The last shape was hung on the stalactite today. That feature just took this gym to another level. We also climbed on the boulder for the first time tonight. Great shape, great setting, and really new holds. I lost some skin!
Friday, February 26, 2010
Construction Update #10
I'm off site this week (attending a few Olympic events in Vancouver, including yesterday's impressive gold medal victory by our women's hockey team), so this week's construction update is courtesy of our first guest blogger: Skylar Pais, crew chief of the Eldorado Climbing Walls gang.
The last shape was hung on the stalactite today. That feature just took this gym to another level. We also climbed on the boulder for the first time tonight. Great shape, great setting, and really new holds. I lost some skin!
The last shape was hung on the stalactite today. That feature just took this gym to another level. We also climbed on the boulder for the first time tonight. Great shape, great setting, and really new holds. I lost some skin!
Saturday, February 20, 2010
Construction Update #9
We're nearly done with the north half of the gym. The bouldering terrain has its two coats of paint, and will get its "speckle coat" soon. We're also done putting T nuts in there. The north tall wall with the chimney is partly painted, and partly T-nutted. Here are a few recent shots:
On the south side, the steel is almost all up, and most of the wood is in places as well. The south bouldering wall went up in just two days: the steel on Thursday, and the wood on Friday!
The change rooms are almost ready for their finishing touches. Light fixtures are up and the wiring & switches will soon be completed. The tile (both the ceramic tile in the shower area and the vinyl composite tile in the rest of the change rooms) should go down in the next few days, after which the lockers & plumbing fixtures should go in quickly.
Next week I will be in Vancouver, catching a few Olympic events. I'm going to miss the start of the stalactite, as the Eldo crew puts up the large steel columns that form its backbone, and then build the shell in two pieces on the ground before hoisting them up and welding them in place. And the freestanding boulder should arrive while I'm gone as well.
As usual, there are additional recent photos in our Picasa Construction album.
On the south side, the steel is almost all up, and most of the wood is in places as well. The south bouldering wall went up in just two days: the steel on Thursday, and the wood on Friday!
The change rooms are almost ready for their finishing touches. Light fixtures are up and the wiring & switches will soon be completed. The tile (both the ceramic tile in the shower area and the vinyl composite tile in the rest of the change rooms) should go down in the next few days, after which the lockers & plumbing fixtures should go in quickly.
Next week I will be in Vancouver, catching a few Olympic events. I'm going to miss the start of the stalactite, as the Eldo crew puts up the large steel columns that form its backbone, and then build the shell in two pieces on the ground before hoisting them up and welding them in place. And the freestanding boulder should arrive while I'm gone as well.
As usual, there are additional recent photos in our Picasa Construction album.
Wednesday, February 17, 2010
The Boulder Is On Its Way!
Holy crag this looks good! Check out the finished custom boulder that Eldorado has built for us in their shop. It's now on its way to its new home in our gym, and we have just the spot for it. I really can't wait to climb on this baby...
Friday, February 12, 2010
Construction Update #8
More great progress this week. The Eldorado crew is rocking along! This week we saw the arch completed between the lead room and the front area where the stalactite will soon start to grow. The texture was applied to the walls on the north side, and drilling out of the T-nut holes has begun. I installed the first T-nut and then attached the first hold on the wall! And the hand crack was carved by Chris Pope, who showed us his artistry. Let's just let the pictures speak for themselves:
Panoramic view of the north tall wall, with chimney, after texturing.
More photos are available as usual in our Picasa Construction album.
Chris Pope of the Eldorado crew carved this hand crack for us,
facing the entrance doors. It's intended as a 5.9 (maybe 5.9+?) climb.
First ascent was expected this weekend (as part of quality assurance
by the Eldorado construction crew, of course)
facing the entrance doors. It's intended as a 5.9 (maybe 5.9+?) climb.
First ascent was expected this weekend (as part of quality assurance
by the Eldorado construction crew, of course)
Panoramic view of the north bouldering terrain
after texturing, from a scissor lift above it.
after texturing, from a scissor lift above it.
Panoramic view of the north tall wall, with chimney, after texturing.More photos are available as usual in our Picasa Construction album.
Sunday, February 7, 2010
Updated Panorama Views
Last weekend Mark Banas returned to the gym, and shot another set of panorama images. You can view them here. And to see what the space looked like before we started, compare that to the "before" panorama.
Apart from how cool these are, what strikes me is how much progress was made in the week since Mark shot these:
Enjoy! Thanks, Mark!
