Grouse Mountain is a huge attraction that people visiting Vancouver take advantage of.
Truth be told, I didn’t know too much about it before going but my friend filled me in on the details and I followed up with a little research myself before going.
In this post
Getting to the mountain
Grouse Mountain offers free shuttle busses that make daily round trips between the mountain and Canada place.
It’s first come first serve and because it’s free, there are a lot of people that make use of the service, so we made sure to get there early.
The bus ride lasted about 30 minutes taking us on a very scenic route over the bridge and up the mountain while the driver gave us a bit of history and information over the speaker system.
The gondola ride
Arriving at the mountain, we had two choices on how to get to the top, either take the gondola up or hike it.
We thought hiking it would be pretty cool, but as we had already made our plans to take the gondola and visit the suspension bridge after, hiking was not an option that day.
Out of the 3 ticket levels offered, we chose the peak experience which allowed us to go up the mountain in the gondola and then up even higher with the peak chairlift ride.
Now if you’ve read my post about my first time to Paris , then you’ll know that I realized I have a thing with heights.
I also don’t like roller coasters, I know call me weird, but my stomach just can’t handle being dropped, thrown up and down, round and round, back and forth, and all the other ways.
Then there’s this crazy mind of mine that likes to play games with me. It throws insane scenarios into play that would never actually happen (using never pretty loosely here).
So naturally as we all climbed into the gondola, my heart started racing and my legs started quivering.
It was the heat of summer and yet this gal was shivering like cray.
I found a pole to hold onto, as all the seats were taken and I held on for dear life as the gondola doors closed and it started climbing.
I gave my phone to my friend as I knew I would be incapable of capturing the scenery for a couple reasons.
One, I would need both hands to hold the pole in a tight death grip. And two, I’m short and she’s tall.
The ride up actually wasn’t so bad…until an announcement was made that we were coming up to the first tower and there might be some swinging action.
I thought “God No”!
I’d just wanted a smooth ride to the top.
I pictured us swinging and unhooking from the cable and plummeting down to our deaths. I know it’s soo extra and that would never happen, but that’s just how this crazy brain of mine works!
I somehow managed to grip the bar even tighter as my friend laughed and tried assuring me it would be okay.
And it actually was, the swinging was very minimal, it was more of a slight shudder as we passed over top of the tower and continued up the mountain.
There was one more announcement for the second tower, which this time, swung the gondola a little more than the first and made my stomach shudder and my heart rate spike.
But never the less, we’d made it to the top!
Legs (and truthfully my entire body) quivering, I managed to walk out of the gondola with the crowd.
As we stepped out, were greeted with some amazing views.
The ones I couldn’t take in on the way up because I’d held my head down in terror.
With both feet securely on the ground once again, my heart rate started coming back to normal and my body began calming down from the involuntary shaking as we walked around and took in the sights.
Exploring Grouse Mountain
Other than taking in the awesome views, we took advantage of some of the activities offered at Grouse Mountain.
We went for a nature walk, which took us around some of the trails. We learned about some of the wildlife, the types of trees, and the mountain itself.
Next up was our chair lift ride, which I started getting a little nervous for.
Not only were we already high up the mountain, we were going to get on a chair lift that would take us even higher with nothing but a bar keeping us “secure” on the chair.
The shaking began all over again. This time, teeth chattering made its debut.
I once again gave my phone to my friend to capture the beautiful views as we rode to the peak and I gripped the bar with all my strength.
I tried focusing on the amazing views, and on my friends calming voice as she talked to me and tried to distract me from my fears.
After what felt like forever, we made it to the top and I was ecstatic to have my feet under me touching a hard surface again.
The Peak
There wasn’t too much to do up on the peak of Grouse, as you go up there mainly for more views.
We walked around for a little and snapping some pics, and then we found a table to have our lunch at with some of the great views.
The time came to head back down the chair lift, so I mustered up all my courage and down we went.
The ride down was a little better, I was still shaking mind you, but I was able to take one hand off the bar and take a few snapshots.
Go me!
Closing out our tour of Grouse was the gondola ride back down.
There weren’t a lot of people going down with us, which I was happy about.
We would be able to take in the views a lot better and I figured it would be a much more comfortable ride as there would be a lot more space.
I grabbed a seat and settled in for the ride and boy WAS I WRONG!
The fact that there weren’t as many bodies weighing the gondola down, made it lighter and so as soon as we hit that first tower, that bad boy SWUNG!
My heart lept out of my chest and my stomach dropped all the way down the rest of the mountain.
Somehow I sort of managed to keep my cool on the outside, but inside I was freaking out. One of the other guys definitely gave me a funny look haha.
I braced myself again for when we hit the second tower (now sort of knowing what to expect).
The swing wasn’t as intense as the first one and luckily we were very close to the bottom of the mountain at that point.
I’m glad to say we made it down in one piece and that I was able to collect my stomach and put it back where it was supposed to be.
Ending the tour
Taking a stroll around the corner, we went to view the start of the Grouse Grind (where you go to hike up Grouse Mountain) and decided we really wanted to try it out.
We chose to go back the next day and put ourselves to the test!
After, we visited Capilano Suspension Park, which was just a short walk away, and then made our way back to the parking lot to catch our bus back into downtown Vancouver.
We took the bus #236 which we connected with at the base of the mountain, right next to where the Starbucks in located.
Yes Starbucks lovers, you can get your fix here before or after taking a tour of the mountain.
Despite, being terrified out my rear end with all the gondola and chairlift riding, I had a great time touring the mountain.
Being up there literally makes you feel like you’re on top of the world, the views are so fantastic and the air is so fresh.
I obviously recommend visiting Grouse Mountain the next time you’re in Vancouver.
Even if you’re scared of heights, like me, you won’t regret it.
Till next time! Stay blessed ♡
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It is not the mountain that we conquer, but ourselves.
-Edmund Hillary
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