This climb will test your cardiovascular fitness. Our family has varying levels of fitness but we all have strong will and patience! Those of us that needed to take breaks did from time to time but we all finished in 1.5 hours. We spent the day at Grouse Mountain first and then returned to the parking area to do the Grind. Even with a day pass for the mountain the trip down after the grind requires another gondola ticket for each person. All well worth it! The trail is very well maintained and the view from the top after 2800 steps is priceless!

Went as a duo - one 50+, one teenager. The teenager found it a breeze… the 50+ found it pretty hard going. It got noticeably easier after halfway, but that might be because we pulled out the hiking poles. Took us 1h 40m - general guideline is 2h to 2h 30m. The path is very clear, well signposted and there are regular tree markers saying 1/40, 2/40… all the way so you know pretty much exactly where you are up to. Well worth it - great sense of accident.

This was one of many day trips whilst visiting Vancouver. Caught the bus directly from downtown Vancouver and literally stops outside. Having queued for about 15 minutes to buy a ‘down’ ticket only, we were told they didn’t sell them there so had to go back to the visitor centre. Friendly service and once the tickets were bought we began our hike up the Grinder trail. The weather was very hot (28 degrees) and certainly the trail was demanding, with varying gradients and slopes and sections alternating between boarded steps and scree slopes. This is now the for the faint hearted! The trail was well marked with progress markers all the way up which was helpful. It took us just over 90 minutes to complete and did leave me with a sense of achievement. Overall a very positive, challenging experience

If the people in charge already point out the "impending effort" more than just clearly before the start, then please take the notes seriously. If, after a quarter of the way, you are asked to listen to yourself again whether the fitness is adequate and the water supplies are still sufficient, this is not excessive scaremongering, but the need to save the untrained from "overconfidence" here. This is not a hiking trail in the "usual sense", this is a well-signposted, demanding workout with 2,830 steps, 800 meters of altitude and a length of 2.5 km - the best run it up in under 25 minutes, the average manages just under 2.5 hours. It’s a huge experience, but you’ll get some of it for the next few days after the climb.

The grind is as hard as advertised but there was a wonderful feeling of accomplishment at the end. The day in general was wet but due to the trees the rain didn’t really affect climb. Best suggestion for beginners is to take breaks, once recovered move on through the next section.

Fantastic, and gruelling for my husband and I-early 60’s and decently ,fit and active. Our 22 year old son ran up it without breaking a sweat, while carrying the backpack! We must get the prize for slowest ascent: 4 hours! We didn’t have enough water which was a factor in our pace.

Great fun. Not cheap (at $75 plus tax) but actually worth it. We got a 0915 sea bus from Waterfront to North Vancouver and then took (the seamless connecting) 236 bus to the attraction where we queued for 10 minutes for tickets ( we got $10 discount pp as we had $8 transit system day tickets). No gondola queue so straight up to the top. Lovely coffee overlooking the view down the mountain then off to the lumberjack show (corny but fun). Up the chairlift for more views sitting in the thoughtfully provided chairs. Down the lift for a rusty nail burger and beer - not cheap but good and fantastic corn on the cob. Pretty much worn out after 10000 steps we left on the free attraction bus at 14:30 arriving back to the Waterfront at 15:00.

Not for the faint-hearted but doable and rewarding! We made a last minute decision to do the Grind and so were not dressed particularly appropriately - denim jeans not our usual hiking gear!! It is certainly a test of legs and stamina - we are both in our 60s and reasonably fit and we rested a few times on the way up. It took us 1hr 52min 29secs and we proudly took our photo against the timer at the top!!