Construction Update #3

Not quite as busy this week, with Eldorado off for a holiday break. But here's a stitched-together view of the frame for the north bouldering wall.


Some electrical work has been done, and the ventilation ducts continue to snake their way around the ceiling. The other work of note is the steel frame going up to support the floor of the men's locker room.


Next week: Eldorado's back and their crew should grow to 10 workers. Work continues on the locker room structure, HVAC and electrical/lighting. And our staff arrive to start their new jobs, so we will be very busy planning the operations side of the business.

Rendering #2: The North Tall Wall

Here's another image of what the finished walls will look like, to get you through the holiday season. This wall is opposite the bouldering wall, and rises to the low ceiling, about 25' high. It's slabby at the right end, and has a chimney tucked in behind the truss at centre. As usual you can click on the image to see it in more detail.

The True North Climbing Team

The initial recruiting effort is now complete, and we are excited to announce our senior staff for the gym.

Our Gym Manager will be Clint Searle. Clint brings years of experience as a climbing gym manager, along with a great attitude and maturity gained from also working in the "real world".

Our Head Instructor/Head Routesetter will be Dustin Curtis. Dustin is a member of the Canadian National Climbing Team, and very familiar to those who enjoy watching the finals at Tour de Bloc comps. He brings a wealth of experience from working in various capacities at 4 climbing gyms over the past 10 years, and an unmatched passion and energy for our industry.

You can read a little more about our senior staff here.

Together Clint and Dustin will provide the knowledge, experience and spirit needed to make True North Climbing an excellent and professionally-run facility. They will both start their new jobs in the new year. I am thrilled to have them both on the team!

John Gross
Owner, True North Climbing Inc.

Wondering What Our New Gym Will Look Like Inside?

OK, the renderings are now starting to come in from our wall designer Jason at Eldorado, so we can start sharing peeks at what things are going to look like. We have been ready to start sharing this info since the landlord granted approval for us to build what we have in mind (in particular the "special feature"). I wanted to wait until we had some good quality renderings though, rather then posting screen grabs from Google Sketchup. I expect to post these gradually as they come in over the next few days, exposing the gym one section at a time.

Up first: the North Bouldering area. This is all top-out bouldering terrain, running about 70 feet along the north wall of the space, turning at the north-east corner, and running down the east wall about 40 feet. At the far left end of this terrain the top deck is about 5 feet off the ground. It rises to about 9 feet where the kid who looks like a cub scout is standing, and then to 12 feet a little farther along. The wall rises above the deck in the advanced area, reaching 14 feet where the kid is hanging by one arm above the spotter. There will be a grip rail all along the top edge, to try to help avoid having the top-outs be the crux of the problem. There will be two down-climbs for this area, one at the far left end, and one at the far right end (near the woman with the ponytail). You can click on the image below to see a larger version.


This section represents most, but not all of the bouldering in the gym. There will be another section near the reception desk that will be 11 feet high (not top-out), running about 30 feet in length. And there will be a small free-standing boulder intended as easy bouldering for kids and beginners (and warm-ups for more advanced climbers).

Enjoy the view. More to come in the days ahead!

Construction Update #2

It has been a good week. The Eldorado crew is now on site, and they have gotten down to work quickly, organizing their equipment, coordinating with our general contractor, and starting to assemble the many steel "shapes" that will be assembled together to create the climbing terrain. I've posted a few new photos to the Picasa Building album. The initial crew of 3 from Boulder is being supplemented by local workers that they have already hired, so the crew should be twice that size by Monday! And all of the Eldorado guys (as well as at least some of the local crew) are climbers; they joined the gang I climb with Wednesday night at Toronto Climbing Academy.

On the general contracting side, the plumbing rough-ins are complete and concrete has been poured to restore the floor. HVAC work continues after a few bumps along the way. It is tricky figuring out how to place ventilation ducts and lighting between the climbing walls in a way that preserves safe clearance and also results in effective lighting, heating and cooling in the space.

Supporting the Ontario Access Coalition

There is an excellent interview with Adam Reeve of the Ontario Access Coalition now posted at the Ontario Climbing site: http://www.ontarioclimbing.com/News/News.html. It's a very clear explanation of what the OAC does, and why it's important for climbers to support their work. Give it a read, and think about joining the OAC. You can do so (and learn more about their work) at http://www.ontarioaccesscoalition.com/. You can also sign up at one of the Tour de Bloc comps, where the OAC is running membership drives, with prizes given out and raffled off to new members and current members who make a small donation. True North Climbing is a pround supporter of the Ontario Access Coalition.

Youth Comp at Climber's Rock

Yesterday's Elevation Under-20 Youth comp at Climber's Rock was a blast. I spent the morning as a volunteer belayer, wanting to help out and also learn about how these comps work. I had only been at bouldering comps before, so it was great to learn about both how a roped comp works, and to see the kids climb. I had a lot of fun, and am looking forward to having these running in our gym next year.

There were 7 routes to climb in a flash format (which means each competitor only got one chance to climb each route). The score was based on the top 3 climbs, with points awarded for progress from hold to hold on each climb. There were 50 climbers, ranging from the Under-11 (and some were well under 11!) to the 18/19 year olds.

I was belaying on climb D, right in the middle of the range of difficulty. As the comp got started, our climb saw some of the stronger climbers, for whom that climb was a warm-up. Later on we got the kids moving over after doing some of the easier climbs, and at the end we had some of the younger kids giving it a try. The older kids were leading, while the younger ones were on top rope, so they kept me pretty busy switching back & forth between the ropes & belay devices between climbers! It was intense! I felt a little pressure when belaying the lead climbers, because I wanted to make sure I fed slack quickly at every clip so as not to impede the progress of a climber and cause a technical to be called (and a few of them went up really quickly!). I think I did OK. There were lots of falls of course, which is different from my usual lead climbing sessions; two of them were pretty exciting, but no one got hurt at all.

I was very impressed by the calibre of the climbers, and by the spirit of the group. The parents were all well-behaved as well! There were large showings from Climber's Rock and Boulderz (snazzy shirts, Andrew!), and climbers from several other gyms, including at least one who came from Quebec for the comp. James and Maria Richardson did a great job hosting the event, Aaron Eden did a fine job as Head Routesetter, and Tim Vince and Jeff Whattam ran a tight ship as head judges.

We will definitely be joining the party by hosting youth comps once our gym is up and running. Seeing the excitement and talent of all those kids, from the tiny ones to the nearly grown-ups, was really inspiring and fun.

