WLCA’s BIG DAY OUT (doors)

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!

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Downloadable photos below (the same as the slide show)

Dane on the FA of “from china with love”

WLCA presents: LEARN TO CLIMB OUTDOORS

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:

• Rope use, safety, and how to belay
• Climbing techniques and movement on rock
• Communication skills
• Safe movement around cliffs

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:

https://themountainschool.com/program/williams-lake-intro-to-rock-climbing/

Community Climbing Park – Rotary Club

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.

donation-letterDownload

Spring Season is OPEN

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.

Get fit for summer season!

Bouldering Re-Opens Tomorrow!

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:

Happy Holidays!

The Gym is now closed for the Christmas break and will be re-opening (covid restrictions dependent of course) on Jan 11th, 2022.

I for one will be looking forward to getting back in there after all the holiday food and drink….

Special shoutout to Ruth Lloyd of the WL Tribune, who recently published a short story on our little club. Link to the online version can be found here!

Santa is usually thought of mostly as an aid climber, but we hear he does a good offwidth and chimneys with the best of them.

Registration Problems

We’ve had multiple reports of login and registration problems with the current registration software… and when going to investigate, I myself found I could not log in. This may be a temporary glitch with the software, but please give the CMRC front desk a call if you have any problems registering, and they can get you signed up over the phone. Their number is 1-250-398-7665.
Please also let them know what problems you are having with PerfectMind so they can accurately forward the complaints to the developer/provider.

Proof of Payment

Hi it has just recently come to our attention that the new digital registration program that the CMRC is using is automatically pro-rating your memberships! This is great if you move to town or just heard about the program because it means you wont pay the full season price, you’ll only pay for the maximum possible number of sessions remaining!

This is bad however, because it makes things a bit more challenging logistically. We ask that if you do not have a membership yet, please purchase one as soon as possible! And if you have been climbing already this season, please bring by a lil cash donation. Our rate works out to $4.25 per session, and our standard “drop in” ask is $8.

Membership dues almost exclusively fund the club’s insurance costs, which are quite high. In the last few years they have risen from $1600/year to over $2600/year. So thanks to everyone for supporting our club! And many thanks to the people who have already registered! 🙂

Once you purchase it, please take a screenshot on your phone or bring in a copy of the receipt so we can mark you off as paid on the sign in sheet.

Visit THIS LINK for instructions on how to register and pay online. You can do it on your phone in the parking lot.

Movie Night!

Come join us and the Cycling Club for a joint movie night on Thursday, November 18th for some climbing and biking goodness.
Huge shout out to Petzl, Climb On Squamish, and Black Diamond.
Prizes to be had from our end and from the WLCC’s end (bike related goodies).
Pizza from RTP. Beer from Fox Mtn Brewing. Pops for the kids. TWO great movies. Whats not to like!

Proof of vaccination is required at door. Tickets available for cash purchase at Cycle Logic or Red Shreds or at the door.

Please note that the Gym will be closing early (6PM-8PM) on Thursday because of this, but if you want to see the movie, you will have to skip climbing! 😦

Black ice: a 35-minute film about climbers from the Memphis Rox gym who travel to Hyalite Canyon, Montana to go ice climbing. They are met by Manoah Ainuu, Conrad Anker and Fred Campbell who share their love of winter climbing in the mountains.

Long live chainsaw: In a world premier event, Long Live Chainsaw reveals the incredible true story of the meteoric rise, untimely death and long-lasting legacy of Canadian downhill mountain bike legend, Stevie Smith.

Promo Poster movie nightDownload

We’re BAA-AAAACK

After much back-and-forth with the school district and the city, we are excited to announce the bouldering program is officially back in business!

Our official dates are Oct 28th 2021 to March 10, 2022 (the beginning of spring break). Every Tues and Thurs from 6pm-9pm. Please note the gym is closed whenever the school is not in operation (christmas holidays etc) so please refer to the calander on this website, which is kept updated and pay attention to the Facebook/Instagram pages for updates. Cost for the winter season this year is $127.50 for adults and $97.50 for youth. This includes 30 sessions.

Our next task is to organize our spring season (March 29th – June 2nd) to get us through to dry rock conditions!

To register, head over to http://www.williamslake.ca/programregistration and create an account or log in. Use the search function in the upper right to search for ‘Bouldering’. The bouldering club membership fee should return, and follow the prompts to pay and complete transaction. Please note that proof of vaccination is required to attend the bouldering club, and that all climbers must sign a NEW waiver this year, so please seek out the instructor on duty once arriving at climbing gym before starting climbing. Climbers under the age of 19 should come with a parent or guardian on their first visit, in order to get the waivers properly signed.

If youd like to come check us out, feel free to swing by the bouldering gym with your proof of vaccination (we also accept club donations), but we do ask that you purchase a membership for the next visit!

NEW RULES:

1. Please bring liquid chalk and hand sanitizer (hand sani is on site, and liquid chalk for sale while supplies last)
2. Please bring your mask
3. Stay 2m apart where possible
4. If its too busy, you may be asked to wait
5. Try to return to the same rest/waiting area between climbs
6. You must sanitize your hands when arriving and when leaving, and after touching your face or mask.
7. Its encouraged to sanitize before and after every climbing attempt. Liquid chalk is handy here, as it is mostly alcohol.

Cant wait to see everyone! Please send us an email at wlclimbing@gmail.com if you have any questions or concerns.

Edit: Liquid chalk is now for sale while supplies last! more will be ordered if we run out so never fear.
Price is $14 for a (full) 50mL refillable bottle and $0.14/mL for refills. I can refill your own container if you like, as long as it has the means.