Spring Program 2024

Starting on February 26th until May 8th this 10-week program is running every Monday and Wednesday for 2 hours between 5-7:00PM.

Week 1

First session of our 10-week program was a great success. We welcomed back a few familiar faces and have a great new group of teens ready to start climbing. Our first session always focuses on the basics of bouldering - defining a route, falling and climbing safely. Everyone came with a great attitude and once we started climbing we could see the enthusiasm as everyone got on the walls. Our instructors led warm ups and played ‘floor is lava’ with climbing holds to have the teens work on their hand, eye and feet coordination. Looking forward to the weeks ahead!

Week 2

After getting introduced to the basics of bouldering, week 2 started to focus on goal setting. The group tried their best at deadhangs and planks to get a baseline of their current limits, and we’ll come back in a few weeks to see the progression. It may be hard to beat this week’s record of a 9-minute plank! We’re already seeing the group moving up the levels and try harder grades as their technique and strength develop. We also threw in some dynos for good measure to see how explosive and coordinated everyone can be.

Week 3

Week 3 introduced the concept of route reading and how to analyze a problem to ensure you’re following the right sequence, rather than figuring things out on the wall and wasting energy. It takes some practice to accurately visualize the problem against how it really feels climbing it. We’re also seeing the confidence growing as the teens are getting more comfortable with mantling and topping out on some of the scarier routes. Progress every week! We also had the great fortune of overlapping with the @arcteryxchicago event which treated everyone to good music, drinks and people - always great to see all the familiar faces.