever left their comfort zone we’d still be living in caves, scared and shivering. ” And according to his older sister, Bushy’s always been this way and he comes by it honestly. “He goes against the conventional grain – he always has. One of the main things our parents focused on was teaching us not to be scared,” says Elanor Bushfield, who also calls Squamish home. “As kids, we visited some family friends in Indonesia and Dad would teach us to swim in gigantic waves. That was the trip Rory got caught trying to jump off the roof of our friend’s house into the pool. He was five.” “I used to worry, but I don’t anymore,” Elanor continues. “He needs to feel alive and he’s incredibly capable and honest. Of course, the lesser-known side of Rory is he’s a real sap. Very emotional and trusting and can’t see the bad in the world. He cries at dog food commercials.” “Mostly my own,” Bushy admits, laughing. [See Sidebar: Dex Knows.] "Surfing is rad, but the scene and the culture is a lot different. One thing I like about mountain people is we work together–you have to, to survive. If we see someone fall, we stop and help them.With surfing a lot of the time it’s me me me. Skateboarding, too, I saw a grown man yell at a kid once. I don’t know, man.” – Bushy. MASON MASHON