Dylan Cunningham '07 delivered the convocation address at this year's Closing Day ceremony. He came to RLC in 2001 at age 11, and was one of the first three students to board from Grade 7 through Grade 12. He was House Captain, and served as Head Prefect. He was the first RLC student to complete the Gold level of the Canadian Ski Marathon Coureurs des Bois, at 160-km, the longest and oldest Nordic ski event on the continent. 

Dylan treated his time at RLC as a series of opportunities, and he accepted them all.  On a winter outtrip he chose to stay in a quinzee rather than a heated cabin. That earned the nickname Hardcore. And he was. In a March Break trip to Africa he climbed Mount Kenya, dug a water cistern, and went on safari in the Great Rift valley.

After graduating Dylan went to UBC-Okanagan and completed a Bachelors of Kinesiology. Capitalising on his passion for skiing and climbing, he became an internationally certified Mountain Guide. He’s climbed close to home, and as far afield as China. 

Dylan has been recognized by his guiding peers with the 2020 Centennial Scholarship for technical excellence, and by the climbing community for his cutting edge ice and rock climbing with the John Laughlin Memorial Award. He is best known in the skiing community for his descent of the 50º 800m long North Face of Mount Robson, the tallest peak in the Canadian Rockies. “It was intense,” he said, “but not terrifying.” He made the first ascent of Red Beard, a 420-metre vertical wall of ice in Banff. That climb took 12 hours from base to top. 

Based in Canmore, Alberta, Dylan is a ski and alpine guide, taking others to experience and appreciate the challenge, exhilaration, and beauty of the natural world. This summer he'll be heading to the European Alps where he will guide on famed peaks such as the Mont Blanc, the Eiger, and the Matterhorn.

He does a lot, and he’s done a lot. He’s Hardcore. 

Of Rosseau Lake College, Dylan had said, “Even today, I think it is one of the best things that ever happened in my life.”

To watch his address, click here, or copy this link into your browser https://youtu.be/9HzeE6c0R5Y

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