The Grouse Grind has been described as “a virtual-reality Stairmaster¬step-class — Deliverance-style.” More prosaically, it’s a gruel-a-thon.
Twenty minutes from downtown, in North Vancouver, the Grind is a narrow, rocky path that winds up Grouse Mountain. Although locals have climbed all over the 3,7oo-foot mountain since the late i8oos, two decades ago some fitness types created this incredibly steep path to the 2,800—foot level — i.8 miles up with nary a ledge.
Since then, the Grind has become an ultimate test of physical and psychological endurance. “Don’t even think about it if you’re not in reasonable shape,” veterans warn. But every year, as many as ioo,ooo people do, although not all succeed — and few do so at record speeds ofwell under one hour. The reward? Pride, relief, a stiff drink at the patio bar at the top (if you’re legal drinking age I’ve heard of four-year-old climbers), and a gondola trip back down.
The trail deteriorates in winter and is costly to maintain. At press time, its ownership remained, well, up in the air. The business that operates most Grouse Mountain facilities and concessions would like to buy or manage it. However, for the time being, the Greater Vancouver Regional District owns and maintains it at public expense. In 1999, a hiker died in an avalanche-related accident on the trail. Since then, it has been closed in winter. Unfortunately, the fence and gate don’t prevent would-be grinders from making their way around and onto the trail before the snow is completely melted.
Out-of-bounds mountain activity — particularly snowboarding and impromptu hiking by the ill-prepared — results in a number of deaths every year. It also creates incredible work for volunteers of the North Shore Rescue Society, who endlessly search the woods and gullies by foot and helicopter, often in the early hours of very cold mornings, for lost souls.
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