GrouseGrindchallengewasnoissueforDeltawoman

Tamara Woolgar climbed the mountain trail 15 times

PHIL MELNYCHUK

Contributing Writer

A Ladner hiker finished first in her age category for women and second overall in the women ’ s category after scrambling up the Grouse Grind 15 times in one day.

Tamara Woolgar, 54, made the ascents from dawn until dusk on the summer solstice, June 21, as part of the MultiGrouse Grind Challenge

The event was a fundraiser for North Shore Rescue

The hike started at 4 a.m. and continued to 10:45 p m working out to an elevation gain of 12,000 metres and a total distance of 50 km

Woolgar said she climbs the Grouse Grind a few times a week

“It’s my happy place,” she said.

Eighty people competed in the event, including a former Vancouver Canuck

“It’s such a great event. The first five, I actually hiked with Daniel Sedin. Super nice guy. We were both talking about the challenge It was such a team-building thing. It was really cool,” said Woolgar “The camaraderie was unreal. People helping, supporting each other”

Training for the event involved Woolgar mak- ing four or five trips up the grind a day, in the weeks prior Then about five days before, she started reducing that number in order to conserve energy for the main event.

It took her just under an hour to do most of the climbs. She could have done it in about 38 minutes, but the idea is to conserve energy for the entire day.

The same goes with talking with fellow competitors while hiking Talking is limited because energy is being conserved.

During the gondola ride down Grouse Mountain, hikers tried to eat as much as they could and tried to hydrate.

“The goal was you hike, you run to the gondola … and you eat. You eat as much as you can in the six- to seven-min- ute gondola ride down … and you hop right back on to the grind

“If you don’t eat enough, you can’t continue,” said Woolgar.

She found pureed sweet potatoes to be the best food for the hike. She also munched on grapes and strawberries, replenished electrolytes and later had some potato chips and a few Cokes.

Competitors usually eat before or in the early hours of the event because later their bodies won’t want any food, she added

Woolgar is a regular hiker in the mountains and appreciates what North Shore Rescue does.

More than $25,000 was raised for the group with Woolgar raising more than $800.

“It’s about challenging. It’s about your own personal goal, is really what it is,” she said