Construction Update #1

Work is underway at last! Here is what is going on so far:

• The slab floor has been cut for the plumbing. Guys are digging and pipes are being installed:
• The HVAC work is in progress, with ducts going up:
• The stairway to the upstairs offices has been rotated into its new position. This had to happen to get it out of the way of the entrance doors, which have now been installed. As of today, for the first time we have an enclosed space with doors that can be locked!
• The landlord has started replacing the clerestory windows. The first step in this process is removing the old windows and replacing them with gorgeous plywood sheeting. This does a good job of (temporarily) blocking the natural light. Even better, we have no lighting in the space right now, since the old lights have been taken down and our nice new ones have not yet been installed. We have work lighting to get us through this dark period.
• Eldorado's first truck arrived today and got unloaded. Here we see lots of bags of cement (for the wall texture), and the frames for the wall access doors (to get in behind the wall in a few places) on top. The initial Eldorado crew arrives on Monday to start putting stuff together!

Happy 15th Anniversary, Guelph Grotto!

The Guelph Grotto is celebrating its 15th anniversary, and we at True North Climbing just want to say congratulations! I've climbed at the Grotto a few times, including a Tour de Bloc event. It's a really good gym, with good bouldering, good routes, and a friendly vibe. If you're not busy this Saturday, check out their anniversary events!

Happy Anniversary!

Let's Get This Party Started!

After a lengthy and rigorous process to ensure that what we plan to build meets the appropriate building and safety codes, and satisfies each of 3 structural engineers (representing Eldorado Climbing Walls, our architect and our landlord), we now have approval to proceed with construction! We're now mobilizing both Eldorado's crew to build the climbing terrain, and the general contractor's trades to build all the other parts of the facility (change rooms, reception area, electrical, lighting, HVAC and plumbing support). So after almost 7 months of planning, designing, negotiating and badgering, we have reached the real start of the project. While things have slipped a bunch from the schedule we had in mind, I am optimistic that we can still find ways to make up the time and open the gym in early March as intended.

We'll see about getting some pictures of what we have planned posted in the coming days. Stay tuned; we have some very cool and unique stuff in store for you!

Safety: The Flooring

As a gravity-defying sport, indoor climbing brings some inherent risk along with it. It's our responsibility to minimize that risk, and there are many ways we are doing that. Today I'm going to talk about one of the important parts of that strategy: the flooring.

I've been thinking about what to do about floor padding since I started researching this project early this year. The padding makes up a surprisingly large part of the overall investment in the gym, and I wanted to make sure I got it right. For the areas under and around the roped climbs, the answer was pretty obvious. The nearly-ubiquitous carpet bonded foam on top of softer foam, with a total depth of about 6 inches, seems like the right approach. It provides a surface solid enough to walk on (and from an employee point of view, to set up ladders for routesetting), but soft enough to cushion a low fall from a bouldering traverse or a landing from descent on a rope.

The more difficult question is what to do in the bouldering areas. Many gyms put the carpet bonded foam throughout their facility, and then arrange portable bouldering mats in the bouldering areas. Boulderers are then responsible for positioning these drag mats appropriately under the areas where they expect they may fall. So there's an issue when they fail to do that. As I looked into this more, I came to believe that there are other injury issues tied to the use of portable drag mats. Landing on an edge, or between pads, can lead to twisted ankles, knee injuries, and arm/shoulder injuries if a climber loses their balance and tips over onto their hands when falling. Some drag mats are better than others (e.g. those with beveled edges), but the more I thought about this and discussed it with others in the climbing business, the more I wanted to find a seamless padding solution for my gym. I saw some of these in the gyms I visited during my reconnaissance tour in northern California in June.

I've spent the past 4 months (!) in discussions with 5 vendors of floor padding to explore my options. In the process I have learned more than I expected about foam density and compression measurements. I have finally settled on a seamless custom padding solution from Asana climbing. You can read about their custom padding system for gyms at their web site. I've talked to some of their customers, and am convinced that they'll put together a great system that will provide excellent protection, be custom-fitted to the shapes of my walls, install easily, and be reasonable to maintain. Oh, it should look great too!

Most of the gym, including some of the low bouldering walls (up to 9 feet high) will have the standard 6 inches of the carpet bonded foam system. The advanced bouldering area, with climbing terrain reaching 14 feet high, will have the custom padding system with 12 inches of padding. This will include an inch of closed-cell foam on top of softer open-cell foam. The denser top layer provides a stable walking surface, and distributes the force of a fall across a larger area, while the softer foam underneath provides the cushioning. I believe 12" is more than we really need for safety. I've gone thicker in part because some climbers may be a little unnerved by the lack of the drag mats under them (even if they know rationally that those mats contribute to injury). I expect the obvious depth of these pads to provide emotional comfort, as well as physical comfort!

There are a couple areas of the gym with mid-height bouldering (around 11 feet high) where the 12 inch system isn't needed but I wanted a little more than the 6 inch carpet bonded foam, so we'll add an extra two inches of open cell foam under the carpet to provide a bit more protection there. This will make more sense soon, when we start posting pictures of what the climbing terrain will look like!

There is a lot more than floor padding to keeping people as safe as possible in the gym. We'll have more to say as time goes on about the other things we're doing in other areas, including:

• the design of the climbing terrain
• the structural engineering analysis to ensure the structures are sound
• the training of both our staff and customers to make sure everyone is well-informed about the potential risks and how to manage them

We take safety very seriously, and we want to make sure everyone understands what we're doing about it.

Making New Friends

I received a nice invitation last night, to attend the championship of the Toronto Roller Derby on Saturday evening. TORD is one of my coolest neighbours in the Downsview Park Sports Centre. I attended one of their bouts (yes, bouts!) earlier this season with my son, and we had a great time. The women have cute (and not entirely family-friendly) nicknames, but the action is serious and rough.

This will be the start of what I hope is a great partnership between Toronto Roller Derby and True North Climbing, as we help promote and support each other's business. If you haven't yet had an opportunity to come check out the Downsview Park Sports Centre, this is a good reason to do so. The event is expected to sell out, so get your tickets now! Now I just need to decide whether I'm cheering for the Gore-Gore Rollergirls or the underdog Smoke City Betties!

A Few New Photos

The start of our construction in the gym is still pending the landlord's approval; structural engineers are working hard to show that what we will be building will be safe and sound. Hopefully that won't take much longer, and the crews can get to work shortly.

In the meantime, I've posted a few shots of the freshly-painted space, to show how a coat of white paint brightens the joint up. Check out the most recent 4 images in The Building folder in our Picasa web albums. Here's one of them to give you an idea:


It's also time to launch a new tradition: True North Climbing Around the World. A little while ago I raffled off a True North Climbing T shirt to encourage more people to register for our online forums. The winner was Max Nanao, who happens to live in Grenoble France. He now has his shirt, and what do you suppose he decided to do with it? He went climbing!:


There are now more than 50 True North Climbing T shirts in circulation. Those of you who have one are encouraged to take it with you on your travels. Get a shot of you wearing it and send it in, and we'll add you to the gallery.

