Ah, so tempting, and yet so resisted:
.
Note the stairs to the left – the ones that take you to a spectacular, unblocked view of the Lions Gate Bridge. And then note where the people are.
Going down would mean having to climb back up. And most resist, settling for a perfectly good view that requires not a bit more energy to be expended.
The deck, no doubt, was built many years after the original staircase. The question today is: would the stairs be built at all?
Maybe, but they’d be an escalator.
Perhaps adding a sign (that can be read from the deck) that simply says: “Spectacular, unblocked view of the Lion’s Gate Bridge” with an arrow pointing down the stairs. One of those “Scenic View” signs may be all it takes.
The real workout though is the trail that comes up from the sea wall under the bridge. It doesn’t have stairs on it but does have very short and steep switchbacks which you can just ride on a mountain bike, though you’ll go pretty anaerobic.
I remember jogging with a couple of co-workers past a family climbing up the path Robin mentions and the Dad pointing at us and telling his complaining son, ‘see, those people are *running* up this hill, the least you can do is walk’. We received a well deserved dirty look from the aggrieved son.
I think octavio is right though, the lack of use of the stairs you mention has more to do with presentation than the requirement to climb the steps on the way back. It’s counterintuitive to go down for a better view, and the stairs just don’t look that appealing or as if you are really meant to go that way unless you are planning to climb all the way down.
Actually another thought, a dream I had on the topic of ‘city as workout’.
I imagine a series of connectors, first from Colony Farm along the South end of Riverview, up the hill to the powerline right of way into Mundy Park, then from the North end of Mundy Park along Mariner and the hydro right of way down to Dewdney Trunk, then a pedestrian overpass over the railway and the Barnett, linking up to the Coquitlam Crunch.
http://www.coquitlam.ca/parks-recreation-and-culture/parks-and-trails/trail-system.aspx
With a small investment, you could have a spectacular trail crossing all of Coquitlam from the river to the mountains, one that would be a hell of a workout if you tried to do the whole thing in one go.
The view down the stairs isn’t as unobstructed as it was in June 1966, those trees now are above deck level. Over 1000 trees felled in the storm of ’06 (I teared up on the first few trips after the road re-opened), but these survived. http://s1096.photobucket.com/albums/g337/snfils/?action=view¤t=scan0004-2.jpg