By Andrea Cardillo
From the outside, the gym looks like an old abandoned building. But once inside, you are faced with 50 feet walls, small caverns and lots of nooks and crannies that keep climbers busy exploring.
If you are looking for an adventure, a personal challenge or just a thrill – try your luck indoor climbing at Vertical Reality.
Ron Kuelz has been rock climbing for a year and a half. “I started because I hate working out at the gym and [rock climbing] gave me the opportunity to get some strength and not have to deal with the boredom of lifting weights,” says Kuelz.
“It’s psychological,” climber Ron Kuelz says. “You learn to overcome your fears and it’s also about personal growth.”
Rock climbing’s popularity is on the rise and Vertical Reality, the Centretown gym on Middle Street (by Victoria Island), offers climbers a professional, safe and fun environment.
“It is one of the biggest gyms in Canada,” says Ken Flagg, Vertical Reality employee. “You don’t usually find them this big.”
The Centretown gym was designed and built by owner Peter Slivka with the help of Flagg. They had somewhat of a vision going into the process, but with no solid blueprints they used their creativity as they went along, Slivka says.
As it turned out, Slivka and Flagg came up with a winning formula.
People come to the gym from everywhere to use our facilities, Flagg says. They come from the west end, Hull, Kingston and even New York State.
“There are a lot of regulars,” says Flagg. “Some people come everyday, some people come a few times a week and sometimes people just come to socialize!”
With the public becoming more interested in rock climbing, a lot of the gym’s clientele are walk-ins looking to learn more about the sport.
“Most people who come here don’t have a clue about climbing,” says Slivka.
With new climbers, the only mandatory lesson is for safety, Slivka says.
“All patrons have to sign a liability waiver before they can climb,” says Flagg. “But with any kind of extreme sport, you have some kind of waiver.”
“Safety has to be first with us,” says Flagg. “With skiing, if you forget to clip your binding, you fall. Here if you forget to double your harness back or tie a knot the right way and you fall, you’re dead.”
However both Slivka and Flagg say that the sport is not as dangerous as people might think. There are a few broken bones a year but nothing serious, Slivka says.
“Some things glamorize the danger of the sport,” says Flagg. “Like in Cliffhanger where Sylvester Stallone climbs without ropes.”
As far as difficulty, the sport can be as challenging as you want it to be, Flagg says.
It is also for people of all ages, Slivka says. The average climber is in their twenties to early thirties, but there have been people as young as nine and as old as 70.
Though there are not as many rock climbing competitions in North America as in Europe, the popular Xtreme games do hold three rock climbing events.
“The X games feature events in difficulty, speed and bouldering (usually shorter walls with higher difficulty,)” says Flagg.
“Compared to other sports, indoor climbing is cheap,” says Slivka.
“You need about $300 to get set up completely with shoes, harness, chalk bag and clothes. Then it’s only $10 a day or you can buy a pass.”
As the number of rock climbers continues to rise, Vertical Reality will maintain interest by continuing to add more new climbing features. And with Slivka and Flagg designing, the sky is the limit.