It’s been a 4-month sprint – since we opened – getting Chicago climbers introduced to First Ascent in Avondale. On the cusp of opening our second location in Uptown – the bouldering-only spot – we decided it was time to party.
Over the weekend of December 11-13th we celebrated the creation of our Avondale location, which was built from the ground up, and the opening of our location in Uptown with a Grand Opening weekend featuring contests, food, drink and celebrity.
CHRIS SHARMA ENCOURAGING OUR TEAM KIDS TO STAY PSYCHED ON CLIMBING AS THEY PREPARE FOR REGIONALS.
Chris Sharma – an author of much of this generation’s climbing history – was gracious enough to come and climb with everyone, sign posters for hours and simply hang out and talk to our members and guests. Every time Sharma tied-in crowds gathered with smartphones at the ready to post pictures and videos as fast as possible to Facebook and Instagram. Not surprisingly, he fluidly breezed up routes, but showed he was human when he fell off a few moves. All in all, just having one of the best climbers in the world energized the gym.
To have that energy, however, the gym needed to be filled with lovely people psyched to climb. Our pre-members, members, pass-holders and guests mean the world and without them the building would be just empty space. With these enthusiastic people, the building has become meeting place for a vibrant community where climbing accents the social benefits of being surrounded by like-minded people.
Contests also filled Saturday where men and women competed in a pull-up contest, speed climbing comp, a dyno comp and the “enduro challenge” to see who could climb the most routes in the gym during our operating hours that day. The level of participation was impressive, but also showed the strength, skill and stamina of the climbers who frequent our gym: the enduro winner climbed 81 routes (!!!) and the pull-up winners did 35 (guys) and 16 (gals) pull-ups respectively.
As the festivities wound down at the Avondale spot, everyone was invited over to our new Uptown gym for light snacks and refreshments. Seeing the new space was jaw-dropping for some; the classic Uptown neighborhood views with the Riviera Theatre and the passing trains of the El’s Red Line were external window dressing to the interior filled with thousands of square feet of bouldering walls.
Over the several hours people hung out at Uptown music blasted, laughter could be heard throughout the building and reports of a spontaneous dance party that erupted – and singing Happy Birthday to our dear Michaela – was what everyone was talking about the next morning.
THE CPS ALL-CITY ORCHESTRA PERFORMED FOR FAMILY DAY, LED BY FIRST ASCENT MEMBER RACHEL ATLAS.
And on that next morning – with sleep filled eyes and big grins – we opened First Ascent Avondale for family day. Parents, grandparents, aunts and uncles brought in their little ones (and not-so-little) to climb and have some pint-sized fun. One highlight was the crate stacking competition where one little lady was able to stack 21 crates for the win… from ground level the stack was as tall as the bouldering area.
The future holds great things for the Chicago climbing community. Our grand opening weekend showed how the community has grown in the few short months we’ve been open and the heartfelt response of our members, friends and guests alike.
Thank you!
xoxo #letsclimbchicago