A man has died after taking on what’s often called “Mother Nature’s stairmaster.”

The man — who was in his 50s — collapsed around 8 p.m. yesterday. He was about halfway up what may have been his first climb of the Grouse Grind.

Firefighters called in North Shore Rescue (NSR), which long-lined a doctor, nurse, and two others onto the trail to first treat the man there and link him up to an autopulse device and oxalator.

“They worked on him for about 20 minutes on scene and then he was flown back on the long line connected to those devices, back to our Cap Gate SAR station where he was transferred to BC Ambulance,” says Mike Danks with NSR.

Danks adds the man was dressed properly for the trail.

We don’t know exactly what it was that killed him. Danks stresses fitness may not have been a factor in this case, but has a reminder for anyone wanting to climb the Grind:

“If you are going to be doing the Grouse Grind, you need to make sure that you’re physically fit to do it and that you’re prepared to do the hike at hand. So, do your research and make sure that number one: you know what you’re getting yourself into and that you’re prepared for the conditions at hand.”

The man’s name has not yet been released.