We’re looking for belayers! Lead Provincials @ UofA

ACA lead provincials are right around the corner, and we’re looking for volunteers to help support our youth athletes. Reach out to climbing@ualberta.ca if you are interested.

Must have prior experience lead belaying in a sanctioned competition

• Must pass a lead check at the Wilson Climbing Centre (before the competition starts)

• We will waive the belay check fee - just email us with a time/date you expect to come in for a check

• If you have been checked in the past 12 months at the Wilson Climbing Centre, this is not required

Volunteers needed: CEC West Regionals

Team Alberta, we need your help! CEC youth regionals are being hosted in Calgary at Bolder Elevated, and there are still a lot of volunteer slots that need to be filled. Whether you have volunteered at an ACA event or not, your help will be very much appreciated. Alberta is represented by the largest group of athletes in the country at regionals. Let’s show the country how strong our climbing community is! You can sign up here; be sure to sign up for the west regionals. Volunteers get free food during their shift, a T Shirt, and a free day pass for every shift they work!

Senior Athletes: apply for the youth nationals training camp

ACA athletes in our senior category are now able to apply for a spot at the youth nationals training camp, hosted at BLOCS on April 27th. Contact paigeboklaschuk@albertaclimbing.org to learn more.

Registration for Provincial Lead Championships

Don’t forget to register for the ACA provincial lead championships at UofA Wilson Centre on May 4th & 5th 2024. Register at the member portal. Details will be posted on the event page of our website. We’re excited to see all of our athletes compete in the championship!

2023/2024 Boulder Rankings are updated

With the provincial bouldering season now closed, we have updated the overall rankings. Check out the rankings pages on our site, or go directly to the Google drive. Thank you for your patience as we wrap up provincial bouldering, prepare for CEC regionals and nationals, and prepare for provincial lead competitions.

Volunteer for CEC Youth Regionals

CEC Youth Regionals West are being hosted in Alberta at Bolder Elevated in Calgary! Let’s show everyone how strong our climbing community is by filling up the volunteer slots here. Make sure to pick the spots labelled “WEST”. Thank you for helping our youth athletes experience their best competition possible.

Volunteers get free food during their shift, a T Shirt, and a free day pass for every shift they work!

For questions about the volunteering opportunities, contact sebastian@bolderclimbing.com

Thank you, and congratulations

The 2023/2024 ACA bouldering season wrapped up in spectacular fashion yesterday. Athletes from Saskatchewan, Southeastern BC, and Alberta showed us all what real talent, strength, and dedication look like at our 2 day championship event.

Thank you to Simon, Walson, and the staff at CCC Chinook for hosting. You spent a LOT of time before, during, and after the comp to keep things running smoothly, and we all appreciate it.

Thank you to Juan and his amazing crew of route setters. You worked tirelessly for days leading up to the competition, always focusing on how to give our youth the best on wall experience possible.

Thank you to ALL of the people who volunteered to help this weekend. We had over 140 volunteer slots, and it was truly amazing to work with you all. We can’t run these competitions without your help, so thank you.

Finally, thank you to the athletes and the coaches. You have worked so hard all season and that was on full display this weekend.

Isolation update for finals - provincial bouldering

Attention athletes and coaches: Due to the size and complexity of bouldering provincials, you may be in isolation for up to 5 hours. Please be prepared for an extended isolation if your category starts later.

Qualifier videos are up

You know the competition is close when the qualifier videos get posted! Check them out here, and head over to the event page to stay up to date with the competition details for provincial bouldering. Pay attention to the schedule and startlists.

Good luck to all our athletes. We’re all really proud of you and can’t wait to see your hard work on the walls tomorrow. Get out there and crush it.

Volunteers, Format, Schedule

Thank you to everyone who has signed up to volunteer at bouldering provincials this weekend! We’ve filled over 60 slots, but have we still have over 70 slots available. With over 250 registered athletes, we need a small army of volunteers to give our athletes the best competition experience possible. We are especially in need of judges; there will be 15 athletes on the wall for most of Saturday. If you are new or inexperienced, please rest assured that you will be fully supported by the ACA officials. We’ll supply the food and snacks, and as my friend Sylvain Vanier says, “you get the best seats in the house”. Sign up here if you are able to help.

We have been diligently planning the competition, and have been keeping updates on the event page of our website. We have updated the format, schedule, and startlists this week. Review the running schedule and start lists for your category ahead of the competition.

Feel free to reach out to communications@albertaclimbing.org with questions.

Updates: provincial bouldering schedule

Due to the size and complexity of the provincial bouldering competition, we’ve had to make adjustments to the schedule. Please keep up to date by checking the event page for the latest information leading up to the comp. Major changes are highlighted at the top of the page.

