Like beasts rising in the dark, I had a chance to see the massive inclining
Walltopia walls of
Bloc Shop take shape. Montreal's newest bouldering gym is getting ready to reveal its 10 000 sq.ft. (!!) home to eager climbers jonesing to test out the brainchild and passion project of climbing machines Nic Charron, Fred Charron, and Cloé Legault and
Les Trois Petits Bouchons restaurateur Michel Charette. Holy moly, I think I'm going to dust my climbing shoes off.
Stylist and marketing guru Cloé Legault gave me a tour of the facility and explained the ethos behind the gym.
"We wanted to build a gym like no other. A gym where bouldering would be accessible to all [skill] levels. A place that offers athlete management for everyone, whatever their needs, from the beginner to the top level athlete."
Ok, sounds great, but how does that fit into practice for a lowly V0/V1 sometimes-climber like me? Legault explained that the gym's walls would be divided into twenty sections, which would each contain the whole gamut of levels. Therefore I would have twenty beginner routes to work on before the monthly reset. What?! Ambitious! I visualized putting on my little velcro shoes....chalk on my hands...
Atmosphere and vibe is a key focus for the Bloc Shop crew: art is very present with walls by
Nathan Leblanc-limoges (above),
Astro (below) and the ubiquitous
Jason Botkin (in progress!) A lounge area and food/beverage counter will also be in place so chilling, refuelling and communing are as much part of the space as you hitting the training wall. More from Legault:
"[We want to build] a gym for the community where the people belong; where you can grab a coffee or a fresh green juice and access the best climbing and training experience there is."
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Great, sign me up! Bloc Shop's opening competition and party is a fundraiser for Fondation Bouldering Montréal, a non-profit organization that will fund the training of a junior team of next generation climbers. So join in the fray on or off the walls- take part in the comp or gawk and marvel at the elite boulderers' skills while you chow down on some food and booze truck deliciousness.
July 5th, be there, more info here and here.
