The start of the Grouse Grind Trail.
This Sunday, September 20, 2009, the annual BMO Grouse Grind Mountain Run takes place at Grouse Mountain. For those who are not familiar with Vancouver’s most famous hike, the Grouse Grind is a steep 2.9km (1.8 miles) trail that climbs 853 meters (2,800 feet) and has 2,830 stairs! It is best known as ‘Mother Nature’s Stairmaster’.
It’s hard to believe that the Grouse Grind once had very few stairs. When I first started hiking the trail in the mid-90′s, the route was largely a dirt trail that is typical along the North Shore mountains. However, the Grouse Grind soon became such a popular fitness activity with locals that the thousands of weekly hikers began to cause erosion along the trails requiring stairs and better drainage to be put in place through much of the route.
The 1/4 Mark of the Grouse Grind
The average hiker takes between 1-hour and 1.5 hours to complete the Grouse Grind, however the record was set in the 2004 at 24 minutes, 22 seconds by two-time World Mountain Running champion Jonathan Wyatt of New Zealand! Visitors hiking the Grind for the first time should bring lots of water, a snack, and money to pay for the Gondola ride back down the mountain, and expect to get a good workout from the challenging, steep hike.
This Sunday’s race is scheduled to get underway at 8am and the Grind will be closed to the public until about 10:30am. For more information, visit ggmr.ca or call 604.980.9311.
12:56 am
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