Apart from how cool these are, what strikes me is how much progress was made in the week since Mark shot these:
- the drywall now covers the non-climbing areas
- the windows have opened up on the north side, over the bouldering terrain, so there is natural light in there once again
- the steel in the south side is now pretty much all covered in wood
Enjoy! Thanks, Mark!
Saturday, February 6, 2010
Construction Update #7
OK, time for a few more photos and an update on how the work is progressing.
Things are rolling along pretty well. The Eldorado crew continues to push ahead, covering just about all the steel already in place with wood and getting much of it ready for texturing. They were also starting to sculpt the cracks: a 16' high hand crack facing the entrance area, and a full-height (36') finger crack in the wall shown above. The bouldering wall is ready for texturing (the top surface is done, and the sides will get sprayed soon). The steel shapes for the lead wall have been welded together, and with the base plates now attached to the slab floor, more steel will soon be going up in the lead cave.
The non-climbing construction is also advancing well, and moving ahead towards wrapping up at the end of this month. The change rooms are really taking shape, and other work such as electrical and sprinkler systems are going in.
While the construction professionals keep all that going, the climbing professionals have been busy as well! We had a few more shipments come in this week, bringing lots of gri-gris, locking carabiners, various routesetting rigging gear (ascender, pulleys, daisy chains and etriers!), as well as about another 20 boxes of climbing holds! Next week looks like a few more hold shipments and our rope. We're having a good time checking out all the goodies, and Dustin has our holds organized and ready for setting. Can't wait until we have the first few sections of wall textured, painted and T-nutted, so the holds can start to go up!
The other thing that is starting to occupy more of our time is interviewing. We have a steady stream of candidates coming in to talk about the part time positions we have posted.
There are additional photos to peruse in our Picasa Construction album beyond the couple included in this post.
Oh, and one more thing I almost forgot! Here is the last of the renderings sent up by Jason Plumb, our wall designer at Eldorado in Boulder. This is a view from around where the reception desk will be. The stalactite will hang from the ceiling 36' up, and stop about 2 1/2 feet above the padded floor. We can't wait to see that get built!
As usual, click on the image to see it in full resolution. I've uploaded all 4 hires renderings to the Renderings album on our Picasa page.
New windows are making their way in around the high monitors.
The finger crack begins to take shape
on the roped wall opposite the lead cave.
on the roped wall opposite the lead cave.
Things are rolling along pretty well. The Eldorado crew continues to push ahead, covering just about all the steel already in place with wood and getting much of it ready for texturing. They were also starting to sculpt the cracks: a 16' high hand crack facing the entrance area, and a full-height (36') finger crack in the wall shown above. The bouldering wall is ready for texturing (the top surface is done, and the sides will get sprayed soon). The steel shapes for the lead wall have been welded together, and with the base plates now attached to the slab floor, more steel will soon be going up in the lead cave.
The non-climbing construction is also advancing well, and moving ahead towards wrapping up at the end of this month. The change rooms are really taking shape, and other work such as electrical and sprinkler systems are going in.
While the construction professionals keep all that going, the climbing professionals have been busy as well! We had a few more shipments come in this week, bringing lots of gri-gris, locking carabiners, various routesetting rigging gear (ascender, pulleys, daisy chains and etriers!), as well as about another 20 boxes of climbing holds! Next week looks like a few more hold shipments and our rope. We're having a good time checking out all the goodies, and Dustin has our holds organized and ready for setting. Can't wait until we have the first few sections of wall textured, painted and T-nutted, so the holds can start to go up!
The other thing that is starting to occupy more of our time is interviewing. We have a steady stream of candidates coming in to talk about the part time positions we have posted.
There are additional photos to peruse in our Picasa Construction album beyond the couple included in this post.
Oh, and one more thing I almost forgot! Here is the last of the renderings sent up by Jason Plumb, our wall designer at Eldorado in Boulder. This is a view from around where the reception desk will be. The stalactite will hang from the ceiling 36' up, and stop about 2 1/2 feet above the padded floor. We can't wait to see that get built!
As usual, click on the image to see it in full resolution. I've uploaded all 4 hires renderings to the Renderings album on our Picasa page.
The New TCA is Looking Good!
I stopped by Toronto Climbing Academy's new location earlier today. They had a good crowd out for their grand opening, and the place is looking really nice. I did a few climbs (good routes), and saw a lot of the usual TCA community there.
I was especially pleased to see they have a large seamless padding system around their huge top-out boulder, and that just about all their walls have lead anchors installed. These are two things in common with our new gym, so obviously I agree with both those decisions!
