I've been climbing for almost 10 years. Climbing came into my life when I needed it most; it came at just the right time, and I went all in. For Jeanne, story’s the same. We met at University of Montreal, where we were both students in Education. We immediately developed a connection founded on listening and a need to give back. Diplomas in hand, our need for adventure and our curiosity led us to teach a thousand kilometres north of Montreal in a small and isolated village in the vast territory of Eeyou Istchee: Waskaganish. Little did we know that, throughout the seasons, the Cree would become our second family. Their youth became our youth, and as time went by, we felt the need to give back to the community that has been so generous with us.
In the last decade, we have been fortunate enough to witness the explosion of climbing. The Olympics, bouldering gyms tripling in number across North America, and movies like Free Solo and The Dawn Wall have all contributed to make our sport so popular.
Climbing, long considered a counterculture, is now mainstream and more accessible than ever. But accessible to whom?
Despite growing in numbers, the climbing community is far from being an example of diversity.
The sport is mostly practised by a privileged and usually white clientele who has the financial means to afford memberships and overpriced shoes.
Fortunately, several initiatives are dedicated to fight this inequality and to ensure true access to everyone. Their projects greatly inspired us to develop our own dream project: using rock climbing as an intervention tool for the youth of Waskaganish.
Our journey began on a rainy September day, sitting in a wet van. Classic Squamish. After watching Black Ice, a film that testifies to the transformative power of climbing, we decided to put our teaching on hold to open a community bouldering centre. We were, and remain convinced, that by devoting ourselves entirely we could have a greater impact on the youth of Wask. It’s hard to know whether this type of project will have the anticipated effect on youth, it’s often a matter of gut feeling and for us, the feeling was good.
At first, the idea was simple: to provide a safe and inclusive space where young people could gather to climb or just to hang out with friends. Those of you who know the north know that the long, cold, and dark winters take a toll on your mental health. What we wanted was to create a warm and cozy place with couches, board games, a foosball table and of course, a bouldering wall.
The only problem was that Jeanne and I are teachers, not business people. So, we rolled up our sleeves and, armed with our good will, sent out a ton of emails to try to fund our project. Shakti and Horizon Roc stepped up by donating holds, Bloc Shop and Délire offered us used shoes, and Nomad Walls immediately got on board by designing and building a bouldering wall that can be easily assembled. Our launch would not have been possible without the financial support of our local partners and the time, advice, and energy of our friends and family who operated behind the scenes.
Thus was born Eeyou Bouldering through a community sharing its resources to reach a common goal: making climbing more accessible and inclusive for everyone.
After spending three months renovating the space and building furniture with the help of youth, we officially opened the doors of Eeyou Bouldering last spring. Despite our modest facilities, the community quickly adopted the gym. So much so, that we hired Stormie, a young Cree girl, to help accommodate the growing number of participants. The gym has now become a popular place for youth to meet up and chat. Some come to climb, while others spend the evening playing board games and foosball. Open to everyone, the gym is now one of the few places in the community where teenagers can hang out with non-natives.
To finish our season with a bang and to reward the talent and dedication of our regulars, we organized a bouldering competition. It’s impossible for us to put into words the pride we felt during this event as we watched our climbers overcome their fears and self-doubt.
As the saying goes, “travel shapes the youth”, so our next project, to be launch this winter, is a socio-financing campaign to purchase a school bus. This bus would allow us to introduce the youth to outdoor climbing, to provide them with route-setting workshops, and to connect with young people from other nations.
Our pilot project confirmed the need for young people to have a space dedicated to them.
Together and with the help of our local partners, we thrive to make the centre a space for opportunity where young people can become agents of change for their communities, and one day take over the reins of Eeyou Bouldering.
Here are a few initiatives worth visiting:
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