Summer Program 2023

Starting on June 27th until August 3rd this 6-week program is running every Tuesday and Thursday for 2 hours between 3-5PM.

Week 1

First session of our 6-week summer program was a success. With lots of new faces and a few familiar ones, we’re excited to announce Kristian returning as an assistant for this program. As usual our first session focused on the fundamentals of climbing safely as well as defining our community agreement on how we will behave in this space. Some of our key take always were Be Brave, Be Supportive, Be Respectful and have fun! Everyone came with a great attitude and we’re stoked to see what this group can achieve!

Week 4

Week 4 saw the introduction of some new techniques including toe hooks and smearing. As the group learns more techniques, gains strength and self-belief we are seeing everyone really push their boundaries as harder and harder grades are being attempted.

Week 5

Week 5 took us to @movementgymschicago Lincoln Park to try out some rope climbing.

The foundation built during our previous weeks means the teens come in with lots of technique and strength to push hard while top roping. The biggest barrier is often the psychological side - the fear of falling.

It was amazing to see the attitude from everyone present. We saw some teens go from physically shaking getting on the wall, to trying again and again, until they felt confident enough to make it to the top.

With our instructor Ryan, we also had the teens try and experience climbing with different abilities including trying without using a specific leg, arm or even being blind-folded.

Always one of our favorite weeks!