Grouse Grind with Kids: New Family PRs + BCMC Trail Descent

We’ve reviewed the famous Grouse Grind previously, but yesterday’s hike deserved a full update. With chip timing at the beginning and end, the Grouse Grind is basically a hiking race. So when we set a new PR, it deserves some celebration and documentation.

And set PRs we did!

I looked up our previous Grouse Grind time before the hike. Two years ago, when Big Bro was six years old, we finished the hike in 1 hour and 37 minutes. This year, Middle Bro is now six and Big Bro is eight. Tina and Grandpa also joined the fray to challenge the clock.

That meant everyone had something to shoot for. Big Bro wanted to beat his own time. Middle Bro could challenge Big Bro’s time at the same age. And the adults would set the pace and see what had come of our year of endurance training. Grandpa brought some serious fitness of his own, having logged nearly 1,800 km of hiking and walking in the first seven months of the year.

Honestly, given enough time and encouragement, Baby Bro could probably finish the Grind too. But there was a high chance he would eventually need to be carried, and the two bigger brothers would be very frustrated if they had to wait every five minutes. So we sent a reluctant Baby Bro up the gondola with Tina’s parents.

Energized by our personal goals, we set off on a relatively quiet Friday morning.

Grouse Grind with the Kids

We did the first few hundred metres together, and soon I splintered off with Big Bro. We had a PR to set.

Tina, Middle Bro and Grandpa hiked together for a while, but Middle Bro’s pace proved too fast for Grandpa, pushing his heart rate into an unsustainable zone. After a rest, Tina and Middle Bro carried on as Group Two while Grandpa followed at his own pace.

Big Bro and I passed many groups of hikers, stopping only for a few brief water breaks. A hydration bladder in my running vest proved to be an ideal water setup for the Grind. The weight was evenly distributed, I didn’t have to remove the pack to give Big Bro some water, and everything hugged close to my body instead of bouncing around.

Having grown for another two years while playing various sports basically every day, Big Bro now looked more like a youth athlete than a little kid, so we didn’t get nearly as many compliments as we did on our last Grind. Or perhaps the weekday hikers were simply more experienced than the weekend warriors and weren’t as surprised to see kids hiking.

In any event, I kept an eye on Big Bro’s energy level. He kept up very nicely with my Zone 2 pace. When I pushed into Zone 3 on the narrow trail and endless steps, where there wasn’t always a good place to slow down, he would fall behind a little.

In roughly the last quarter of the Grind, I finally found Big Bro’s endurance limit. I slowed down and told him we only had about 10 minutes of hiking left. After a recovery break, we pushed forward and finished in 1 hour and 7 minutes, smashing his previous record by a whopping 30 minutes!

I believe this was my best Grouse Grind time ever too, beating even my high-school and college-era self. And I had significantly more left in the tank. If I did the whole hike at a sustained Zone 3 effort, I believe I could finish in under an hour.

More Family Grouse Grind PRs

We rested in the Chalet and cooled off in the Theatre in the Sky. Then Tina and Middle Bro arrived at the top after hiking for 1 hour and 27 minutes.

Middle Bro had done it! He beat Big Bro’s time at the same age by 10 minutes. Better yet, Middle Bro had set the pace for Tina and wasn’t deliberately trying to beat a time, so 1:27 was basically his natural hiking pace.

Grandpa came up only five minutes behind them, finishing in 1 hour and 32 minutes. He knew exactly how to set the right pace for himself. Hiking just 5% slower made all the difference between a sustainable Zone 2/3 effort and a stop-and-go Zone 4 grind.

Oh, and he was carrying at least 3 kg of water and pop.

Hiking Down the BCMC Trail

After a lunch break, Grandpa announced that he was going to hike back down via the BCMC Trail. We reorganized the group. Tina took the three boys to enjoy the mountain facilities for a little longer, while I headed down with Grandpa.

The BCMC Trail starts and ends in roughly the same places as the Grouse Grind, but it’s about 2.9 km long compared with the Grind’s 2.5 km. Being roughly 15% longer means the route is, on average, 15% less steep. It also sees much less traffic than its famous neighbour.

Oh, and the most important difference: downhill hiking is allowed on the BCMC Trail, but not on the Grouse Grind.

We set off downhill at a brisk pace. My heart rate stayed controlled while my quads burned. The trail surface was similar to the Grouse Grind—very rooty and rocky—but it was well maintained and clearly marked.

At the very bottom of the trail, a signpost somewhat deceptively pointed left for the parking lot and right for the Grouse Grind. We mistakenly took the left turn, which brought us out at the very exposed eastern end of the parking lot. From there, we would have had to walk about 400 m across the parking lot to get back to the gondola base.

So we turned around, ducked back into the woods and emerged from the proper trailhead instead.

The doubling back cost us a few precious minutes, and we finished the downhill hike in 1 hour and 14 minutes.

Reflections on Family Fitness

Everyone was very proud of their achievements, and I found myself reflecting on how much everyone’s fitness had improved.

The kids are only going to get stronger and fitter as they grow toward the prime of their lives over the next 10–15 years, while our job is to maintain our health and fitness well enough to keep up with them. At close to 70, Grandpa is setting an excellent example.

My prediction is that within another two years or so, Big Bro will close much of the fitness gap with me on the Grouse Grind. By then, perhaps instead of racing each other, we can both chase the sub-60-minute milestone together.

With my upcoming Triathlon race in just 1 week away, was it foolish to strenous hike up and down the mountain? Perhaps. This is definitely not the recommended way to taper before the ‘A race’ of the year. But what am I training for if not to enjoy the great outdoors with the family? I would do it again in a heartbeat.

Our Grouse Grind Times Update:

	Billy	Tina	Big Bro	Middle Bro	Baby Bro	Grandpa
September 2024	1:37	—	1:37 (age 6)	—	—	—
August 2026	1:07	1:27	1:07 (age 8)	1:27 (age 6)	—	1:32