August 19, 2018
Occasionally we have fun group-climbing workshops in which the participants actually want to be photographed. Sometimes athletes are also actors who want to record their adventures here in our attractions. Such was the case last Wednesday the 15th of August 2018 when Raymi the Minx came to Hub Climbing and brought an entourage of highly entertaining people from downtown Toronto. She packed a black Dodge caravan with friends, most of whom were also Toronto bloggers and Instagram influencers.
We court The Press in every form imaginable, and so Brandon Rowland the assistant manager here at the Markham facility offered to guide the group himself and do his very best to ensure everyone had a great time. That was pretty easy with this crew; Raymi’s friends are experts at finding fun.
Five of the six participants checked-in using their phones on the drive-up, but they still had to read and sign-off that they had read the instructions and obligations concerning the autobelay systems we use here at Hub Climbing. Bouldering is hard physical exercise and we take safety very seriously here at the gym. Here’s Joel Levy from Toronto Guardian and Casie Stewart signing their names on the forms at the Reception Desk.
Right after the waivers were signed, Brandon took the group into the gym and did some basic stretching and jumping exercises. The warm-up was followed by a short wall climb and fall to show how, and make all the participants experience for themselves the proper way to fall-off a wall.
And there were extra points for style.
Next the crew learned how to clip into the autobelay system, and how it works and, once ascended, how-to fall from a much greater height.
Hub Climbing is a terrific place to bring a group of people for an action-filled afternoon adventure. Rock climbing and bouldering provides a challenging and rewarding experience for groups who can bond as teams or compete as individuals.
Below is Martin from Studenomics com performing a braggadocios Facebook boast before beating the ten second challenge on the Speed Climb wall.
Below you can see Martin at the top of the Speed Wall in his first attempt. On his very first try he rocketed up the wall to punch the clock at eleven point four seconds. He beat this time on his second-try, scoring 9.9 seconds and earning our respect and many comments on his Facebook page.
After this exciting chapter, the bloggers tried bouldering on a particularly long traverse at the north side of the gym. While migrating to this area their supervisor and guide Brandon Rowland reiterated the most important parts of the Bouldering Orientation that they had just had an hour earlier; he reminded them again to always look up when passing under arches where other climbers could be bouldering, and slipping and falling.
Bouldering is the official term for climbing without safety ropes over an obstacle, or a traverse of boulders, with foam mats set about to cushion the landing when the climbers inevitably slip and fall. Bouldering is liberating, and its good exercise that provides members and guests with a true sense of accomplishment when they make it the far side of a long traverse without falling. Hub Climbing here in Markham has more and better bouldering traverses than almost any other gym in Ontario, and should someone ever wish to write a National level article, we’d be ranked pretty high-up on a Top Ten list of the best bouldering gyms in all of Canada. Just saying.
The final challenge was an individual assault on The Dragon. For anyone not familiar with Hub Climbing in Markham, the gym is at present (summer of 2018) laid out around a 23ft tall green and grey dragon with scary eyes. All the bloggers tried this go-for-glory solo challenge, but only Martin Dasko the author of Studenomics managed to get to the top.
The photo below is from his descent, which was rather cautious compared to the speed with which he initially scaled the sculpture. This is the moment he let go and fell into the foam pit. And he fell perfectly just like he’d been taught. Well done Martin.
All of Raymi’s friends were authentic, and while not all were athletes, none were posers. They all seemed to genuinely enjoy their experience here at Hub Climbing and their memories are preserved in the media they published on their blogs and in their Instagram channels.
If you are a lifestyle blogger or famous rock climber on Instagram please do reach out; we always welcome media-makers. Contact us for special experiences and Group Discounts.