And of course, those of you who don't yet have a shirt can still get one for 20 bucks including taxes. Send me an email and we'll figure out the best way to get it to you. Hey, this is our only source of revenue right now!

True North Climbing to Host Pan Am Games Events in 2015!

As part of Toronto's winning bid for the 2015 Pan-Am Games, True North Climbing is excited to have been chosen as the host of the following climbing events:

• Men's Bouldering
• Women's Bouldering
• Men's Speed Climbing
• Women's Speed Climbing
• Women's Synchronized Dynos

These events will take place over 10 days of competition in late July 2015. Construction will take place in 2014 to raise the roof of the building to enable the climbing structures to meet the Pan Am standard of 30m of climbing height. Our youth climbing programme will be tailored to help develop young athletes and prepare them for these games. Climbers from across Canada are expected to train at True North Climbing during the year leading up to the events.

Prime Minister Stephen Harper remarked: "While the CSIS will not allow me to comment on specifics, I have seen the plans for True North Climbing's new facility, and they are truly impressive".

[Hey, I can dream, can't I?]

Certification

This past weekend I completed my certification as a Climbing Gym Instructor (Level 1) by the Association of Canadian Mountain Guides (ACMG). I wrote earlier about my thoughts on establishing high standards at the new gym, and this is a key part of that. I want to share my experience going through the certification, and some of what I learned from it.

I headed into this because I want to be able to teach introductory top rope lessons at the gym, and if I'm going to ask my instructors to pursue certification, I should set an example by doing so myself. But I did not really have a full understanding of what it took to go through this course, and what I was putting myself through.

I started in August by getting my first aid training done (needed for other reasons as well), and learning to lead climb. Although I had been climbing since 2004, I had put off learning to lead climb because I didn't feel I was ready, based on my technical proficiency (top roping 5.9s and some 5.10- climbs in the gym). That was a mistake, because learning to lead climb has helped improve my climbing, and being able to do 5.9s well was enough to get started on lead. I wish I had done it earlier.

Part of the assessment for the CGI level 1 certification is based on demonstrating your climbing ability, both on lead (at the 5.9 level) and top rope (at 5.10a, and while speaking during the climb, to demonstrate to a group of students how easy a 5.10a, and how you approach each move). I was intimidated by this requirement, and focused a lot of my preparation in the weeks before the course on being ready for those climbs. Since the course was hosted by Rock Oasis, I started spending time there, climbing once or twice a week in the past month (in addition to my weekly sessions at TCA), to get used to the walls and routes there, and acclimatize myself to climbing where I was going to be assessed. Initially I found the ratings significantly tougher at Oasis than at TCA (where I am a member and have done most of my climbing over the past 5 years). Now I just feel it's different, with a lot more smearing required to compensate for "missing" footholds. The style of setting is going to vary from gym to gym (and from setter to setter), and it helped a lot to get some good experience with how Rock Oasis sets their routes. By the time my assessment came around Saturday evening, I was comfortable climbing on those routes, and did better than I had expected. I had one fall on the top rope route, but got good scores overall, and was really happy with how it went. That was by far the most stressful part of the course for me (and for several of the other candidates as well).

The bulk of the scores for the certification comes from assessment of each candidate's instruction, based on 3 lessons that are presented in a team teaching format. Two of the sessions are introductory Top Rope lessons, one using a belay tube, one with a gri-gri, and the team members shuffle roles so each gets a chance to present two of the topics of the course. The topics cover putting on the harness, tying in with a figure 8 follow-through knot, safety checks and communication, setting up the belay device and the belaying hand sequences for taking in slack while the climber ascends and then lowering the climber safely. The other instruction session covered a range of basic movement techniques, with each candidate presenting one topic from a selection including weight transfers, balance and footwork techniques.

As part of the pre-requisites for the course, I had observed a total of 10 intro lessons at two of the local gyms, so I was very familiar with how these are typically presented. What I learned over the weekend is that there is a pretty big difference between the local standard and the ACMG standard (more on this below), and there is a big difference between observing an experienced instructor and understanding the material, and being able to teach it yourself to a group of 4-6 students. While I passed this part of the course, and did very well at some sections of it, I also struggled a bit in places, and learned that I will need to practice and improve before I can consider myself to be an excellent instructor. Most of the other candidates at the course have been doing this for some time, so I was playing catchup, giving my first real top rope lesson on Saturday during the first assessment!

Another section of the course was on rigging for routesetting. I learned how to rig a top rope for self-belay using an ascender, and the importance of setting up a backup system so that in case of emergency a self-belayed routesetter can be lowered by someone on the ground. This stuff was brand new to me and intimidating at first, but despite all the gear involved (jumar, two gri-gris, daisy chain, étrier/aider, mutiple carabiners, locking and not, two ropes, extra knots, ...) it all made sense together and it was really fun to learn how to do it and then try it out. This may come in handy when I need to change light bulbs up high!

I mentioned earlier that there are differences between the ACMG standards and local standards. This is not necessarily a bad thing. Some examples include:

• which belay devices are used for both top rope and lead climbing
• the hand sequences used to belay, for both kinds of climbing
• the extent to which a perfect figure-8 follow through knot must be tied, including dressing of the knot
  
• whether or not to teach new climbers to tie the initial figure 8 knot in the climber's rope

Some of these differences made it more challenging to prepare for the course and satisfy the ACMG standard. I'll be having discussions with my Head Instructor (once hired) to figure out the policies that are appropriate for my business. There are some trade-offs between climber freedom, ensuring safety as well as we can, teaching new climbers without overloading them at the start, and operating the business efficiently (how long should an introductory lesson last?). That said, I appreciated learning and understanding the ACMG standards for each of these things, and the reasons behind them.

The weekend was a very intense and exhausting experience. I spent about 30 hours at Rock Oasis from Friday evening through Sunday evening, and got little sleep in between sessions. It was very stressful preparing for the course, and going through the assessments, sometime on topics I had just learned myself. And at the end I was feeling quite a strange mix of emotions, including the thrill of passing a very challenging course (including passing each of the sections within it), and some disappointment that I did not perform as well as I had expected on the last instructional part, and that I will need more practice to get where I want to be.

