Wednesday, December 24, 1997 —- North Shore News — 24

dining arts business

Nox St

NEWS photo Mike Wakefield

OUT & About cofumnist Andrew McCredie discovered that snowshoeing isn't as
difficult as it used to be as he and News photographer Mike Wakefield strapped
on some rented snowshoes and checked out the new Munday Alpine Snowshoe
Park atop Grouse Mountain.

Dashi

ng through

the snow 4 cinch

MAYBE it’s age, but I
can’t recall walking in
snowshoes as being
this easy.

Before last week, the last
time I stood in a pair of
snowshoes was as a boy
scout in a snowy stand of
white birch trees in
Nortixern Ontario.

Said shoes were fashioned
by my own hand, and need
less to say, the traditional
woodframe with leather
webbing shoes were a hand-
ful (feetful?) to handle.

The lasting image I have
of that long-ago outing is

one of high farce, along the
lines of a Monty Python
skit. wits in the woods.
Without exception, the
dozen or so lads in the
troop stumbled, tripped and
fell as they attempted to
march through the snowy
landscape.

Bur as Old Man Dylan
said a few winters ago, the
times they are a changin’.

Last Thursday atop
Grouse Mountain, News
photographer Mike
Waketield and myself could-
n’t have had a more difter-
ent experience as we
checked out the North
Vancouver resort's latest
outdoor activity.

Outfitted with state-of.
the-art Atlas snowshoes, we
trudged through freshly fall-
en snow withour so much as
a misstep.

Thinner, lighter and bet-
ter designed than their pre-
decessors, these snowshoes
make winter woods travel as
easy as going for a hike on

dry, flat trails. And collapsi-
ble poles make the going all
the more easier.

To give you somewhere
to stretch your legs once

you get your rented snow-
shoes on your feet, Grouse
has developed the Munday
Alpine Snow Shoe Park,
named in honor of longtime
Grouse Mountain explorers
Phyllis and Don Munday.
(In 1905, at the age of 10,
Phyllis made her first ascent
of the mountain.)

The Munday Alpine park
consists of two main areas —
the Blue Grouse Loop,
which features 3.5 km of
groomed trails for beginners
and intermediates, and Dam
Mountain, a groomed trail
system featuring four trails
and a snowshoe glades area.

Both areas are well-
marked and patrolled regu-
larly. In addition, Grouse
ofters five guided snowshoe
tours.

For tour information and
to register cali 980-9311.

HORE ELE

Grouse Mountain graphic

GROUSE Mountain's new Munday Alpine Snowshoe
Park features varied terrain for all levels of expertise.

Line up |
_= early!

Name

prands!
@ Save to

Canadian Made
ma Waterproof/

Breathables Savel

Guided
* stomps

LOOKING for a dif-
ferent way to explore
the snow-ringed moun-
tains of the North
Shore?

Grouse Mountain has
dedicated pve trail loops ro
snowshoe routes, For just
tour bucks an hour ($13 tor
the whole days, you can make
snowy tracks in some beauti-
sul alpine territory.

The mountain is also
offering five guided tours; the
wo-hour Blue Grouse Loop;
the two-hour Coyote Corner
Your; the three-hour Dam
Mountain Nature Tour, the
three-hour Full Moon ‘Tour;
and the five-hour Thunder
Bird Ridge Gourmet Tour.
The tours range in price trom
$828 to S85.

— Andrew McCredie

S69 pais 29 soo

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