Yesterday was the end to a really great week in Victoria, BC with The Boulders Climbing Gym.
Sebastian Powell is the gym manager at Boulders and I spent the majority of my time with him this week. He was very patient and I was able to learn so much from him and get to see many different aspects of climbing in only a week.
The first morning I learned how to put the harness on correctly, tie a figure eight knot, and use the belay devices, then that evening I was already sitting in on a lead climbing lesson. Lead climbing is where you clip yourself into the bolts on the wall with your rope as you climb up, whereas top rope climbing is when the rope is also attached to an anchor at the top of the wall and then down to your belayer. Usually, it is something that comes after you have been climbing for… well, I am not sure, but more than a week anyways.
I was able to learn a lot about the industry and all the different levels of certification through the Association of Canadian Mountain Guides (ACMG).
I helped out with the climbing teams, running warm-up and taking them through a training program at the end of practice, helped out with a kids birthday, cashed out and closed the gym, and on the last day I learned from Assistant Alpine Guide, Simon Robins, how to build anchors when outdoor climbing. Although, it was pretty cold and wet, we had fun and were able to test out our anchor making abilities with some repelling.
I really enjoyed climbing and it is a sport I will definitely be doing more of in the future!
Kimanda, the chair of the non-profit who runs Boulders was really great to us. I don’t think I have ever spent so much time in a kitchen before, nor had so much fun in one. Each night when Ian and I came home from work, we would spend a couple hours in the kitchen chatting with Kimanda – it was just that nice of a kitchen.
There is a great atmosphere at the gym and I enjoyed working with the kids. They have made the choice to be there and so are that much more motivated and have a positive attitude.
I realized this week how the climbing or in any organized sport for that matter, the activity serves as a means to bring people together, build relationships and participate in something together. Almost as if the climbing is secondary and that it is the sense of community and team that bring the kids into the gym everyday before anything else.
It reminds me of a theme that I have noticed throughout my experience. It is the people that we work with that make a positive work environment and help contribute to our overall job satisfaction. When I ask people what they like about their job, a common response I hear is the people they work with.
The week went quickly and soon it was time to say goodbye and head back to Vancouver.
I will be back in Vancouver for a few days and then it’s off to Atlanta, Georgia which will be my first One Week Job in the States.
I am pretty excited about it and it will be interesting to see how things go.
I leave for Atlanta on Wednesday and so will tell you more about what I will be doing for Week #29 on Tuesday.
Thanks again to everyone at Boulders Climbing Gym for such a great week!
-Sean