Vancouver | Stanley Park | Grouse Mountain Trail | Whistler Mountain

One thing my trainer and I did was something called The Grouse Grind Mountain Run, which is an almost two-mile hike straight up the Grouse Mountain Trail in north Vancouver. Every fall, people compete to see who can get up it the fastest. You can't go to Vancouver without doing The Grouse Grind. I would consider myself to be in pretty okay shape, and yet people from Vancouver would fly past me on both sides. It's really steep and beautiful, but it's physical. I thought I had to be almost done, and we were just at the halfway mark. You see kids doing it and people twice your age doing it without a problem. I wished I really was in the CIA and could call for a helicopter extraction, because it kicked my butt. When you're done with The Grouse Grind, there's a little restaurant up top with a gorgeous view. You take a gondola back down.

So Vancouverites are pretty active, then?
It's wonderful to see how active they are. Everyone is on a bike, on rollerblades, running, or walking their dog. Biking is really big around Stanley Park. And there are always joggers in Stanley Park. But then there's everything in Stanley Park. It's very popular. There's a ton to do recreationally in Vancouver. You're really close to Whistler Mountain if you want to ski or mountain bike. We shot in the [Greater Vancouver Regional District], the forest, and there are some easy-to-follow paths up there for hiking.

You mentioned Whistler, which is one of the top ski mountains in North America. Have you skied it?
I have skied Whistler, and it was good. I am a beginning to intermediate skier, heavy on the beginning. There was enough for me to do and enough for the people I was with to do who were more advanced than I was. Whistler is also great in the summer, and it's only an hour and a half away. [Michael interjects: "Even if you don't ski, you can go up to the top and look at the view. You can take the gondola, or whatever that thing is called."]