On November 29, the Alpine Club of Canada Edmonton Section partnered with the Queer Climbing Collective to run a 2S/LGBTQIA+ intro to indoor climbing evening, the Every Body Welcome Climb.
The Queer Climbing Collective (QCC) has been operating since 2021 with the support of the Edmonton Section. QCC aims to break down barriers to climbing for 2S/LGBTQIA+ climbers, who have historically been under-represented in both the climbing community and the larger outdoors community. QCC runs indoor bouldering and rope climb meetups, subsidized courses, and outdoor trips. Previous guided outdoor trips have included a beginner top rope trip, an outdoor leading trip with instruction on anchor building and rappelling, and an introduction to multipitch.
Walking into a climbing gym for the first time and trying something new can be intimidating for anyone, but it’s especially intimidating if you’re not sure you’ll be welcomed fully. Some gyms in the city, for example, only have gendered washrooms, which can be a challenge for trans folks. Members of the community in larger bodies have also shared experiences of being judged or hearing negative comments while climbing. We wanted to address this by creating a space that was closed to only the 2S/LGBTQIA+ community and was designed with accessibility and inclusion in mind.
This fall, we were successful in receiving the Section Grant, which supports local initiatives. Through the funds received from National, we were able to rent Vertically Inclined for an evening and provide refreshments for our participants. A lot of planning and intention went into our event. We worked with Action Potential Fitness, who provided consultation on creating a more inclusive recreational space, especially focusing on ensuring folks with larger bodies, various mobility concerns, and trauma around fitness spaces were well supported. We set community guidelines that were shared with all participants, designed to ensure folks understood the expectation and intention of the space. We answered a lot of questions ahead of time from brand new climbers who were unsure about trying out something outside of their comfort zone.
All our hard work paid off and the event was a resounding success! Over 30 members of the 2S/LGBTQIA+ community came out to climb together. Participants had the choice of bouldering only or also top roping. Those who chose to top rope had the option to learn to belay on a grigri, or stick to climbing and be belayed by volunteers. We had several experienced 2S/LGBTQIA+ climbers come out as volunteer belayers over the course of the evening to support. We received really positive feedback throughout the evening and in our post-event evaluation as well, with every participant and volunteer who responded saying they’d like to see a similar event again in the future. Several first time climbers have also since expressed interest in attending QCC’s regular meet-ups and courses after trying the sport out in a safe and inclusive environment.
We are very grateful to have received the Section Grant to make this event a possibility and look forward to future ways we can break down barriers to climbing and other mountain sports in the future!
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