I bet you were lazier than some of us this weekend, because let me tell you, we took on quite a challenge, but we made it!
Sunday was the day. Equipped with lots of water, snacks and some caffeine we were optimistic to reach our goal: Hiking the Grouse Grind.
I mean, I’ve read about it before, heard from others how hard it was, but really I didn’t believe it. I got proved wrong. It turned out to be one of the more challenging hikes I’ve done so far. Not that I’m a professional, but I thought I’d be fitter. 😀 The hike is about 2.5 kilometres long and has an elevation gain of 800m with a total of 2,830 stairs! That’s pretty tough.
The hardest part for me was the beginning, because you go up and up and up… and there seems to be no end. Then, finally a sign! It tells you that you reached the 1/4 mark. Pretty demotivating to me. But it turns out none of us is a quitter, so we kept going, reached half way and kept going! From that point it was clear, there’s no way back down now.
On our way we saw a lot of people struggling, which made me feel a little better, because I knew I’m not alone. Of course we also saw people passing us with such lightness, but I told myself “they’ve probably done this many times before”. I also think the actual challenge was not the hike itself, but the fact that you want to be faster than others. You try to pass people, or at least not lose sight of them. You try to make it up the mountain in less than the average time of two hours, which makes the hike even harder than it already is.
After seeing the 3/4 mark I felt motivated to reach the top. I could feel I’m in the homestretch and I increased my pace. The feeling of finally reaching the top was incredible. Since the weather was very cloudy, the view was very limited, but at least the air was nice and cool, perfect for a workout like this. After everyone arrived we had some food and drinks at the Chalet before we went exploring the mountaintop a little further.
We tried to spot the two grizzly bears Grinda and Coola, who reside at Grouse mountain, but they were asleep. On our way back down with the gondola we got lucky and had an amazing view over Vancouver. All in all, I’d say it was a pretty successful day.
Would I do the Grouse Grind again? – Maybe.
What about you? Have you done it? Or is it on your list? Was your weekend active? Or lazy?
Tell me more about it next Pub Night, 7pm at Sailor Hagar’s in North Vancouver! It’s only a short walk from the sea bus and has a beautiful view over Downtown Vancouver. Plus, it’s a real neighbourhood pub, as Canadian as it gets. 😉
See you all there!
Cheers,
Laura 🙂
I am Tess Mallens, 20 years old and I am from the Netherlands. I study International Event Management at NHTV Breda. I am in my third year now were we need to complete a 7 month during internship to finish the year.
communication skills and you need to be adaptable. You are working with people from different cultures, so they also communicate different. I think you have to be open-minded about their cultures and also adapt yourself to every person to make everybody comfortable. I know Dutch people, me included, are very direct so I needed to be careful with that. I guess I found my way through it though, and I learned a lot from it.
Because I organise the pub nights and activities myself, I attend most of them. I think they’re throughly great, since they give you the opportunity to meet other interns and young professionals really fast. Those people became my family during my time here. I think it is great Internex created this, since it would be really hard to get a group of friends when you’re just working in a company and only socialize with your colleagues. We get to explore fantastic places and create beautiful memories together.
I visited many places around here. I did many hikes and I am still planning to do a few more. My favourite trips were the Rockies trip, traveling with my parents around BC, experience Canada day in Victoria, snowboarding in Whistler and my trip to Tofino.
Some difficulties I had while living here was the beginning of my stay, when I didn’t feel comfortable yet and I really had to adjust to the culture. Keeping up with my bank account was a difficulty as well, because you really run out of money fast in this city. Besides that I sometimes had to deal with home sickness, but that went quite fine. My friends made an amazing booklet for me where each of them wrote a story about me, accompanied with ridiculous pictures. They always get a smile on my face again with that, even though they are not here in person.
Becky, the Rockies trip and a surf trip to Tofino with my friends. Whistler mountain is amazing, and I felt throughly grateful for being there. It is a dream that came through, and with good company it only makes the experience better. I also surfed two times in Tofino and I really have no words for that feeling. Especially the second time was amazing since the conditions were just great and I experienced a great weekend with friends, beautiful sunsets and breathtaking nature.
INTERNeX Canada 