Kaleb in his usual stance during Western Regionals at Climb Base 5. Photo by Shane Murdoch

Although Kaleb Thomas has been a part of the BC climbing scene for a number of years, he is just now establishing his name in the Lower Mainland as a route-setter with style. Climbing for the past 10 years, Kaleb has always been drawn to route-setting. He began working at Wallnuts Climbing Centre In St. John’s Newfoundland and has now found a home at Climb Base 5, in Coquitlam, BC. Squamish Climbing Magazine had the chance to talk to Kaleb and here is what he had to say.

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Maria Celkova competing at The Hive in 2013. Photo courtesy of Maria Celkova ©

This weekend, local climber Maria Celkova will be competing at the Canadian Open National Bouldering Competition this weekend taking place in Montreal. For the past few years, Maria has taken a continued interest in competing locally and she has placed very well in a number of competitions. Last year, she found herself competing in the Word Cup circuit for the Slovak Team and this year she will be going back for more. Squamish Climbing Magazine thought it would be good to check in with Maria as she heads to Montreal this morning.

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Elan Jonas-McRae on Lucid Dreaming (v15). Photo courtesy of Matt Haig ©

For every climbing community, there is one or two very strong climbers that tend to stay just outside the limelight. They are often not as outspoken as others and are always dedicated to their craft. For Vancouver Island, Elan Jonas-McRae is one of these climbers. Having one of the best years of his climbing career thus far, Elan is ready for anything. Some of his highlights include Force of Nature (v13/14) in Moe’s Valley, Utah, Direct North (v14), The Swarm (v14), both in Bishop, CA, and The Reckoning (v14) in Squamish, BC. He also finished the 2014 IFSC Lead World Cup season in 16th place. Needless to say, Elan has started to find his own way and he is just getting started. Squamish Magazine thought it would be a good idea to get to know Elan and here what he had to say.

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Isamer Bilog climbing high above the Pacific Coastline on ‘Piledriver’ (5.12b) at Boney Bluff. Photo courtesy of Damon Corso ©

Years ago I didn’t know where to go for spring break so I joined my friend Pat Nosil on a research expedition in the Los Angeles Basin. At the time, Pat was studying stick bugs out of his van and knew all the best spots for climbing and picking bugs. As we drove across Los Angeles, it soon became apparent that deep in the hills outside of the city’s reach, there were a number of great climbing areas. These areas have remained lost for years, only known to those who have gone out of their way to find them. Without a guidebook, these areas have gone under the radar, until now.

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This weekend, Joe Rockhead’s Climbing Gym will host part four of The Open Boulder National Series, an event sanctioned by Climbing Escalade Canada. With the distance between events in Canada, it is often the case that those athletes from Western Canada are not able to attend events in the east due to time and money constraints. This weekend, however, we were lucky enough to track down Kelly Drager of the Calgary Climbing Centre who flew to Toronto yesterday.

Kelly has long been an active member of the Calgary climbing scene and has been a competitor numerous times at climbing events held in the lower mainland. She also works as a Sports Dietician at the Canadian Sport Institute Calgary. Here is what Kelly had to say about the event this weekend and the climbing scene in Calgary.

Kelly Drager at the Tour De Bloc. Photo Courtesy of Kelly Drager ©

Hi Kelly, how is it going? Getting reading to travel to Toronto?

Great! Yes…definitely looking forward to supporting Joe Rockhead’s National Series event.

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