Climbing club holds tight
More than 50 members scaling the walls
Walter Strong
Northern News Services
Published Friday, April 11, 2014
SOMBA K'E/YELLOWKNIFE
It's been a little more than a year since the Yellowknife Climbing Club opened its doors on the northernmost public climbing wall in Canada.
Yellowknife Climbing Club president Susan Saunders moves up the climbing club wall last week. Through inspiration and dedication, the volunteer-run, not-for-profit has opened up a world of potential for Yellowknifers. - Walter Strong/NNSL photo |
"It was scary the first summer," said club president Susan Saunders. "The first year was challenging in the sense that we didn't know where our regular funding was going to come from or how much it was going to be."
The non-profit club, located at Kam Lake, faced the same uncertainties any small business start-up would face, but with the extra unknown of piquing public interest in a relatively unknown Yellowknife sport scene.
When most people think of climbing they have images of climbers on high, exposed rock faces with ropes and gear.
But bouldering is to roped-climbing as the 100 metre sprint is to a marathon; a sudden burst of power over a short sequence of moves that is spent almost as quickly as it begins.
Canadian climbers - some of whom are international champions - almost all rely on artificial walls to make up for training that would otherwise be lost to winter.
Yellowknife has its challenges for climbers. Short summers and isolation from climbing destinations can make climbing difficult to keep on the radar of things to do.
Club treasurer Eric Frenette, who has an accounting background, helped set up the club as a non-profit.
"It was cheapest to go non-profit in terms of incorporation," Frenette said. "It also allowed us to apply for grants unavailable to a for-profit business."
Their operational costs over the first year ended up being split roughly 50/50 between initial start-up grants and gym income.
"We'll have fewer grants this year," Saunders added. "But we are more established in town."
The club has been involved with the GNWT Active After School Program, holding group classes with school-age youth in the gym. Club members volunteer to run the intro-to-climbing programs, and the gym gets needed revenue.
The gym is also available for private bookings, and has hosted birthday parties and other events with club members volunteering instruction.
Birthday parties, group lessons and corporate team building are crucial to financing any climbing gym, whether in a big centre like Edmonton or in a smaller one such as Yellowknife.
"Kids love it," Saunders said. "It would be perfect to have camps in the summer, but it's difficult. It's all volunteer-run and we have jobs."
Responsibilities for opening and running group programs are shared among about 15 volunteers, including the five board members.
Besides working unpaid, the club's board members contributed start-up money through shareholder loans which were eventually paid back.
The club finished last year with more than 50 members, and they're hoping to see membership renewals keep coming in.
Being a non-profit means the club gets a break on mandatory insurance, but it's still $2,000 a year. After insurance and rent, climbing holds are expensive and it takes a lot of variety to keep routes fresh.
Plans for the future - besides keeping the membership base high enough to keep club doors open - are to explore a partnership with the Yukon branch of the Alpine Club of Canada. Membership in the Alpine Club of Canada would mean insurance for outdoor club climbing lessons, a natural extension of the indoor program.
But exposure is what the club most needs now to keep the momentum going from last year.
"I feel like there's a lot of people in Yellowknife who aren't aware there's a gym in town," Saunders said.
The club has been building awareness through social media, hosting climbing movie nights, and by offering club membership prizes during the recent Vancouver International Mountain Film Festival.
"Our Facebook posts used to get 40 or 50 views," Saunders said. "Now we get 200 to 400."
"Even if we only get five people to come in out of 300, that would be great," Frenette added.
The club plans to host an indoor climbing competition early in May - the first public climbing competition in Yellowknife and the northernmost in Canada.