Perhaps the best part of the course is the people I met in the process. This starts with the instructors (2 full instructors and two Level 3 candidates who assisted) led by Cort McElroy who is an amazing instructor, and who provided valuable support helping me prepare in the weeks leading up to this weekend. The staff at Rock Oasis and TCA were also great, welcoming me as I observed them teaching during several intro classes. I'm very grateful to Karen McGilvray (owner of Rock Oasis) and Chris Mack (proprietor of Toronto Climbing Academy) for their support in letting me get in my observation hours. And perhaps most important of all was the opportunity to meet and work with my eight fellow candidates, from Ontario, Quebec and Newfoundland. They were a great bunch of people, and I learned from each of them as well, and I hope those contacts stay alive as my new gym gets going.

Looking back on the course, I accomplished my personal goals of getting certified and preparing to be able to teach intro classes (though I will continue to work on those skills to improve them further). I learned a lot of other things I hadn't thought about as well:

• Now that I understand the details of what it takes to get through the certification process I am better prepared to hire instructors, and make sure they are really ready to head into certification
• I have much better insight into developing many of my gym's policies and procedures, covering instruction, belay tests, waivers and routesetting

This course was one of the toughest challenges I have gone through in my life. If I had really understood what it entailed, I may well have waited longer before doing it, but I'm glad I did, and I feel great about completing it. I recommend it for anyone serious about raising the standard of their instruction abilities.

Easy Contest; Win a T Shirt

True North Climbing wants more climbers to join our online forums and contribute to the discussions there You are dying to get your hands on one of our spiffy new T shirts. Here's a win-win proposition: sign up to our forums before the end of Hallowe'en, and you'll be eligible to win a T shirt. We'll draw one name at random from among those registered on or before October 31st (excluding those who already have a shirt by other means).
You can read the fine print if you want to, but you won't find anything interesting here.

T shirts Are In

OK, now we are a real company. We have T shirts with the True North Climbing logos on them. Here are the mock-up images, produced for us by Beta Clothing:

The shirts are for promotional purposes (watch for a small gang wearing them at the Tour de Bloc comp on November 14th at Climber's Rock), as a thank-you to some folks who have helped us out a lot so far and for retail sale. If you're interested in buying a shirt, they're going for $20 including tax. These are high-quality shirts from American Apparel, with 2-colour silk-screening on front and back. The guys at Beta Clothing were a pleasure to work with. I figured if they were good enough to design and produce the uniforms for the Canadian National Climbing Team, they're a good choice for our shirts.

Right now I can only accept cash, but I'm using the shirts as the excuse to get set up to accept credit cards & debit cards, and will also look into PayPal. Send an email to info@truenorthclimbing.com if you want one and we'll figure out how to get one to you (shipping? how does that work?).

Work Underway: Environmental Remediation

Before we can start building the climbing walls, there are a few things that need to be done in the space, including:

• erecting the demising walls and entrance/exit doors. I'm leasing a part of what is currently a much larger open space.
• rearranging electrical, ventilation/heating and lighting elements
• bringing proper plumbing service to the space
• painting the entire space, especially the wooden ceiling decking
• removing all asbestos materials

This last item is being done first. There are two sources of asbestos: insulation on the steam pipes, and some transite wall panels that were once exterior cladding before the south bay was added on to the building. I had the option of merely containing these materials, which would have been legal and safe, but given the construction to follow (with some risk of disturbing the asbestos), and a general preference to just make sure the facility is completely clear of all toxic materials, I've decided to go ahead with removal of it all. This is being done in partnership with Downsview Park, my landlord, who are also interested in doing the right thing on this issue. They have been more than fair in sharing the cost of this work, which (like many parts of this project) has turned out to be more expensive than first thought.

The removal is under way this week, and I find it very interesting. The removal workers have attached many glove bags to the steam pipes, which will be used to remove the asbestos insulation from around the pipe without any asbestos particles leaking out into the room. I find the sight of so many blue gloves dangling from the ceiling both a little creepy and very comical.

Tour de Bloc coming to True North Climbing!

The Tour de Bloc will be making a stop at True North Climbing this coming season! This is the only national competition series in Canada, and has grown from 8 regional comps in Ontario and Quebec in 2003 to this season's 21 events in 7 provinces.

The new Season Se7en schedule (and no, that's not a typo!) is hot off the press, and has us scheduled on March 27th as the last of the Local comps for the Central (Ontario/Quebec) region. That will be followed by the Regionals at Centre d'escalade Délire in Quebec City on April 10th, and the 2010 MEC Canadian Bouldering Championships at Joe Rockhead's here in Toronto.

For those of you who may not be familiar with the Tour de Bloc, these are fantastic events, both to participate in and to watch. Entry is open to anyone, regardless of level of experience. I have "competed" in 5 previous Tour de Bloc comps, in the Recreational category. Each time I show up, complete as many problems as I can, have a lot of fun, and don't care that I rank near the bottom of the pile!

These comps start with open climbing, during which climbers have a few hours to complete as many problems as they can. There are typically 60 bouldering problems spread throughout the gym, in roughly increasing difficulty, with more points awarded for the harder problems. Your final score is the sum of your best 8 problems.

The better climbers compete in the Experienced or Open categories, and the top few finishers in the Open category advance to the finals. The finalists are sequestered in an isolation area while the 4 final problems are set on the walls. Then they are brought out, one at a time, and given 5 minutes to work on each problem. The competitors are streamed through the final problems one after the other, with a 5 minute rest between problems, so that at times there will be 4 climbers at once to watch. Chief Routesetter Jody Miall and his team seem to always find the sweet spot in setting problems just hard enough to separate the top competitors: hard enough they can't all flash them all, but just possible for some of them to succeed. It is always an amazing show. You can get a taste of it from this video clip from the 2009 Men's finals.

Check out the Tour de Bloc site for more information and the complete schedule. I am very pleased and honoured to work with Tour Director Luigi Montilla to bring this first-class event to our facility to help kick things off soon after we open!

Have a Look Around

Mark Banas met me at the gym on Sunday, to shoot some images of the big empty space. Today he sent me the result of his work: a set of 3 Flash panorama images that give a good sense of the space we have to work with. You can enjoy them by starting here. You can watch the room spin around you or navigate on your own using the controls at the bottom of the window. Look up to see the high space of the clerestory windows. Look down! And if you explore a bit with the mouse, you'll find links to 2 more viewpoints that each have their own panorama. Oh, and no, not all of that space will be ours! The landlord will be building a wall to divide the space. See the blue doors in the far corner? The dividing wall will go up just in front of them. Or when looking at the hangar doors with the windows on the right-hand exterior (south) wall, 4 of those 6 parts of the hangar doors are in our space. If you look closely at Panorama #2, you can see the chalk line I drew on the floor to mark the boundary.

I've been working on fixing up the main web site over the past few weeks, and today got a cleaned up version deployed (using Drupal, for those who care what Content Management System I've been exploring). Over time I will look at integrating the surrounding pages (this blog, the photo gallery currently on Picasa, maybe the forums) into the main site, and I'll get these panoramas set up there as well. But I didn't want to wait to share these cool views of the great space that True North Climbing will soon be growing into.

