It was an iconic end-of-summer image from Canada’s west coast.
On Sept. 8, a couple of days before his second NHL season kicked off with a visit to Vegas for the player media tour, Connor Bedard posed with former NHL player and hockey broadcaster Paul Bissonnette at the top of North Vancouver’s infamous Grouse Grind.
6am Sunday morning Grouse Grind with the NHL’s reigning Calder winner. Bedard is a machine. 37 minute grind time. Now he’s going to skate. The @nhl is in good hands folks. pic.twitter.com/LGbox8Q3IF
— Paul Bissonnette (@BizNasty2point0) September 8, 2024
The mountain trail is a rite of passage among both locals and visitors. Pro athletes and civilians strive to beat their best times, and Bedard succeeded on that Sunday with Bissonnette. In the spring of 2023, he pegged his record at 39 minutes.
“I go pretty early if I do it, because it’s cooler and not as busy,” Bedard told the media in Vegas. “It becomes a kind of tourist thing, which is crazy. You see people up there in jeans and a jacket, slowly going up.”
The Grind is not exactly a walk in the park. Just this month, defibrillators were installed at three points along the trail, to provide quick assistance in the event of a cardiac emergency.
The 1.55-mile path up the face of North Vancouver’s Grouse Mountain is known as ‘Mother Nature’s Stairmaster.’ It’s so steep and narrow that downhill travel is not permitted, it covers 2,624 feet of elevation gain and features 2,830 steps.
Practice helps, as it’s important for climbers to learn how to pace themselves. But it never gets easy.
“It sucks, right?” Bedard said.
Bedard’s fellow North Vancouverite, Macklin Celebrini, also set a new personal best this summer, at 35 minutes.
“For me, it’s a great training tool,” he said. “I do it at the end of training days and stuff. It’s good conditioning. It’s hard on the legs, so I feel it’s a good tool for me.”
He even impresses Bedard.
“He’s good at it,” said the 2024 Calder winner. “Him and his brother do it a lot.”
Aiden Celebrini, 19, is a sophomore defenseman at Boston University who was drafted by Vancouver in the sixth round in 2023. He had home-ice advantage when the Canucks prospects did their annual trek up the mountain in July.
Can confirm, the Grouse Grind wasn’t easy. 😅#Canucks | @ToyotaPacific pic.twitter.com/rr2v9momC1
— Vancouver Canucks (@Canucks) July 5, 2024
Celebrini was the first prospect to finish this year, but even he couldn’t beat franchise legends Daniel and Henrik Sedin. They set a standard for fitness in Vancouver during their playing days and have maintained that level, even as they’ve transitioned into player development roles.
“They’re not human,” Celebrini marvelled.
GRIND TIME! 💪⛰️
Wrapping up our 2024 Development Camp with a hike up the Grouse Grind! #Canucks | @ToyotaPacific pic.twitter.com/dtwanKzLTv
— Vancouver Canucks (@Canucks) July 5, 2024
“I think the Sedins did it in, like, 30 minutes or something ridiculous like that,” recalled former Canucks captain Bo Horvat. “We always had it in prospect camp. Everybody had to go up at the same time in your group — and you were in groups of five or six. Everybody in your group had to get up there at the same time, so you couldn’t abandon your guys. We were the fastest group one year and we did it in 40, 45 minutes, maybe. And that was a good time.”
In the days leading up to the 2019 draft in Vancouver, the soon-to-be first-overall pick Jack Hughes and his brothers climbed the trail as a family activity.
“Me and Quinn were the same exact pace,” Jack said. “Lukey and one of my good friends from Toronto shot up the mountain, though.”
At the time, Luke was 15. “It was pretty funny — 41 minutes or something like that,” Luke recalled. “I heard the Sedins did it in, like, 33 or something crazy.”
The Grouse Mountain website states that, on average, it takes two to 2.5 hours to complete the hike. But it’s not just the pros who put those numbers to shame. Official times are recorded via personal timer cards featuring radio frequency chips, with timing posts at the lower gate and the entrance to the Peak Chalet — well beyond the rocks at the top of the treeline where casual hikers typically stop their watches.
The Sedins get the glory in hockey circles — and rightfully so. But 23-year-old Sebastian Salas set the course record of 23:48 at the 2010 Grouse Grind Mountain Run. This year, Vancouver doctor Jordan Guenette seized second place all-time at 26:36, after he won the 40-49 age group at the 2023 event with a time of 28:56.
And while one Grind at a time is plenty for most people, the mountain also hosts an annual Multi-Grouse Grind Challenge as a fundraiser for North Shore Rescue, the volunteer search-and-rescue team that assists lost and injured hikers and skiers across the region.
In 2023, that’s the event where Daniel Sedin famously completed his 11 Grinds. With a 16-hour window open between 4 a.m. and 10 p.m., Sedin hiked for just over 10 hours and stayed under an hour on 10 of his 11 ascents.
If you want to experience the Grind yourself, don’t delay. The trail is closing for its annual maintenance period starting Monday, Oct. 7.
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News Summary:
- ‘It Sucks, Right?’ Bedard, Celebrini, Hughes And More Take Us Up The Grouse Grind
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