Congrats to Chris, Sacha and Ana on the beautiful new facility. I'm looking forward to working with them to keep growing the climbing community in Toronto.
I was especially pleased to see they have a large seamless padding system around their huge top-out boulder, and that just about all their walls have lead anchors installed. These are two things in common with our new gym, so obviously I agree with both those decisions!
Congrats to Chris, Sacha and Ana on the beautiful new facility. I'm looking forward to working with them to keep growing the climbing community in Toronto.
Not Quite Ready for Visitors!
Just a quick note to remind everyone that for the time being, the gym is still an active construction site, full of busy workers and hazards. We wear hard hats and safety shoes at all times while in the space, and we have a few extra hard hats for the occasional visitor who has a reason to come by.
In addition, things are getting busy. The Eldorado crew is pushing hard to make sure the climbing terrain is done on time (and they are on track). The general contractor has a variety of trades working on the electrical, plumbing, sprinklers, drywall and other aspects of the facility. And the landlord has a crew completing the replacement of the clerestory windows. It's a hectic place! The True North Climbing staff are also fully occupied now, taking inventory of all the shipments that are arriving (holds, gri-gris, harnesses, rope, etc.), and interviewing candidates for the part-time positions that are currently open. Pretty soon we'll also have some construction work of our own, putting together the training area and the hold room.
So for reasons of safety and keeping our work on track, we are not really able to handle visitors
without advanced planning. Accordingly we must ask that people not drop by unannounced. We know that some of you are nearly as excited as we are about the new gym, and we are eager to share what we are up to. But please wait another few weeks until the construction wraps up, when we will be in a state where it's safe to show you around, and will have the bandwidth to do so. Thanks for your understanding & patience!
In addition, things are getting busy. The Eldorado crew is pushing hard to make sure the climbing terrain is done on time (and they are on track). The general contractor has a variety of trades working on the electrical, plumbing, sprinklers, drywall and other aspects of the facility. And the landlord has a crew completing the replacement of the clerestory windows. It's a hectic place! The True North Climbing staff are also fully occupied now, taking inventory of all the shipments that are arriving (holds, gri-gris, harnesses, rope, etc.), and interviewing candidates for the part-time positions that are currently open. Pretty soon we'll also have some construction work of our own, putting together the training area and the hold room.
So for reasons of safety and keeping our work on track, we are not really able to handle visitors
without advanced planning. Accordingly we must ask that people not drop by unannounced. We know that some of you are nearly as excited as we are about the new gym, and we are eager to share what we are up to. But please wait another few weeks until the construction wraps up, when we will be in a state where it's safe to show you around, and will have the bandwidth to do so. Thanks for your understanding & patience!
Monday, February 1, 2010
Construction Update #6
Here's a quick update and a few more recent photos. Things continue to move ahead well.
This isn't a terribly exciting photo,
but what it represents is pretty exciting.
The letter Ls painted on the floor mark where lead lines
will be placed on the climbing terrain.
Eldorado is installing metal plates
to which bolt hangers will be mounted,
spaced a few feet apart along the metal structure
above each of these points.
Dustin was pretty stoked to be able to specify
where we want each of our lead lines,
and our gym will have a lot more leadable terrain
than most gyms
(just about every wall, except for the slab section).
The lockers have arrived.
There will be 52 lockers (half height)
in each of the men's and women's change rooms.
There will be 52 lockers (half height)
in each of the men's and women's change rooms.
The Eldorado crew surprised me with this nice bonus:
a solid ladder behind the walls, to provide safe and comfortable access
to the two tiers of scaffolding behind the walls.
a solid ladder behind the walls, to provide safe and comfortable access
to the two tiers of scaffolding behind the walls.
This isn't a terribly exciting photo,but what it represents is pretty exciting.
The letter Ls painted on the floor mark where lead lines
will be placed on the climbing terrain.
Eldorado is installing metal plates
to which bolt hangers will be mounted,
spaced a few feet apart along the metal structure
above each of these points.
Dustin was pretty stoked to be able to specify
where we want each of our lead lines,
and our gym will have a lot more leadable terrain
than most gyms
(just about every wall, except for the slab section).
These photos are from late last week. We saw really dramatic changes in one day today:
- lots of drywall got installed around the change room areas
- lots more wood sheeting got nailed up on the climbing structure in the south half of the gym. Seeing the wood covering the steel makes the forms stand out more clearly, and suddenly makes it feel more like a climbing wall!
- the window replacement reached the north half of the gym for the first time, so there was natural light pouring in above the bouldering terrain for the first time in weeks!
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