Rock Climbing and Bouldering in Markham

Toronto is at its very best in the summer. We go bike-riding, paddle boarding and take many trips north to Muskoka. Sometimes we escape the city in the middle of the week, and we always try to take our friends along. That’s what happened on Wednesday August 15th when I led a pack north to go rock climbing and bouldering at Hub Climbing gym in Markham. We snapped these sidewalk shots while we waited for the rest of the gang to appear at the designated rendezvous point.

Wednesday night was hot and sticky, and while this sweaty weather annoys most people, I really like it, and I wish it was hot all the time.  I love summer, and the month of August is especially dear to me.  This is Harvest Season.  In this month we reap the fun we have sewn, and go wild-crafting for more adventures on the side.

For this trip we even had a rock climbing pizza cooked up and donated by Amicos‘ that was made especially for our fun car ride; one deluxe pizza from Amico’s makes Rush Hour disappear, and the van became a gossipy high school cafeteria as we shared stories about the people we knew, and the summer we were having.

Everyone has a Summer Bucket List.  I wrote about rock climbing and bouldering on Raymi the Minx last week. The gym experience has inspired me to push my body to the limits, and to try and get in the best shape of my life, just so I can do more physical stuff without feeling exhausted or out-of-breath, ever.

Hub Climbing at 165 McIntosh St in Markham is well staffed with athletes who are super helpful and motivational. They bring out the best in people as most folks like me want to be at their best when people are watching, just to show them – it sounds weird, but I bet a lot of people feel this way when they know their climbing instructor is watching them. Below is Steven Branco author, View the Vibe: The Rising Popularity of Indoor Climbing Gyms.

Hub Climbing is a 20,000 square ft facility with over 200 different ‘climbs’ that are always changing.  Our climbing instructor Brandon Rowland told us that two staff members work exclusively at changing one climb-attraction in the gym each day, and so people who visit the gym monthly are always surprised at the amount of change that happen in the short time they were gone, and the whole gym appears to reinvent itself completely every six or seven months.

After some routine orientations and training, our evening consisted of group-testing one rock climbing and bouldering attraction after another; we were honing our collective climbing abilities, and learning new skills.  And as you can see in the pictures we were pretty much always laughing, mostly at each other, as one by one we plied ourselves to the walls.

Above Casie Stewart is rising to the challenge; the exercise here is not to climb the wall, but to practice falling, and get guidance on how to fall safely. She has to summon the courage to ‘let go’, and fall backwards trusting the autobelay mechanism to gently lower her down to the mats.  It tests each climber’s ability to trust the gym’s equipment, and teaches how to fall..

Speed Climbs at Hub Climbing in Markham

After our group had a couple ascents under our harness belts, we attempted to do some Speed Climbs. This exercise is just what it sounds like.  Its a race to climb a wall and punch a button to stop a digital clock at the top, and it begins by stepping or rather removing your foot from a pedal switch on the floor underneath.  Climbers start with their foot on the peddle, and then sprint up the wall to hit the clock button at the top.  The average time in our group was 28 seconds. My time was twenty six seconds and so I have a two second edge.

Bouldering is a form of rock climbing that is performed on small rock formations or artificial rock walls, known as boulders, without the use of ropes or harnesses.

At Hub Climbing, members and guests can show up without any ropes or beaner clips or any climbing equipment at all, and still do everything inside the facility.  Most climbers here use the gym’s special climbing shoes to help secure footholds. There is a bag of chalk to keep your hands dry and provide firmer grips, and of course there are bouldering mats on the ground everywhere to prevent injuries from falls.

Hub Climbing has a nice energy and a beautiful afternoon light. The architects were smart to situate the building in such a way to capture the setting afternoon sun through those huge windows at the front.  With this in mind, I can understand why this place is also a popular venue for fitness boot camps, and Yoga meditation workshops.  Its probably also a great place for parents to bring a family and ‘hang out’ for a day.

Our group had a great time at Hub Climbing. It was a great work-out; we exercised our arms, legs, bums, backs and also our minds. We tested and made sore muscles we didn’t even know we had.