Popular North Shore hiking trails closed due to 'unsafe icy conditions': Metro Vancouver

Urgent search for father and son continues An urgent search for two missing men is continuing in the backcountry near Pemberton.

Vancouver — Multiple hiking trails on the North Shore are temporarily closed because of icy conditions.Metro Vancouver posted to Twitter Sunday afternoon, saying the Grouse Grind was closing early because of unsafe weather. The trail remained closed on Monday.

"Staff will reassess later in the day and advise regarding tomorrow," Metro Vancouver posted early Monday morning.

In a previous tweet, Metro Vancouver warned BCMC trail users to use microspikes.

"Leave enough time to finish your hike before sunset," the post said.

The sun will set at 6 p.m. on Monday and Grouse Mountain's weather report says it could get as cold as -2 C.

Later in the morning, Metro Vancouver posted that the backcountry in Lynn Headwaters Regional Park is also closed.

"This applies to routes past Norvan Falls," the post says, including Hanes Valley and the subalpine region.

"For your safety and that of first responders, respect the closure."

Over the weekend, local search and rescue teams were called to assist unprepared hikers in the Hanes Valley area. And, late last week, the North Shore mountains got a dusting of snow as the region was placed under a weather advisory from Environment Canada. By early Friday morning, heavy snow was already falling and sticking at higher elevations.

It was the second snowfall of the season on the North Shore mountains, as flakes also fell over the Thanksgiving long weekend.