Three-year-old astonishes parents by completing the Grouse Grind with them

A 3-year-old first timer tackled the 2.9-kilometre Grouse Grind, reaching the top of the gruelling climb with his astonished parents.

Outdoor enthusiasts Vinu Wesley and Subhashree Kannan were excited to introduce their three-year-old son Valluvan to the Grouse Grind, a gruelling 2.9-kilometre uphill hike in North Vancouver comprised of 2,830 steps.

Valluvan is an energetic and determined little boy who loves the outdoors, so they thought he would enjoy the challenge. But they didn’t expect the pint-sized climber would make it very far when they started the trek on Sunday.

“We just thought, just head up and do 25 per cent of the Grind – one quarter – and then bring him back,” said Wesley.

But when they got to the quarter marker, Valluvan wanted to keep going. His mom was skeptical, but the family continued to climb.

“We thought let’s go to the half mark and check, and probably we come back. By the time he was half mark, he didn’t even want to sit. I was so astonished seeing that,” Kannan said.

Wesley sat his son down at the halfway marker, explained how hard it would be to continue all the way to the top of Grouse Mountain, and offered him a choice: Go back down, or keep climbing. Valluvan didn’t hesitate. He was all in.

Soon other climbers started to take notice.

“A lot of people were very impressed, they were all stopping by giving him high fives,” said Wesley.

“He saw people coming and everyone was motivating him – ‘Good job, go ahead.’ He’s like, ‘Oh yeah, let’s go, let’s go,’” said Kannan.

They took the second half of the climb very slowly, and the family finished the Grind in just over two hours.

“He pushed himself, and we just actually tagged along with him,” said Valluvan’s mom.

“It was an amazing experience, I couldn’t describe it. We were so proud as parents,” said his dad. He looked online to see if Grouse kept records of the youngest climbers, but he couldn’t find any information.

“Possibly he’s the youngest to do it, I don’t know,” Wesley said.

Valluvan’s parents know most three-year-olds aren’t cut out for the Grouse Grind, and they were prepared to end the climb at any point.

“One thing I would say is trust your kid,” said Kannan. “Trust your kid, and try to explore options what you have not done.”

“We think kids can’t do much, but that’s not true. They are very resilient, they are very focused, and they can push their limits,” said Wesley.

Valluvan turns four next month, and is eager to keep climbing.

“I think our aim is to do Garibaldi at some point, but again we want to take him at his own pace, see how he does,” said Wesley.

Valluvan’s mom believes if you don’t have preconceived notions of what a child can do, “You never know, something amazing can turn out like this.”