Climbing Gym Update November 2021 One of Climb Yukon’s most important functions is to work towards bringing a permanent indoor rock climbing facility to Yukoners, and we have some exciting updates to share with the community about this! Climb Yukon has been and continues to work closely with the Yukon Government on a promised joint indoor rock climbing and gymnastics facility. We are excited to be working with our partners, the Polarettes Gymnastics Club and Yukon Gymnastics Association, and the Infrastructure and Development Branch (Department of Community Services). We plan to provide regular updates on the progress of the project, and we welcome your support and stoke! Climb on!
Spring 2021: March 2021: Climb Yukon provided input on the initial draft of the conceptual design of joint indoor climbing and gymnastics facility with Faulknerbrowns Architects.
March/ April 2021: Climb Yukon lobbied for and received campaign promises from each territorial party stating that they are committed to building a joint indoor climbing and gymnastics facility.
May 2021: Timelines provided by Yukon Government (Community Services - Infrastructure and Development Branch “IDB”) for the siting, design and construction of the facility were shared with Climb Yukon. Climb Yukon also visited the site at this time. Here is the proposed timeline of the Project (provided by IDB): Land transfer (Whistlebend): May 2021 (complete!)
Request for Proposal (RFP) of Detailed Design awarded in August 2021 (awarded!)
Construction RFP anticipated release date of January/ February 2022
Anticipated start date of construction: May 2022
Anticipated opening date for the joint indoor climbing and gymnastics facility: October/ November 2023
June 2021: Climb Yukon met with Minister Richard Mostyn (Community Services), to voice our excitement and commitment to the climbing community and the successful construction of the joint indoor facility.
Summer 2021: July 2021: Obtained funding from the Non-Government Organization Training Fund to support the development of Climb Yukon’s strategic planning and governance, and in support of current programing and the future gym. YZED Consultants (https://www.yzedprojects.com/) facilitated our Strategic Planning and Governance discussions.
August/ September 2021: Applied for Community Development Fund for a Project Manager for the climbing gym portion of the joint indoor facility. Awaiting results November 2021.
Fall 2021: September to November 2021: Climb Yukon board members are attending the Yukonstruct Fall Business Bootcamp (https://www.yukonstruct.com/service/startup-bootcamp-3/). Working with the Yukonstruct team to foster understanding around business preparation, marketing, and creating local connections.September 2021: Initial meeting with Polarettes Gymnastics Club and Yukon Gymnastics Association, and the Infrastructure and Development Branch (Department of Community Services) as an introduction to Architecture49 and Andrew Higginson (High Performance Climbing Walls). In collaboration with Climb Yukon, Architecture49 is creating the design plans of the joint indoor facility and Andrew Higginson is providing expertise on climbing walls and facility design.November 2021: First Draft meeting with Architecture49, Andrew Higginson, and Infrastructure and Development Branch. At this meeting we looked at how the facility can potentially accommodate competitions, optimizing and utilizing space, and started talking about the features of the wall design.
