The gym is now closed for spring break! This is something unfortunately resulting from our facility being inside the school. Because the school is closed, we too must close.
We will be closed March 10-March 27th, opening again on TUESDAY MARCH 28th!
Hope to see you there!
And dont forget, we have new low cost membership options! Please consider buying a membership to show your support. 🙂
Most importantly: enjoy your spring break and get out there and enjoy the world!
Our new season memberships (good until June) are now priced as follows:
4 and under: free
5-12 = $50
13-18 = $95
19+ = $150
As always, please dont be afraid to drop by and try it out. We realize that committing money for a full season is daunting when it seems like your only option. However, please consider donating when you try it out, and if you enjoy it, please buy a membership.
A word on our pricing scheme: One of our non-profit societies primary stated goals is to get as many people as possible to participate in the sport of climbing, either indoors or outdoors or both! In an ideal world we could eliminate ANY barrier to entry, but in the real world we unfortunately need to buy insurance. Also unfortunately, the way most grants and community funding that is available locally is restricted for projects and capital/events. Understandably, the administrators of our many community and local one-off grants and funding do not allow usage of the funds granted directly in an operating expense such as rent or insurance. As a result, 100% of our operating costs for our ongoing climbing gym need to be “internally funded” or paid for by membership.
We believe this season, we may have set that barrier of entry too high. We are lowering costs in an effort to get more people climbing and in an effort to cover our annual expenses. In an effort to provide full transparency, our original price point was developed in the following way:
Annual insurance = $2,900
Cost of facility = %25 (set by the CMRC)
Required annual income = $3,867
# of members in 2021/22 = ~30
# of members anticipated in 2022/23 = ~15
Cost per member if 15 members achieved = $258
# of 3h operating sessions in 2022/23 = 66
Resulting cost per member per operating session = $3.90In 2021/22 we had a large membership year, boosted by a large number of transient young government contract workers. Outlooks in fall 2022 for short term govt contractors were, lets say, not great. 15 members seemed a reasonable number to achieve based on historical evidence, and resulted in an average cost of ~$4, which was the same as the previous season on a per session basis.
However, in 2022/23 we’ve so far only had 7 registrants. 4 of these registrants are also volunteers, which is incredible as they are not required to even pay for membership! Due to ALSO a low average nightly turnout, we suspect this is for two reasons: less people around this winter, and too high a barrier to entry. As such, we are dropping all membership prices to something we hope is achievable to all! if you still feel the costs are too much for you, PLEASE send us a message, and we can assist. One final note is that we also considered switching to a per-use cost. However, we decided that because the space has a lump sum operating cost, we as members are effectively paying for the space to exist. And no matter how many times in a year one attends the gym, the main benefit to all of its users is its very existence.
Overall, its a delicate balance between accessibility/cost, and the space’s ability to operate. In an ideal world, we would collect money from members at the END of the year, and simply split the total cost between us all, but as it stands we need to try and forecast. Rest assured that any money above and beyond our operating costs in a season will go directly into our operating costs for next season. Currently we should have enough money to get our insurance for 2023/24 (barring any more massive increases), and thats thanks to a fantastic show of support in 2021/22
Keep an eye on our instagram and this blog for exciting upcoming announcements! We currently have a few exciting things planned including clinics for skill development, another intro to outdoors series this summer, and some work with both ParticipACTION and our local scouts group. Stay tuned.
The bouldering gym is in full swing, and great new routes are popping up daily!
Come on down and give it a try, and swing by the pool/rec centre to give yourself or a loved one the gift of rock climbing this dark and dreary winter!
OR, give us a gift, and shoot us an email if you are available to volunteer at the gym either tuesdays or thursdays 730-9! One of our valued volunteers is starting a new job this week, and going forward will not be able to cover his shift. If we can’t find someone to cover, we might have to be sporadically closed in the evenings, so stay tuned to our instagram! @wlclimbing
You can also tune in to our facebook, under Williams Lake Climbing Association – Bouldering Program, although we do post less consistently there.
An inspirational boulder problem spotted in Calgary.
Hey y’all fall is here, it gets dark super early, theres frost up in the hills, and the season has officially started. We are open Tues and Thurs most weeks from 6-9pm. Please subscribe to this page and follow us on instagram @wlclimbing for up-to-the-second updates from our esteemed social media team.
We are planning on being open for a full 8 business months this year and you only need to buy one membership this time, so memberships appear more expensive but are the same cost per session ($4).
Still struggling with volunteers tho, so if you can donate some time to keeping us open and having fun please give us a message or email!
Registration is open for our 2022/2023 season. I will update the website hopefully shortly, but the link should be below:
https://cityofwilliamslake.perfectmind.com
WE NEED MORE VOLUNTEERS SO PLEASE CONTACT ME IF YOU CAN SPEND 1.5H PER WEEK HANGING OUT WITH YOUR FRIENDS AND CLIMBING!