Site Visit and Open House

Last week was very busy and exciting, with the site visit from Eldorado, and the first open house in the new space.

Jason Plumb (the Climbing Wall Designer) and Jason Thomas (the Production Manager) came up from Eldorado Climbing Walls in Boulder, Colorado, and spent the last half of the week with me in the space, taking measurements, and working in the space to start the detailed design of the climbing structures. I rented a 32' scissor lift and we went up into the high spaces of the building to explore. It will be a real thrill to be able to climb up there in a few months!

Jason and Jason were clearly excited about the building, especially its character and history, and the challenges and opportunities presented by its varying roof lines. They had seen drawings and photographs, but getting to spend a few days living in the space made it real, and helped them come up with some amazing ideas. Jason is an amazing designer, and the other Jason knows the construction process and logistics inside out. They worked well together as a team, and it was an absolute blast working with them.

We had some meetings with the architects, landlord and engineers while they were here, figuring out details of demising walls, assessing the load-bearing structures for some of the inspiring ideas that Jason Plumb came up with, and sorting out the routing for the ventilation ducts. And on Friday I got up on the roof to explore. I've added a few photos to the Picasa album with some of the views from up there.

The highlight of the visit was the Open House on Thursday evening. The initial intent was simply to give a few friends & family a chance to see the space, before construction begins. But with Jason & Jason here, it was also an opportunity for people to learn a bit about Eldorado's work, see some of their previous designs, and get a peek at what we're planning for True North Climbing.

More than 20 people showed up for the event, which was quite a few more than I had guessed would bother coming to see an empty building. We started with pizza (provided by Eldorado!), and I gave informal tours of the space. I had drawn the floor plan for the reception area, locker rooms, the edge of the climbing area, and the far demising wall, in chalk on the ground, to help people visualize how the space would be arranged. Lionel Michaluk, my banker from TD Canada Trust, was kind enough to lend us a projector (in addition to being kind enough to lend me the money I needed to build the gym!). We had some technical difficulties getting Jason's laptop (indeed, any laptop) to properly connect, but finally we had some pictures on the loading bay door, and Jason began his presentation. He showed us some pictures of other projects Eldorado has done, and some 3D models in Google Sketchup of the climbing structures. Jason is passionate about what he does, and his energy took over, as he talked about the forms, and how they fit into and adapt to the various spaces they were given to work with. And he managed to tie many of the points he was making back to what we are thinking for the walls in the new gym. Jason is very excited about the building we have to work with, and after listening to me tell him what my goals are for the gym, and the kinds of things I want included, he has come up with some great ideas for spectacular terrain. He showed a little sneak preview of some of this, including the big archway that will sit at the middle of the southern half of the gym, and the immense pillar that we are going to try to suspend in the south-east area, near the lead walls.

I think Jason got people pretty excited about what we're about to build, and really helped to communicate the vision we're turning into reality over the next several months. As the design gets refined in the coming days, I will try to post a few screen shots of what the climbing walls will look like!

Professional Development and High Standards

As I've noted before, one of the best things about starting up this new business is that I am learning a ton, in a lot of different areas. It all adds up to a great deal of professional development for me, and much of this is stuff I will also make sure my employees get a chance to learn. To me this is an important way to set the standards high for this new gym.

The Conference
The big start for me was the Climbing Wall Association Summit conference in Boulder at the end of April. 3 days of sessions about starting/building a climbing business, routesetting, marketing and other aspects of the industry. Those few days gave me the knowledge and the confidence I needed to decide I could do this. I will be back at the CWA Summit conference next May, and at some point I'll make sure some of my staff get a chance to attend as well.

Learning to Lead
I recently learned to lead climb. I had felt I was almost, but not quite ready for this for some time. Some of my climbing friends gave me a nudge, saying that if I intended to open a climbing gym, I ought to be a lead climber. So I took the course in August, and was surprised to discover that lead climbing is not only more challenging than top rope, it's also more fun! I wish I had done this a long time ago.

First Aid
The law requires that there be someone on duty in my gym at all times who has First Aid training. I decided to push that a little further and so I will insist that all of my staff have this training. That will simplify the scheduling and make sure we never get caught short if someone has to miss a shift. It also will be good for all those employees to have this qualification. As the first employee of True North Climbing Inc, I insisted that I take the class myself! I recently took the St John Ambulance Standard First Aid with CPR course, which lasted 2 days. It covered basic first aid, CPR and also the use of an EpiPen and an Automatic External Defibrillator machine. It's a good course, and while I'll admit I don't remember absolutely everything I learned, I feel a lot more prepared to help when necessary. This class must be refreshed every 3 years to keep my status current. Having all employees at True North Climbing trained in First Aid is a message to my customers that we put safety first, and also that we care about the professional development of our staff.

Instructor Certification
There is a second reason why I took the First Aid training: it's also a prerequisite for certification as a Climbing Gym Instructor (CGI) by the Association of Canadian Mountain Guides (ACMG). I have made it a goal of the gym to have all of my instructors certified at an appropriate level:

• Level 1 for those teaching beginner classes and basic movement/technique
• Level 2 for those teaching lead classes, and intermediate technique
• Level 3 for my Head Instructor, and for anyone teaching advanced classes

This won't be easy to achieve, and I'm pretty sure I won't be there when the gym opens. The prerequisites for each of these are pretty high. For example, to get my Level 1 CGI certification (which I'll need because I figure I ought to be able to teach the beginner classes in my own gym, and as the first instructor at True North Climbing Inc., I insisted that I get certified!), I will need all of the following:

• at least 2 years of climbing experience (I've got 5 1/2)
• have climbed in at least 2 gyms (I've climbed at 11)
• able to climb 5.10 on top rope. This is somewhat ambiguous, as the ratings vary from gym to gym. I can do some 5.10s at some gyms, so I feel I 'm pretty close here.
• able to lead 5.9. I have led a few 5.9s already, so I'm probably about right on this one too.
• the first aid training
• 8 hours observing/shadowing others giving instruction, including some movement/technique. I have started to do this (a few of the other gym owners are being very cooperative here).

That's a pretty high bar to hit just to be certified as ready to teach beginner lessons. I've decided that's a good thing, and getting all my instructors certified is part of setting a high standard for climbing excellence and - more important - safety.

There are not a lot of people who are already certified. The ACMG site lists 71 people certified as CGI Level 1, 21 at Level 2, and only 14 at Level 3. I certainly believe there are lots of other people whose qualifications are roughly equivalent, and who would have no trouble getting certified. So I am definitely not saying that instructors who have not obtained this certification are unqualified, or even that a certified instructor will always be better than one who is not. But I think the certification assures me (as the gym owner) and our customers of a high standard.

