One week on the East coast, the next on the West!
After spending a few days back home in Vancouver, before I knew it, it was time to hop on the bus and ferry to Vancouver Island. Kimanda, the chair of the non-profit that runs The Boulders Climbing Gym, met us in downtown Victoria with her dog, Boo.
She had rented a car for us for the week, though because my name was not on the insurance, we had to drive her car while she drove the rental. So before we knew it, Ian and I were cruising downtown Victoria in a new convertible Mercedes Benz, top down of course – even though it wasn’t the warmest of evenings.
Kimanda is awesome and we spent the first night chatting in her kitchen about all sorts of stuff. She is a public affairs consultant, aka lobbyist, for her day job, so needless to say she had some pretty interesting stories to share.
I had my first day on the job yesterday. My forearms and shoulders are quite sore today, though I imagine it will get easier each day as hopefully my technique improves.
This week, I’m following some members of the Association of Canadian Mountain Guides (ACMG) at the Boulders Climbing Gym. The ACMG is the certifying body for climbing instructors and mountain guides in Canada, and their standards are recognized as the highest in the world.
Sebastian Powell, the manager of the Boulders Climbing Gym, is a certified Climbing Gym Instructor and my boss for the week. He is a great guy and has been very patient in leading me through the proper technique and terminology of climbing.
This week I will be helping out with coaching, setting up and taking down routes, checking in customers, supervising the kids…
There are three teams that train at the gym and are organized into groups according to their commitment level to the sport determined by how many times a week they train.
I went through the training session last night with the Granite team, which I am guessing is the main factor to why my arms are so sore today!
I will be in the gym until Friday and then on Saturday I will get to accompany Simon Robins, an Assistant Alpine Guide who runs the outdoor climbing courses for the gym, to a nearby outdoor climbing spot. Hopefully the weather co-operates though the forecast is not looking too good.
-Sean