By Andrew Mitchell
It’s been a long couple of months for Whistler’s climbing
community after the closure of the Great Wall Climbing Gym, but on Jan. 8 the
facility will reopen in a new location with more than 7,000 square feet of
fitness space.
Renamed as Whistler Core Climbing and Fitness Centre, the new
underground facility — the entrance is located beside the Telus
Conference Centre — will feature an upgraded climbing gym, cardio
facilities, weights, a yoga and fitness studio and a Core Kids Play Zone that
offers limited supervision to kids while parents use Core’s other facilities or
do errands in the village.
“We have brought the real world of rock climbing indoors and
created a new climbing surface that is truly rock textured and climbing routes
that are just like the real thing with cracks, overhangs, micro edges and tons
of bouldering,” said Bob Allison, president of Core.
Core can be accessed for a drop-in fee, or by purchasing
passes.
A full range of fitness programs are also available. The
fitness studio has classes in yoga, circuit training, stretching, and yoga for
kids. The cardio room features Life Fitness equipment, discovery weights and, a
first for B.C., the XBike trainer.
One Great Wall program that is returning is the Kids Climb and
Dine, which takes places from 6 to 9 p.m. each night and includes climbing
lessons, dinner and desert. Younger kids will be able to take advantage of a
similar program in the Kids Zone.
Hours of operation are 6 a.m. to 10 p.m. daily.