I'll need to allow some time for my instructors to get this certification, especially at the higher levels, because one typically needs to do each level of certification in order, with additional prerequisites inserted at each level. In the meantime I will use these criteria as a guide when hiring, and assess how prepared each instructor is to obtain the appropriate level of certification within a reasonable amount of time. So on the one hand, I'm imposing a burden on my staff to get the certification (though the gym will pay the costs of the certification class for those who need to take it). But on the other hand, I'm providing a push to get important professional development that I think will be a benefit to those who obtain it, as well as to my business and our customers.

True North Climbing: About the Owner

I thought I should say a few words about myself, so people can know who is behind this company.

I grew up in North York, about 6km from the gym, and went to high school at York Mills Collegiate. I studied Computer Science at the University of Waterloo, graduating with a Bachelor of Mathematics degree (co-operative progamme). I then did a Master's degree in Computer Science at the University of California at Berkeley.

I worked at 3 jobs in the computer animation software industry over the next 25 years, in Vancouver, Sunnyvale, California, and then in 1994, back in Toronto. I was in attendance at the Scientific and Technical Achievement Awards ceremony of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Science ("the Academy") in March 2003 when my company (then known as Alias | wavefront) was awarded an Oscar statuette for the software tool Maya that I worked on for many years.

So basically I've been a big-time computer geek for most of my life.

I first tried rock climbing on January 5th, 2004. I had taken my kids on a cross-country skiing vacation near Horseshoe Valley, but there was no snow. We decided to try climbing at Off The Wall in Barrie, and I was instantly hooked. When I got back to work in Toronto I found a co-worker who had also just started climbing, and we started going each Wednesday after work, at Toronto Climbing Academy, near our office. Within a few months I was a member there, and our climbing group grew (I recruited more climbers so I would always have a belay partner!).

About 4 years ago, I built a home wall on the outside of my house. When I moved, I pulled down as much of it as would come off, and rebuilt it as a cave in the basement of my new home.
Neither of these home walls really got used enough, because I'm really a "social climber", and I don't really like to climb alone.


[time-lapse sequence by John Schrag]

I would call myself a hard-core recreational climber - hard-core because of how much I love it, not because I'm very good at it.. I started climbing when I was 45, not in great shape, and somewhat overweight. I'm not the greatest climber. I struggle on 5.10s, and just recently flashed my first V2 bouldering problem. I recently learned to lead climb. I have "competed" in 5 of the Tour de Bloc competitions and a couple of the recent SweatFest comps, consistently finishing among the top 100% of competitors in the Recreational division (i.e. you'll always find me at or near the bottom of the list!). I love these comps, even though I'm not about to win any prizes.

I've been interested in owning a climbing gym for a few years, and explored a few potential opportunities to buy into other gyms before deciding to build my own.

So what the hell do I know about this business? A fair bit, actually, and I'm still learning. I've been climbing in indoor gyms for 5 1/2 years. I spent a few months talking to people in the industry this spring before deciding to do this, and attended the Climbing Wall Association's Summit Conference in Boulder, Colorado to learn a lot more. I've climbed in about a dozen gyms, and in June spent a week visiting 8 gyms in the San Francisco Bay Area. I've surrounded myself with a number of experts to help me figure this out, and I'm getting amazing support from the local climbing community. And in a few months I'll need to hire a few great staff members to help me get to the finish line. I will first be looking for:

• a gym manager to run the day to day operations (staffing, scheduling, keeping the place running safely and smoothly while delivering outstanding customer service) while I focus on spreading the word and expanding the operations.
• a head routesetter and instructor to oversee the climbing programme. This person needs to be an expert climber and routesetter of course, but just as important, they need to be a great leader, teacher and communicator.

Later on we'll be hiring a bunch of part time staff to run the front desk, teach lessons, belay groups of kids at parties, and put fantastic routes on the walls.

I am very excited about this project, and I'm confident that I can build and run a great new climbing gym for the northern part of Toronto. I hope you'll all help me do that!
Please join our online forums to engage in the discussions about what the new gym should be like, or email me at john.gross@truenorthclimbing.com to share your ideas. I want to hear from you, and you can help make the gym a great one.

Open House: Thursday Sept 10th

We'll be hosting a small open house in the gym next Thursday evening. The main purpose is to let a few friends & family see the raw space before construction begins. In addition to that, Jason Plumb, the wall designer from Eldorado Climbing Walls, will be there to talk briefly about some past projects, so you can get an idea about the kind of work they have done. If we're lucky, there may be a few glimpses of the early design of our climbing walls as well (no promises).

I have no idea how much interest there might be in attending this. It's really just a big ugly building right now. All are welcome, but if you plan to attend, please let me know by Monday, September 7th. I may provide light refreshments, and I'd like to know how many people to expect.

Please let me know by email: info@truenorthclimbing.com

TNCI In The News: Our First Interview!

Word is spreading about the new gym. I've had some nice feedback from climbers in the area who are excited to hear the news. And last week I was contacted by Jeremy Dowsett of Climbing Hold Review, asking if he could do a posting discussing the new gym with me. The interview is now up here.

A Few Photos of the Building

Adding to the architect's drawings I put up yesterday, I've posted a few photos of the space in its current raw form. All are available for your enjoyment in our Picasa albums at http://picasaweb.google.com/truenorthclimbing/.

Drawings Posted

I have posted a few drawings from the architects to our Picasa page so you can start to get an idea of what the place will look like: http://picasaweb.google.com/truenorthclimbing/Design#

True North Climbing: The Location

I found a great place for the new gym. It's been hard to keep the location under wraps the past couple of months, but I thought it was important to do so until I knew I had it locked down (meaning the lease is worked out and the loan is approved). Now I'm ready to spill the beans.

True North Climbing is proud to be part of the Downsview Park Sports Centre. We're at 75 Carl Hall Road, within Downsview Park. That's the building marked as Indoor Rec. Facility on this map.

Downsview Park is a National Park run as a Crown corporation, on the site of what used to be Downsview Air Force Base. The location offers:

Convenient Access by Car or Public Transit

Downsview Park is handy to Highways 401 and 400, as well as the Allen Rd. There is plenty of free parking right outside our door. For those relying on public transit, we're close to the Downsview subway station, and bus route 101 is a 10-minute ride running every 20 minutes from the subway to the Downsview Park Sports Centre. I picked this location to serve the northern part of Toronto as well as Vaughan and Richmond Hill, as the closest climbing gym for the vast majority of people in those areas, without directly competing with the other existing gyms. In a few years the TTC access will get even better, when the new Sheppard West subway station opens within Downsview Park, connecting to York University and Vaughan, as well as the Barrie Go line.

