Ground Up Climbing Centre in Squamish, BC will host their first ever SCBC sanctioned bouldering competition this weekend. With the grand opening of this new facility just last month, the team at Ground Up has joined the BC competition community quickly and their new facility will be on showcase while hosting some of the best competitors from around the province.
The competition will take place on Saturday, January 9th, 2016 with registration beginning at 8am. The Open category qualifiers will begin at 1130am and finals will take place at 7pm. Open Finals will be open to all spectators and doors will open for spectators at 640pm. We thought it a great opportunity to talk to Lauren Watson and Tyson Braun about visioning the climbing gym and now opening the doors. Here is what they had to say.
Photo courtesy of Thomas Burden ©
Thanks for taking the time to chat with us Lauren and Tyson. We are super excited for you and the Ground Up team. It has been a long build and now you are hosting your first competition. Can you tell us how the process started and some of the steps in between then and now?
Tyson: It started with Lauren and I talking about the future of the Grandwall Bouldering Co-op, and the potential for growth. Lauren came back to me a few months later with the outline of a business plan that she felt was viable. I was skeptical but gave her all the local info I had, and put her in touch with some industry contacts so she could get a better sense of the total picture. We started a good relationship and when it came time to think about wall design and construction, she was kind enough to bring me on board.
Did everything go as expected or did you have to do some juggling in the process?
Lauren: Lots of juggling, we knew there would be so I think we are well equipped to deal with it, but definitely lots of juggling.
Tyson: I think on any project of this scale there are always hiccups, but we had realistic expectations so no problem was ever too big to handle.
Looking back on that trip to Salt Lake and where you are now, how does the process feel?
Tyson: The process was positive. We maintained creative control, managed an incredibly diverse array of factors and got a finished project that came in on budget. Most importantly we are proud of our gym, and excited to climb there.
Lets get into a few details about the build. You used Vertical Solutions. How has the experience been and are you excited about the end results?
Tyson: They were a great company to work with. They put a big emphasis on aesthetics and we had a great dialog through the design. The crew of guys they sent, and the local trades we hired were all incredibly hard working and easy to be around. We owe a lot to them. Not money, everyone was paid, but ….respect?
Can you tell us a bit about the process of building the walls themselves and any modifications you have made?
Tyson: (The walls are) plywood over a welded steel frame. The benefit of custom design is that it’s flexible. We were on site daily, making small tweaks on the walls to get them right, or to fix problems we hadnt anticipated. It was a hands on project from a management standpoint.
The walls are much more overhanging than expected. What were the main ideas you had in mind when designing the climbing walls both bouldering and lead?
Tyson: Overhangs are hot fire. Our plan was to design walls that could be infinitely flexible for setters. The bouldering wall is one long transition, and covers a huge range of angles. With volumes we can build in features, but are not constrained by permanent ones. The route terrain has subtle angle changes to keep from producing redundant climbing, which a lot of gyms suffer from. We also had to balance the needs of a very strong climbing community with those of new climbers. I think we struck a good balance.
What kind of plans do you have for the training facility?
Tyson: A work in progress but (we plan for) a campus board, hang board system, training wall, more work out equipment for cross training and setting up the physio/ professional services room so we can start offering more to our members.
Are you folks using tape with holds or are you going with a colour coordinated hold system?
Lauren: Colour coded is the way to go. We bought similar sets of each colour so we aren’t limited and we can set the bouldering wall by colour and difficulty ( aka: Pink problems are easiest and the spectrum goes to white which is most difficult right now). Routes are colour coded only for distinction, not difficulty.
You will be hosting an SCBC sanctioned bouldering competition this weekend. What do you have planned for this event?
Lauren: We want to introduce Squamish to the competition climbing scene. I am sure we will get a lot of Vancouver competitors, which is great, but what I am really excited for is to see newer climbers and kids have their first exposure to what comp climbing can be. It is an aspect of the community that has yet to be explored here.
Do you think the gym will work well for both competitors and crowds?
Lauren: We are hoping to have finals downstairs, if we can find appropriate pads to host it. This will allow for great viewing. We are also licensing this event so there will be beer and wine available. It should be a good show and a good party with the after party will be downtown at the Ruddy Duck.
We’ll, here at the magazine we are very psyched for everyone involved. Thanks again for you time and best of luck in all future endevours. I know Squamish will be thanking you for your vision for years to come.
Registration for the event is currently closed. For those seeking more information, please visit Sport Climbing BC.
Special thanks to Thomas Burden for the photo and the video work!