Also our 2022 agm will be next Wednesday. Come by my place (458 Glen drive) or tune into the zoom meeting on Wednesday Sept 22 at 7pm. Link below
WLCA Society is inviting you to a scheduled Zoom meeting. Topic: 2022 Williams Lake climbing association agm Time: Sep 21, 2022 07:00 PM Vancouver Join Zoom Meeting https://us05web.zoom.us/j/84041827605?pwd=cGFVWk55Tzd5L3B4YWhac2tDeTBkZz09 Meeting ID: 840 4182 7605 Passcode: c8EgwJ
Wow! Last weekend was one for the books!
Our first outdoor climbing clinic can safely be marked as a massive success. The course was fully booked and 21 people made it out to esler to learn some rock climbing basics from a certified ACMG guide.
Course content included: safe movement around cliffs, gear inspection and proper use, belay device instruction, proper belaying techniques, movement on the rock itself, safe lowering and the importance of proper communication, and even some ground school information on cleaning anchors and lowering off chains. Our guide, Dane Schellenberg from Canada West Mountain School, was not only knowledgeable, but truly went above and beyond, donating many of his own hours to ensure the course was the best it could be. He even (with the approval of the local setting community) set an easier route (5.5 or 5.4, TBD) complete with bolts and cleaning late after work and gave the naming rights to the student group on Sunday Morning! The name of the new route (located left of The Edge) is “from China with love”. He also brought some old retired rope donated to the club from an anonymous source in Squamish to be used as fixed lines to better improve top-rope access to some of our climbs. Thanks Dane and we hope to see you out here again!
Huge shout out to Taseko-Gibraltar for sponsoring this event to bring down costs for the community. Between their contributions and contributions from the WLCA, we managed to bring costs down to a very reasonable $55pp. It is very likely this event would not have been possible without them. Additionally, huge thank you to Save-On-Foods here in Williams Lake for donating lunches! Special thanks to Ruth Lloyd, Emma Swabey and Kim Lewis for helping out with logistics.
If you were in this course and have any photos you would like to share, please email them to me at wlclimbing@gmail.com.
If you are interested in a future lead climbing & anchor building course (likely a full day) please send me an email at wlclimbing@gmail.com.
Check us out on instagram @wlclimbing and send me a message if you would like in on the real informal facebook messaging group for people looking for climbing partners.
Feel free to download and use the pics below!
Downloadable photos below (the same as the slide show)
The WLCA, with the help of Taseko-Gibraltar, has put together an intro to outdoor rock climbing course here at our home craig of esler bluffs! An alpine guide from Canada West Mountain School will be coming up north to teach you and your friends all about:
Choose between July 9 and July 10, either morning or afternoon. First come first serve, and we will target 4 registrants per time slot. All equipment will be provided, and a simple bbq lunch will be held between sessions (~12pm).
We’ve subsidized the costs of bringing a guide up, and the cost to you is only $55. Please shoot us a message if this amount is not affordable for you, and we will see if we can cover your fees.
No previous experience is needed, just an interest in learning to rock climb!
Registration and additional information is here:
In an awesome move to get more kids active, engaged, and outdoors, the rotary club’s next major venture in town is slated to be an outdoor climbing park! Targeted at kids, this park is (I suspect) also going to be very fun for adults who like to play. We here at the WLCA are pretty excited about the project and, in general, making climbing more accessible and available to all.
See the attached letter and artists rendering below, and if you have a penchant for fundraising events, please get ahold of us at our contact page! The WLCA would love to get involved and raise some funding for this project, but is in desperate need of volunteer power!
For more information on the project from the Rotary Club, please contact Andrew Sandberg at asandberg@sandtronic.ca.
Fantastic news! COVID conditions/restrictions dependent, we will be open after spring break until you can reliably start rock climbing outdoors! The gym will be closed during the school’s spring break (March 11 – March 27th) and closed for the first week back (29th/31st) for setting and maintenance. Please contact us if you are interested in helping set and clean!
You will need to register for the spring season separately. Rates per session remain the same. Tell your friends!
Please follow THIS LINK to go directly to our bouldering program registration page.
PLEASE BRING PROOF OF PAYMENT WITH YOU YOUR FIRST SESSION AFTER SPRING BREAK!
If this does not work for some reason, follow THIS LINK to go to the general City of Williams Lake Cariboo Memorial Recreation Complex’s perfectmind website. One there, enter “bouldering” in the search bar in the top right to look for our program. Make sure to register for the one starting on 05/04/2022 (course ID 00010363), and make payments and fill out personal information forms. If none of this works, call the recreation complex directly!
Please note that proof of vaccination is required to attend the bouldering club.
We are located in the small gymnasium at Lake City Secondary School on Carson Drive (640 Carson Drive). Park in the student parking lot off the steep hill on Carson drive (google takes you to the bus loop on the wrong side of the school!). Head down the stairs that are tucked right up against the solar wall, towards the fields and turn right twice at the bottom to face back at the gym doors. We are the two doors furthest to the right on the patio.
Welcome back! In case you were unsure, yes, the bouldering club is still running, and the space will be open tomorrow 6-9pm.
Please check our calendar for closures and important dates, and subscribe to this site for updates to your email.
To subscribe, hit the follow button on the right side of the page:
Williams Lake Climbing Association 