The Boulders Climbing Gym, connected to Stelly's Secondary, has come along way since its second expansion in 2005. Today the not-for-profit society plans on becoming Canada's first ever world class climbing facility.
Almost 15 years ago Peter Mason, a now retired math and outdoor education teacher, made his dream become his reality.
Mason said he "wanted to provide something new for the students that would be a healthy alternate to what many city students would normally do on the weekend ... [he] introduced climbing to let kids experience a better kind of 'high'."
For over a decade the Boulders Climbing Gym existed as a small narrow room with just 24 feet of climbing surface on one side only. At the time it was known as the Stelly's Climbing Wall and was very popular with students from all over greater Victoria. Demand eventually allowed Mason to open the gym on the weekend to host birthday parties.
"It was, and still is, a way of paying back," Mason said, "The only reason it's here is because the community has donated to it."
Through word of mouth the gym quickly became a popular spot. And after 11 years of fundraising and planning, nearly one million dollars was raised towards phase II. In October 2005 the Stelly's Climbing Wall became the Boulders Climbing Gym and quadrupled in size.
Currently the Boulders has four youth teams, one womens team and one adults team. Seven youth team members have competed nationally and two have competed internationally. Kimanda Jarzebiak, director of operations and chair of the board, said that the gym does not offer the proper terrain for such elite climbers to train on.
Not only does the Boulders Climbing Gym restrict it's elite climbers training opportunities, but also the general publics ability to use the gym.
"Certain nights of the week the gym is excessively crowded," said Boulders employee, Samantha Todd, "and with our current growth rate we fear that eventually we'll have to turn people away because the gym would be too full."
The gym offers a variety of booking options from birthday parties to lessons and to a wide variety of courses. With the current size of the gym, only one booking can be made at a time which drastically restricts when people can use the facility.
"Phase II has been open for only four years," said Jarzebiak, "and as the gym did in phase I, it is again reaching capacity."
The height of the current climbing wall is approximately 24 feet. After the prospected expansion of phase III the new section of the gym will reach as high as 70 feet with 50 feet of top rope terrain and 60 feet of lead terrain. The expansion will follow European standards of become a world class facility as North America does not have engineering standards for climbing walls.
As the gym is a not-for-profit society, paying for the expansion will not be an easy task. The Boulders has consulted the provincial and federal governments as well as municipal governments for grants. Now the board must wait to see how feasible the project will be. Over 2.3 million dollars will need to be raised.
With the expansion the Boulders would be able to meet local, national and international needs. The Boulders hopes to one day train Canada's national team and host international competitions.
The Boulders assures that phase III would not be restricted to elite climbers only. The gym was built for the benefit of the local community and intends on staying that way. Though that does not mean it cannot expand to a whole new level of climbing that Canada has never seen before.
Along side phase III benefiting the climbing community, a studio space will be built that Stelly's would use for yoga and other needs. During the Boulders' public hours the studio would be available to climbers as well. In addition, there will be two washrooms for the use of people on Stelly's fields which are used on weekends for soccer and lacrosse games.
"We are more than just excited," said Jarzebiak, "imagine what this would do for not only Saanichton or Victoria, but for BC, for Canada."
Almost 15 years ago Peter Mason, a now retired math and outdoor education teacher, made his dream become his reality.
Mason said he "wanted to provide something new for the students that would be a healthy alternate to what many city students would normally do on the weekend ... [he] introduced climbing to let kids experience a better kind of 'high'."
For over a decade the Boulders Climbing Gym existed as a small narrow room with just 24 feet of climbing surface on one side only. At the time it was known as the Stelly's Climbing Wall and was very popular with students from all over greater Victoria. Demand eventually allowed Mason to open the gym on the weekend to host birthday parties.
"It was, and still is, a way of paying back," Mason said, "The only reason it's here is because the community has donated to it."
Through word of mouth the gym quickly became a popular spot. And after 11 years of fundraising and planning, nearly one million dollars was raised towards phase II. In October 2005 the Stelly's Climbing Wall became the Boulders Climbing Gym and quadrupled in size.
Currently the Boulders has four youth teams, one womens team and one adults team. Seven youth team members have competed nationally and two have competed internationally. Kimanda Jarzebiak, director of operations and chair of the board, said that the gym does not offer the proper terrain for such elite climbers to train on.
Not only does the Boulders Climbing Gym restrict it's elite climbers training opportunities, but also the general publics ability to use the gym.
"Certain nights of the week the gym is excessively crowded," said Boulders employee, Samantha Todd, "and with our current growth rate we fear that eventually we'll have to turn people away because the gym would be too full."
The gym offers a variety of booking options from birthday parties to lessons and to a wide variety of courses. With the current size of the gym, only one booking can be made at a time which drastically restricts when people can use the facility.
"Phase II has been open for only four years," said Jarzebiak, "and as the gym did in phase I, it is again reaching capacity."
The height of the current climbing wall is approximately 24 feet. After the prospected expansion of phase III the new section of the gym will reach as high as 70 feet with 50 feet of top rope terrain and 60 feet of lead terrain. The expansion will follow European standards of become a world class facility as North America does not have engineering standards for climbing walls.
As the gym is a not-for-profit society, paying for the expansion will not be an easy task. The Boulders has consulted the provincial and federal governments as well as municipal governments for grants. Now the board must wait to see how feasible the project will be. Over 2.3 million dollars will need to be raised.
With the expansion the Boulders would be able to meet local, national and international needs. The Boulders hopes to one day train Canada's national team and host international competitions.
The Boulders assures that phase III would not be restricted to elite climbers only. The gym was built for the benefit of the local community and intends on staying that way. Though that does not mean it cannot expand to a whole new level of climbing that Canada has never seen before.
Along side phase III benefiting the climbing community, a studio space will be built that Stelly's would use for yoga and other needs. During the Boulders' public hours the studio would be available to climbers as well. In addition, there will be two washrooms for the use of people on Stelly's fields which are used on weekends for soccer and lacrosse games.
"We are more than just excited," said Jarzebiak, "imagine what this would do for not only Saanichton or Victoria, but for BC, for Canada."
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