Climb Base5, a climbing facility in Coquitlam, BC, is currently in the process of upgrading the bouldering space at their facility. The upgrade will include an expansion of their current bouldering area and the design will take into consideration competition use. For those who don’t know the gym’s history, Climb Base5 was formerly known as Cliffhanger Coquitlam and since branching off from the Cliffhanger name brand they have made a ton of improvements to their facility, including a commitment to great setting and prioritizing the needs of climbers through adult teams and consultation with their members. Climb Base5 has always featured fantastic lead climbing and now they are making the move on their bouldering area. We thought it best to check in the Dan Poggi, the owner of Climb Base5, to see what is going on.
Here is what he had to say.
The current bouldering wall @ Climb Base5 during the 2014 November Sessions. Photo courtesy of Climb Base5 ©
Hi Dan, thanks for taking the time to chat with us. How are things going?
Things are great. We are so excited about the fall winter season. There are so many ways we have planned to connect with our amazing community and communities bouldering.
Yes! We heard that Climb Base 5 is building a new bouldering wall. Can you tell us a bit about the build?
In this case we thought we’d partner with the premier climbing wall manufacturer worldwide, Walltopia Walltopia was flexible with the design process which facilitated the design and our staff, including Kaleb Thomas, Andrew Wilson and Colby Appleby, worked together to create a showcase competition style wall. The new bouldering architecture will add new angles that we don’t already have. It’s going to be a great addition to our existing bouldering.
What prompted the decision to increase the bouldering space in the gym?
Quite frankly, we didn’t have enough bouldering. I really love the idea of all types of terrain under one roof. This will give our community extensive access to lead climbing, top roping and now bouldering.
Why go with Walltopia and what do they have to offer?
The design and build process that Walltopia offers is very fast. It’s amazing how much you can do on a program like sketch-up. Unlike the original build, we were able to see the finished product in our space. It also gave us insight on how the addition was going to integrate with the existing wall. This process was important for us especially because we are creating an addition. Additions are problematic because they were never intended to be there in the first place. It makes it much more challenging to have everything work together. When they arrive the build itself will take a very short period of time. This will be crucial to prevent closures, reduce impact on operations and most importantly reduce impact on our clientele.
Is it true that the wall is being pre-fabricated and then brought in for the build?
You are correct. It’s packed in a container and put on a ship. It’s really exciting to think it will be here any day.
I understand the wall will be going where the campus board and change rooms are? Will the gym add these items in a different area?
The bouldering wall will be installed in that general area. It’s going to fill in the area where everyone would point to and say, “you need to add more walls here”.
As part of our process, we created a survey to see what our most valued customers, our members, thought about our facility. They provided us will invaluable information that enables us to prioritize different aspects of our facilities. With this information and with the guidance of our design team from Bjornson Architect we are confident that we will create a space that has everything we previously had and more. We are confident we will create a playful space that captures the relaxed and social nature of climbers and the extended community we service.
Can you tell us a bit about the walls that are being added?
The bouldering wall is inspired by competitive climbing walls used at National and International events. There are three distinct planes to climb. They each have a distinct personality yet they can all flow into each other. The architecture will provide the route setting team with a great deal of creative possibilities not to mention the new holds in transit.
Well, we are excited about the new wall and can’t wait to give it a try. Thanks Dan!
Stay tuned to Squamish Climbing Magazine as plans unfold. Climb Base5 will go through a second feedback session from climbers and we will make sure the information is out there when that happens.
