Centretown’s Vertical Reality is emerging as a key local venue for Ottawa-area rock climbers, as the gym plays host to the final round of the National Capital Boulder Series, beginning one of Ottawa’s most important years for climbing.
Thursday’s event was scheduled to feature climbers attempting 25 unique, never-been-climbed-before routes on walls throughout the gym. The routes themselves only involved climbing about five metres above the ground, and then landing on soft pads underneath, encouraging participants to watch each other attempt the difficult problems.
“It’s trying 25 new problems with 100 of your friends,” says Petra Slivka-Flagg, owner of Vertical Reality and one of the organizers of the tournament. “It’s so friendly compared to most other competitions.”
The event is organized by the three Ottawa-area climbing gyms and spans three separate days throughout the winter months, with one tournament at each gym. At the final event at Vertical Reality, results of which were unavailable at press time, the scores from all three competitions were to be added up, and an overall winner declared.
The previous two events were held earlier in the wintertime at the other two Ottawa-area climbing gyms, Coyote Rock Gym, on St. Laurent Boulevard, and Altitude Climbing Gym, on Boulevard Saint-Raymond in Gatineau.
“Being that it’s in the middle of dead winter, climbers need something to stimulate and motivate them,” says Slivka-Flagg. “People respond to that very well.”
Vertical Reality began in its present location sixteen years ago, when Slivka-Flagg’s father opened the gym as a place for training to climb in the nearby crags.
“Gyms originated to train in the winter season for the outdoors,” says Slivka-Flagg. “We have always been a gym by climbers, for climbers.”
Last November, the gym was closed down for large scale renovations, which saw its roof repaired and climbing areas renovated. Slivka-Flagg says she’s excited to show the changes to Ottawa’s climbers.
In its fourth year, the NCBS has grown to become a tournament that the organizers say encourages climbers to visit other gyms in the city, and which helps showcase local talent around the region. It also helps garner a following for tournament-style climbing, such as the nation-wide competition, Tour de Bloc, the finals of which will be held in Ottawa on March 29 at Coyote Rock Gym.
“[The NCBS] is a great way for people to compete with a little lower price tag than Tour de Bloc,” says organizer Kellen Tapley, who works at Coyote Rock Gym.
Several of the top climbers in Ottawa-Gatineau qualified for the Eastern Canadian regional competition, which will be held at Altitude Gym on March 8. Some of them participated in at least one of the NCBS events.
Unlike the NCBS, where the focus is on a community-based, recreational event, Tour de Bloc is the annual qualifier for the Canadian national team and draws some of the biggest names in climbing to compete, judge, and organize the events.
“People see it as the highest level of competition,” says Luigi Montilla, organizer of Tour de Bloc. “People build up to the tournament now. It’s not just climbing at the gym when it’s crappy out.”
Nonetheless, the two events remain central to the sport’s development in Ottawa, as important to enthusiasts as the three indoor gyms and the massive outdoor climbing crags in Gatineau Park.
Organizers of the NCBS have worked to promote the event’s image as a fun, light competition by emphasizing the interesting, unique climbs that could not be experienced outside and are rarely or never seen inside a gym setting. Vertical Reality takes this concept in stride. In the past, these climbs have included a problem in which climbers need to maneuver their bodies around the underside of a card table without touching the ground underneath.
Climbers look forward to the events every year.
“People talk about it all the time, and ask me about it all year round,” says Slivka-Flagg. “It’s assumed that we’re running it again next year, and keep going until we assume there’s no interest,… but it’s probably not going to be an issue.”