We also need a LOT of volunteers to run this competition. Head over to the volunteer sign up to help our youth athletes get the best competition experience possible. Thank you to everyone who has already signed up. The schedule changes may have affected your volunteer slots, so take some time to review that.

Volunteer sign-up for provincial bouldering is posted

We’ve posted the sign-up link for the provincial bouldering championship at Calgary Climbing Centre Chinook. We’re excited that there are over 250 registered youth athletes for this competition. In order to give the athletes the best possible competition experience, we need a LOT of help. Please sign up to help if you are able to.

If you are new or inexperienced, rest assured that you will be fully supported by the ACA officials and other experienced volunteers. Feel free to reach out to communications@albertaclimbing.org

Reminder: registration for ACA boulder provincials closes March 30th

The provincial bouldering championship is being hosted at CCC Chinook next weekend, and registration closes on Saturday March 30th. There will be no late registrations accepted, and no exceptions will be made. Head over to the member portal to register. Keep an eye on the event page as we finalize the schedule, start lists, and volunteer sign up link.

No late registrations for Boulder Provincials

We wanted to update everyone regarding late registrations for Boulder Provincials on April 6-7. For this event we WILL NOT be accepting any late registrants! If you would like your athlete to compete it is imperative that you register by the deadline, March 30 at 11:59 pm MT. Once this deadline is over there will be no exceptions for late registration.

Please contact us communications@albertaclimbing.org with questions or concerns before the registration deadline.

ACA Youth Nationals Coach

The ACA is hiring a Youth Nationals Coach to support athletes at the upcoming national Championships in Montreal, May 16-21. Please send a resume and cover letter to Paige Boklaschuk before April 8th to apply.

Responsibilities

- With support from Paige Boklaschuk (ACA Performance chair), identify and connect with ACA athletes who are travelling to nationals without a coach from their gym

- Support these ACA athletes as an ACA coach; including but not limited to warm-up, sequencing, mental support, appeals and result management

- Be present at the competition venue for all days of the event, as long as there is an Albertan athlete competing

- At rounds where ACA athletes without a coach aren't competing, offer support to other ACA teams and/or team manager

- Support the communications manager by taking videos and photos where possible

Ideal candidates

- Have experience coaching and/or competing at a national or international level

- Feel confident building rapport with young athletes quickly

- Have all CEC coach requirements (https://climbingcanada.ca/coaches-volunteers-requirements/)

- Are not currently affiliated with any ACA gym or youth team

Compensation

- $200 day rate

- $50 per diem for each day in Montreal plus $25 for travel days

- Flight, accomodation, and travel expenses covered

Registration Reminder: ACA Provincial Bouldering

Don’t miss out on your registration for the ACA provincial bouldering competition at Calgary Climbing Centre Chinook. Registration closes on March 30th 2024.

Check out the event page for updates as we finalize the plans.

Updates to ACA Youth Nationals Training Camp

We’re getting more information about the ACA hosted youth nationals training camp. Head over to the event page to see details about the invitation, timelines, schedule, and much more.

Thank you for a great comp at Trailhead

We capped off the regular ACA season with a wonderful youth local bouldering comp at Trailhead Climbing in Red Deer yesterday. Like every competition, we couldn’t have done it without a LOT of help. Thanks to Brian Olstad for volunteering as the Head Judge. Brian is very active in the climbing community, and it was amazing to have his help.

Thank you to Kurtis and the staff at Trailhead for hosting an amazing competition.

Thank you to Juan and the route setting crew.

Thank you to dozens of people who volunteered to help. We had a lot of first time volunteers, including some of our youth athletes starting to get into judging, which is simply amazing.

Thank you and congratulations to ALL of our athletes. You crushed it, did your best, and put on a good show yesterday. You and your coaches are putting in HARD WORK all season and we couldn’t be more proud of your progress. Keep it up and bring that intensity to provincials!

And on a more personal note, I want to sincerely thank Mark Kozak, our ACA president, for mentoring and supporting me as the Jury President at this comp.

- Jeremy Fidelack

Youth provincial bouldering registration is open

Head over to our member portal to register for the ACA provincial bouldering competition.

We’ll be updating the event page with more details, so watch for news there.

Jr,A,B age categories include a semi-finals round, while the C & D categories will not have a semi-finals round.

ACA Youth Nationals Training Camp

The ACA will be hosting a training camp for Youth Nationals!

This camp is designed to prepare youth ACA athletes for provincials and build a culture of excellence within the ACA climbing community. The clinic will include a mock competition, clinics and tech stations with support from setters and coaches, and team building. Expert setter Simon Parton is leading the development of boulders that will prepare athletes for youth nationals and beyond. Schedule to be released closer to the date. 

All ACA athletes who qualify for regionals or nationals will receive an email on April 8th inviting them to this camp. On April 11th, we will also invite athletes from British Columbia and senior ACA athletes. 

Check out the event page for more details as it becomes available.