The Judge Who Named the The Judges Route

Retired judge dies after illness

Paul Walton , The Daily News

Published: Monday, March 24, 2008

Ralph Hutchinson, the retired Nanaimo B.C. Supreme Court Justice also known
for mountaineering and supporting various causes in the Harbour City, has
died.

He died on Thursday after a brief illness. He was 77. Details about a
service are not yet available.

Hutchinson arrived in Nanaimo around 1960, said longtime friend and law
partner Hugh "Buzz" Heath.

"He was a young eager guy," said Heath.

They worked together about six months, and then formed a partnership that
blossomed into what later became known as "the judge factory on Wallace
Street."

The term arose from not only Hutchinson but at least three other lawyers in
the firm also earning seats on the B.C. Supreme Court.

And it was Hutchinson who also gave the name to one of the best-known hiking
trails on the mid-Island, the Judge's Route on Mount Arrowsmith.

A passionate mountaineer, Hutchinson and several colleagues blazed the trail
at about the time he was first offered a judgeship, which he turned down.

But the name stuck, in part because he made it a ritual for new lawyers
joining the firm to ascend Mount Arrowsmith.

"I always thought of him as a fellow who responded to a challenge," said
Heath. "He was a great leader, a natural leader of men."

Hutchinson was born in Tanganyika in 1930, and was educated in Kenya and
England. He spoke fluent Swahili and his initial career choice was with the
British colonial administration in Kenya.

He was advised against that, and after studying law at Cambridge, moved to
Canada in 1954. He was advised not to stay in Montreal or Toronto.

Wanting to go to Vancouver, he and three other men were asked to deliver a
car that year out to Vancouver by driving it cross-country.

He arrived penniless after they rolled the car, borrowed $100 and within
weeks was not only working at an insurance firm but encountered two
influences that would change his life; Dorothy Johnstone, whom he married
soon after, and mountaineering.

Dorothy Hutchinson later recalled the Englishman who showed up for a
climbing trip dressed in his father's baggy ski pants, having a great time
slipping and sliding through the snow.

"I was hooked, so I joined the B.C. Mountaineering club," Hutchinson told
the Daily News when he retired in July 2002.

He climbed extensively on Vancouver Island, and lost his toes to frostbite
after climbing Mount Denali in Alaska, the highest mountain in North
America, in 1961.

He recovered and, undaunted, continued climbing.

Local climbing historian Lindsay Elms documented climbs by Hutchinson in the
Coast Mountains, the Rockies, the Yukon, Afghanistan, Peru and Africa, with
more than 25 first ascents.

Hutchinson was also known as a wine expert, and for many years wrote a wine
column for The Advocate, a journal for the B.C. legal community.

After his retirement, Hutchinson began working with the Nanaimo Area Land
Trust as the group sought to acquire Linley Valley for a park. That was a
success, and Hutchinson was instrumental in NALT securing the summit area of
Mount Benson, also as parkland.

He frequently climbed Mount Benson, often guiding NALT groups, as well as
for the continued thrill of reaching a summit.

Other organizations he became involved with include the SPCA, the John
Howard Society and the Concerned Citizens Coaltion.

The Island suited Hutchinson as more than just a base for his legal practice
and his mountaineering.

"Nanaimo is the best move I ever made," he told the Daily News.

He leaves his wife, one son, one daughter and four grandchildren.