A Community of Cool Sports-related Businesses

The Downsview Park Sports Centre has been growing for a few years, and currently includes:

• The Hangar, with indoor and outdoor soccer fields, beach volleyball courts and a ball hockey court. There is also a full-service restaurant and bar here.
• Hoopdome, featuring several indoor basketball courts
• Grand Prix Kartways: indoor go-karting with electric go-karts
• The Rail Skateboard park
• Toronto School of Circus Arts
• Defcon Paintball
• Toronto Roller Derby League

More information about the Downsview Park Sports Centre.

A Very Cool Building

The building used to be an airplane hangar, and features high clerestory windows bringing in natural light from above. The ceiling is a mix of 26' and 36' high, and our space is 100' by 120', giving us lots of room for great climbing terrain without being crowded. Stay tuned to this blog for more information about the design of the gym, as our planning progresses.

I'm excited to finally be able to talk about the joint!

John Gross
Owner, True North Climbing Inc.

Today's Horoscope

Gemini: Painting something as big as the Golden Gate Bridge is fine as long as you understand that as soon as you reach the end, you will have to go back and start all over again. A certain goal will get accomplished. Do, though, be realistic about the time and effort it requires. [from today's Toronto Star]

We are getting there. I think I'm done with the lease negotiations, and it should be all signed off within the next few days. I have initial drawings from the architect for the change rooms, reception area, etc, and they look good. The contractor is figuring out what that will cost. And Eldorado is getting started on the wall design, so I should start to see ideas from them very soon as well. Assuming the lease does get signed very, very soon, I will get some pictures up online to share what the facility might look like.

The Waiting is the Hardest Part

I am very excited about this project, but this month has been the toughest part so far, because I have needed to wait for a bunch of things to happen. The loan has been fully approved, but it took a little longer than I had expected. And the money isn't actually available to spend until I have a lease signed. I am working through what I think are the late stages of negotiating the lease, but it's 43 pages long and pretty complex. The site survey was done last week, and it took a few days for those measurements to find their way into CAD drawings. There are no bad guys here, just a lot of things that need to be done, and usually in a certain order, and of course I am eager to jump in and get started building the joint. It's frustrating because I am actually mostly idle until the lease gets signed, and we start building stuff. So this is my theme song for this phase of the project.

The Site Survey

Things got started today.

I met at the site with the architect, a few of his engineers (structural, mechanical, ...) and the contractor he is recommending. The purpose of the visit was to get measurements of the space (including all the obstructions in the high ceilings), and discuss the project in more detail. The measurements will be shared with Eldorado so they can get going on the climbing wall design. It was also a chance to meet the contractor for the first time, show him the space, and get his impressions. We were discussing all the non-climbing parts of the construction (i.e. everything except the climbing structures that Eldorado will build, and the padded flooring system I'm still researching).

It was an exciting and stressful meeting. The building is old, there are no existing plans, and there are some "interesting" issues:

• the lack of adequate plumbing in the space
• the need to remove some girders from the high ceilings to open up more space for walls to go up and around in there
  
• some questions about the existing heating system
• the need for air conditioning. I am convinced I need to install it; the others were thinking about ways to avoid it. None of them have climbed to the top of a 36' wall in a hot gym in Toronto in August; I have.
• the time line is tight
• I have set aside a good chunk of change in my budget for this work, but I won't know for a few weeks how much it will really cost. The contractor did not allow me to tell him how much I have in my budget for this work, because he doesn't want that biasing his bid.

I learned a lot about industrial construction today, and it will take a little while to digest it all. And then I'll have to learn a lot more. Three years ago I acted as the general contractor for a major renovation project on my house. I gutted and redid the kitchen, took out 2 bathrooms and installed 3 new ones, replaced the furnace and A/C, redid all floors, replaced most of the windows, upgraded the plumbing, replaced every light fixture and painted the whole house. Almost all of that got done in about 2 1/2 months. I know this project is bigger than that (and a lot more expensive), but I didn't think it would be terribly more complex. I'm starting to think that it might be, because so much about industrial construction is different from residential. Good thing I really like to learn.

I'm a little anxious right now mainly because I am not busy enough yet. I've spent much of the past few weeks waiting for the loan to be approved, and now I need to wait a little more for the CAD drawings to be done, and then we get to iterate on the design of both the climbing and other areas of the gym. That should be the most creative part of the project. In the meantime I'll finish negotiating the remaining details of the lease and get that signed. And I'm sorry for being paranoid enough to probably wait until the lease is signed before going public with the fantastic location. It will be worth the wait...

Great Article on Bouldering

I got my Climbing Wall Association newsletter today, and saw a great article on bouldering by Chris Danielson that I want to share. Chris is a renowned climbing consultant and routesetter, and he writes about some issues with bouldering that have been on my mind as I plan my new gym. Hop on over to the CWA newsletter, and scroll down a page or so to the article titled "Building Bridges for Bouldering".

The Online Forums are Up!

OK, I've enabled the online forums. Please help us make True North Climbing a great gym by joining the forums and sharing your thoughts of what would make for a great climbing gym.

http://truenorthclimbing.com/forums/

True North Climbing: The Vision

I'm waiting for the loan to be approved. Once that happens, we can get started on the design of the climbing structures, and the other parts of the facility (change rooms, party rooms, staff lounge...). In the meantime, I'd like to share some thoughts about what True North Climbing aims to be.

A clean, bright, large, comfortable modern gym
I've chosen Eldorado Climbing Walls to build the climbing structures. I met John McGowan and Steve Holmes at the Climbing Wall Association Summit conference in Boulder this spring, and was impressed with them and their company (also located in Boulder). They have many years of experience doing this, and I'm confident they're going to help me put together a state of the art facility that will make you say "Wow!" when you walk in the door. The building has great character, and amazing natural light coming in from high windows. The change rooms and other parts of the facility will be built to make sure everyone is comfortable. I've got over 11,000 square feet of space to work with, so there will be plenty of room for amazing walls and bouldering terrain. I'll be sharing design ideas in the coming weeks (and I'll want to hear yours!).

Focus on climbing
I've been to a lot of climbing gyms over the past few years (including 8 last week during my reconnaissance trip to California!). Some gyms aim to be a general fitness facility, with lots of cardio and weight machines. Some have an extensive retail operation. A few have a cafe offering a wide selection of food and drinks. I aim to keep things simple and focus on providing a great and fun climbing experience. Each of those other things is really a separate business, and to be successful I would need to understand those businesses, or hire someone who does. I do not want to compete with general fitness centres. The retail business might make sense in a place where most of my business is done with outdoor climbers, but I don't expect that to be the case, and in this town it's pretty tough to compete on price with Mountain Equipment Co-op. And the building I'm in has an existing restaurant, and I'm not allowed to provide an extensive food service.

