Grouse Grind Up, BCMC Down - Twice

Grouse Grind is one of the first local hikes I heard about when I first moved to Vancouver in 2016. It is a 2.9 km hike to the chalet on Grouse mountain with an elevation gain of 853 m (2800 ft). Thanks to the 2,830 stairs, the Grouse Mountain website describes it as “Mother Nature’s Stairmaster.”

Grouse Grind Time

“What is your Grouse Grind time?” is one of the questions that had come up several times when I was trying to join a BCMC trip or in discussion with other club members. When I first did this hike, I think it took around an hour and fifteen minutes. Lower than the average, but higher than my friends at BCMC.

Until last year, my goal was to bring down my time, and I think my lowest time is around 55 minutes. Every time, I would try to go up as fast as possible without taking a break. It was intense, and I felt good after the workout. I thought I was making progress until I started the Uphill Athlete (UA) training plan.

Uphill Athlete

The first thing I did as part of my UA training was to do an Aerobic Threshold Assessment. My Aerobic Threshold (AeT) came out to 125, and my Anaerobic Threshold (AnT) was around 165. This article on the UA website provides an in-depth look into why it assessing aerobic fitness is important and the different techniques to do the same.

For me, these thresholds suggested that I was aerobically deficient, and I should be doing the majority of my training in Zone 2 (heart rate in range 110-125). More low intensity and not high intensity to improve endurance. It changed my entire approach to training. Instead of going as fast as I could on Grouse, I adjusted my pace to stay in Zone 2.

Over the last six months, I did most of my aerobic workouts in Zone 2 and improved my AeT from 125 to 140. Here is what my current heart rate zones look like –

At this stage of my training, I am doing about 5 hours of aerobic exercise over the weekend. On Sunday, I was going to climb with Jordan in Squamish, so I thought of combining my workouts and do one long session on Saturday. The forecast called for rain all day, so I decided to stick with known trails and do two laps on Grouse Grind. I would hike down the BCMC trail once and take the Gondola (Sky Ride) down the second time.

Round 1

I started my hike around 4:20 pm. It was raining and was the perfect time to test the new Mountain Warehouse Pakka rain jacket (rated at 2000 mm).

Shashi Shanbhag — Round 1 of Grouse Grind

Around 150,000 people hike this trail every year, and in some cases, hikers had to be rescued as they were not prepared. Over the years, this has prompted more signs, highlighting the difficulty of the hike.

On Grouse Grind, you will come across a diverse group of people. You will see kids running around, parents carrying infants in a baby carrier, trail runners that zoom past you and even eighty-year-olds hiking up at a comfortable pace. It is humbling and inspiring.

I monitored my heart rate throughout the hike and tried to keep it below 140 (my AeT). I made it to the top in one hour and 10 minutes.

After a brief water break, I started my hike down the BCMC trail.

Few minutes into the hike, I saw two hikers take a pause, and they were looking back towards me. I first thought they were lost, but then realized what was happening. There was a mule deer right next to the trail.

In the last four years, I have been on this mountain, I have seen a black bear once, but never a deer. After admiring the deer for a few minutes, I continued with my hike.

I was back at the base of the hike in 50 minutes. It had taken two hours to do one lap.

Round 2

It was getting dark, and I was the only one on the trail. I kept a steady pace and reached the top in one hour, 10 minutes – same as my first lap.

My initial plan was to take the Gondola down, but I felt pretty good, so I continued down the BCMC trail. It was dark, and just from a bear safety perspective, I took off my earphones and played the Uphill Athlete podcast on the phone’s speaker.

I was listening to the latest podcast on “Mental Toughness, Slovenian Athletes and the Need to Prove it.” A highlight for me was the story of Petra Majdic, a Slovenian Olympic Skier. In the 2010 Olympics, she had an accident during warm-up for the classic sprint event resulting in five broken ribs and a punctured lung. Despite the agonizing pain, she continued to compete and ended up winning the Bronze medal. Note to self – do not mess with Slovenians.

Aye Oh!

About twenty minutes into the hike, my headlamp fell, and it turned off. I managed to find it, tried to turn it on but it didn’t. Was it broken? or did my daughter use up all the battery while playing “fort” at home? No idea, but I should have known better and brought additional batteries even if it was a short hike. Fortunately, I still had some juice on my phone. I turned off the podcast, set the phone on airplane mode, turned on the flashlight and I was back on the trail.

Along the way, I entertained the wildlife around me with my whistles and an occasional “Aye Oh” shout out. All the wildlife followed social distancing and stayed more than 2 m apart.

I was back at the car after thirty minutes. Roughly 11.8 km hike with 1706 m (5600 ft) elevation gain/loss in four hours. I had managed to keep my heart rate below my AeT of 140 for the most part. It was a good workout.

Shashi Shanbhag Training Peaks — Workout Snapshot

And yes, as far as the rain jacket is concerned it didn’t withstand 2-3 hours of rain. I need something better.

Back at home, I told my daughter that there is something wrong with the headlamp. She played with it for a while and then came running back, laughing at me “There are no batteries inside.” The batteries had fallen off when the headlamp hit the ground. Duh!