Slow Grind: Grouse Mountain to temporarily close Skyride for maintenance

Bad news for fitness fanatics: the popular Grouse Grind will now take twice as long.

Starting Thursday, B.C’s Grouse Mountain Resort’s Skyride will be closed for almost two weeks to get ready for the upcoming winter season.

The Skyride is used by many hikers to descend the mountain after they have completed the infamous Grind.

The facilities on the mountaintop, as well as the washrooms and food service, will also be shut down temporarily.

The closure is due to maintenance and winter preparation projects.

Grouse Mountain Resort says it chose November 1 through the 12th as dates for the closure, because of lower foot traffic on the mountain.

“It means if you’re going to walk up you’ll need to walk down,” said North Shore Rescue (NSR) search manager Peter Haigh.

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Coverage of the Grouse Grind on Globalnews.ca

1:55 Grouse Grind opens Tuesday before closing again later this month

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“The Grind is a one-way trail, it’s one-way for safety reasons because there are so many people on it and we don’t want people coming down and dropping stuff on people, it’s quite vertical in areas.”

Those still planning to take on the Grouse Grind will have to take another path down, the BCMC route, which adds two hours of hiking time to your trip.

Haigh said NSR is concerned that the closure could result in more call-outs as hikers grapple with the more difficult BCMC route or look for short cuts.

It also means that rescue volunteers will have to walk in and walk out to anyone needing help.

“Be aware that you’ve got to come down, and it would be good too to honour the gate closure at 1 o’clock, a lot of people ignore it,” Haigh said.

“It is double the trip. More than double by the time you come down, so if you honour the 1 o’clock, at least it will give you some daylight to get out on the BCMC.”

The trail gate will also be closed Nov. 1 to Nov. 12 at 1 p.m. daily due to shorter daylight hours and to allow enough time for a return trip for visitors.