That doesn't mean I'll completely ignore these amenities. I will of course offer some drinks & snacks for my hungry & thirsty climbers. I'll have a small selection of things for sale (I'm thinking T shirts, chalk balls, water bottles, perhaps harnesses), and will listen to what the customers say they would want to buy at the gym. And while I don't expect to have weights or exercise machines in place when I open, these could be added down the line if they are important to the members. But to start off, the focus will be on the climbing.

Aiming to serve 3 market segments
I expect the business to be more or less balanced across:

• experienced climbers
• adults and youth new to climbing
• kids parties

Serving each of these well means that there needs to be a good selection of routes at each level of difficulty. The gym will be large enough that there will be plenty of hard stuff, but on the whole I plan to make sure that more than half of the terrain is suitable for climbs at 5.9 or easier. There will be plenty of bouldering (most of it top-out), and I'll make sure that there is some really easy bouldering to make that accessible to kids and new climbers. And while kids parties are an important part of a successful business, I know that the noise and commotion that come with that can be distracting to the serious climbers. An important part of the design criteria is to make sure there is good separation (both visually and acoustically) between the kids party area (which includes a place for the parents to watch) and other parts of the gym. We'll also post a party schedule on the web site for those who want to plan their climbing sessions around the parties.

Excellent customer service will be a key focus for the staff, to make sure that everyone is getting what they expect out of their climbing experience. I aim to make True North Climbing a fun place for everyone to climb, whatever their age, gender or previous experience.

Strong emphasis on safety
Those new to indoor climbing often perceive it as an extreme sport, and think it's quite dangerous. As a sport that consistently fights against gravity, it's true that there are inherent dangers to climbing, but when the established safety protocols are followed properly, the risks can be minimized. True North Climbing is a member of the Climbing Wall Association, and will follow the standards established by the CWA regarding the construction and inspection of the climbing structures. We plan to join the Association of Canadian Mountain Guides, and pursue ACMG certification for our instructors. All of the staff will have first aid training. In designing the gym, I'll be looking at alternatives to the usual bouldering mats, which I believe cause more injuries than they prevent (e.g. rolled ankles due to landing on an edge, sprained arms from tipping over when landing with one foot on a mat and one foot off). I believe that safety comes first, and is a prerequisite to having fun, which is the goal of the gym.

Commitment to being a "good" company
Providing a great place for people to climb isn't quite enough. There are a few things that are important to me about how the business is run:

• Taking good care of the employees. This is important for the business to reduce staff turnover, and because happy employees will do a better job taking care of the customers. I intend to pay the staff decently, provide some additional benefits (these will expand as the business grows), and just treat them well enough that they really want to be there.

• Contributing to the community. I have a few ideas on how this could happen, including charity events held at the gym. I think it's important that a business give back to the community, and involve the staff in doing things to help others.

• Attention to sustainable practices. True North Climbing will endeavor to reduce its carbon footprint and operate as cleanly as possible. This includes attention to energy use as we design the gym, signing up with Bullfrog Power, using recycled supplies where possible, and whatever else we can do. We won't be perfect, but we'll do what we can, and will be open to suggestions on how can can do better!
  

Looking to cooperate (not compete) with existing climbing gyms
I believe there is room for a few more indoor climbing gyms in Toronto (and my demographic research supports that belief!). Our facility is not very close to any of the other gyms, and our target market area (the northern half of Toronto plus Vaughan and Richmond Hill) doesn't have a gym close by. We're looking to grow the market by introducing climbing to a lot of folks who haven't yet discovered how fun & addictive it is! So we don't see the need to be strongly competitive with the existing gyms. I've approached all the other Toronto gyms to let them know what I'm up to, and generally the response has been very supportive. I think we can help each other by working together to grow the climbing market in and around Toronto.

So that's what True North Climbing is about. I'll be sharing a lot more in the next few weeks about the plans for the gym, and the location of the facility. I really want to hear the thoughts and ideas of the climbing community, to make sure this is a gym where you'll be happy to come climb. Stay tuned to the web site for the opening of the user forums soon!

Off to California!

Things continue to move ahead. We have a logo now, as you can see to the right, or on the gym's nascent web site. The lease negotiations with the landlord appear to be nearing a conclusion, and we're close enough that the loan application has now been submitted for approval based on the latest lease proposal. The bids came in last week from the 4 climbing wall building companies. I've narrowed it down to two of them, and will try to come to a decision between them within the next few days. Both are great companies, and I know I can't go wrong with either of them, but the choice is a tough one. I'm still awaiting proposals from 2 architects on the non-climbing areas of the gym (changerooms, etc.).

So with all of that brewing, it's time for a road trip! I'm off in the morning to San Francisco, for a whirlwind tour of many of the climbing gyms out there. The Bay Area has two major chains of climbing gyms: Touchstone and Planet Granite, and I plan to visit at least a couple of each of their facilities. I'll also visit a few of the other independent gyms, stopping in at as many as 8 gyms in all. The goal of the trip is to collect as many design ideas as I can, in preparation for planning what True North Climbing will look like. Every time I go to a new gym, I see things I really like, and maybe a few things I don't like so much, and I learn something new. This is great timing to fill my head with ideas, and then come back and get to work with whichever wall company I've chosen to play with designs for the new facility.

When I'm back, I'll also see about hooking up the forums to the web site. Once I have the lease wrapped up and can speak openly about the location of the gym, it will be time to start spreading the word within the climbing community, and engage them in brainstorming ideas for the gym.

So off I go. If I can (free time and internet access willing), I'll blog about my California gym visits while I'm out there.

It Looks Like This Will Really Happen!

Welcome to Tales of the True North, a blog aimed at sharing the progress of the new indoor climbing gym we're planning for the north end of Toronto, opening (if all goes well) in early 2010.

A lot has come together in the past few weeks. True North Climbing Inc. has been incorporated. We have a lawyer and an accountant on our team. Loan applications have been prepared, and will be submitted when we have a lease offer signed, and we're in the midst of negotiating the terms of that with the landlord. The web site is up, and email is working. And we're running a contest at 99designs.com to choose the logo; check out the designs!

Once we have the location secured (i.e. the lease has been signed and the financing is in place), we'll share the details of what we believe to be a fantastic location. That should all happen within the next few weeks. Four wall building companies are currently preparing their bids on the project, and once we choose one of them, we'll get going on the design of the climbing walls, which is probably the most exciting part of planning the gym!

Stay tuned for more info about our new gym.