Regina Climbing Centre calling on council to build more facilities amid growing sport

Climbing centre wants council to add facility WATCH: The Regina Climbing Centre is hoping council will include rock climbing in their design plans for a new centre. Brit Dort explains.

The Regina Climbing Centre is hoping city council will consider adding a new facility for their sport if a proposed new aquatic centre is built.

Regina city council voted unanimously recently to move forward and apply for a total of $128 million in funding from Ottawa for a new aquatics centre and geothermal facility.

“Our membership has grown, our ability and the ability of our climbers has grown,” Jordan Mackay, the Chief Climbing Officer at Regina Climbing Centre said.

Mackay and his wife opened the gym five years ago but feel they have already outgrown their space. Mackay pointed not only to the major uptick in climbers but the limited height they have due to a lack of options for buildings in Regina to host a climbing centre.

“When we built this place we looked for a long time for a roof that was 50 feet high. I even took a look at digging this place down when we bought it but it wasn’t economically feasible. To build a building in Regina with the population that we have the numbers don’t work for my building,” Mackay explained.

“When I heard that the city was going to build [a new aquatics centre], if we could share the bathrooms, the check-in desk, if you’re signing your kids up for swimming lessons you could sign them up for climbing lessons. It really makes sense for that partnership.”

A larger climbing facility in Saskatchewan is located in Saskatoon. Mackay explained they were able to turn a dairy silo into a climbing centre in order to reach a greater height than what is offered in Regina.

Sarah Hall and her family became members of the Regina Climbing Centre in 2019. Her two kids Marcus and Victoria both compete in the sport, but due to the lack of space in Regina they find themselves travelling quite a bit.

“Right now with my son Marcus competing out of Alberta, we travel there fairly regularly and get to see what facilities they have. It’ll be hard for him to compete in a few years with the advantages they have. So a new facility here when you could be on par with them would be really important,” she said.

Marcus is the reigning provincial bolder champion in Alberta. Right now the Hall’s are the only family from Regina that travels for the sport. Sarah noted they travel to Saskatoon sometimes during the week because they are able to offer a larger training space.

“Saskatoon’s walls are slightly higher than here, but they’re still not as high as some of the facilities out of Calgary that would be able to host national events,” she said.

Athletes at the Regina Climbing Centre start at the age of 10. Mackay noted the space is not big enough to host kids but the new one could be and it would help grow the sport even more.

“If I can attach myself to the city building and hopefully make it a lot more economically viable. If you can take climbing and put it into pools, it makes more people see climbing, see swimming, see track, see weightlifting and hopefully try it,” he said.

The Tokyo 2020 Olympics are what helped the sport grow in popularity. “Sports Climbing” was added to the games and the centre said that helped create some buzz around the city for people to come check it out.

“The Olympics hit and everyone in the climbing community lost their mind and everyone wanted to come try climbing. It exploded. There’s been a lot more people come in and there’s been a lot more engagement with people who are regular climbers,” said Jacob Stewart, a primary instructor for the Regina Climbing Centre.

Stewart also noted Saskatoon draws a lot of climbers there because they offer a bigger facility. In order to be competitive with their members and get more into the sport he believes a new, Olympic sized facility would do the trick.

“With climbers who have bigger walls, it’s like going to a weightlifting gym when you only have 25 pounds to work with. Versus a gym that’s fully loaded with squat racks and 2,000 pounds in weights,” Stewart said.

Mackay noted he needs 10 metre high ceilings when he brought forward his idea to council but is still waiting to hear if his ideas have garnered any traction with the city.

“I’ve been working with counsel for quite a while. It’s hard when you’re a new sport and the growth is just explosive in other markets and you try to bring that energy to people who may or may not get it. I didn’t see climbing in the [aquatic centre] report anywhere so I went to council and I’m going ‘hello we’re right here and we can help with this building,’” Mackay said.

“I’m a taxpayer here in Regina and I want this building to be as effective as possible and we widely used as possible. I think it’s something that really helps the city be a great city. But I just wanted to put us a little but more on the map and I thought you know having the mayor in here to climb and go to council and saying ‘We think this would be a great addition.’ So I’m here and I would love to be a part of this.”

More information about the climbing centre can be found here.