Winter Seminar – Climb Gneiss

Gym to Crag

If you have mostly climbed in the gym and want to know the basics of climbing outside, the Gym to Crag workshop is for you! This fun presentation will cover the basics of equipment, safety and crag etiquette, but will not teach participants how to trad climb, build anchors, etc.

Sara McFadden, Rob Sullivan, and Sam Copland will be leading the workshop and have loads of experience climbing in Western Massachusetts and elsewhere. The organizers will be holding an in person tour of Farley, date and details TBA.

Please register in advance to receive the zoom link.

WMCC JDEI Committee Winter Speaker Series: Climb United initiative of the American Alpine Club

Two hands clasped; one with a crack climbing glove made of tape. "Climb United" below the image.

WMCC JDEI Committee Winter Speaker Series with Cody Kaemmerlen and Shara Zaia from the Climb United Initiative of the American Alpine Club.

Join us for a conversation with Cody and Shara about how Climb United is increasing access to the outdoors and how oppressive or discriminatory route names can get in the way of this. Let’s learn together how their body of work is impacting the national discussion and how it can inform our own processes towards route naming locally at Hanging Mountain and beyond.

Zoom link: https://us02web.zoom.us/j/84507238940

Speaker bios:

Cody Kaemmerlen

Cody lives in Salt Lake City where he serves on the Board of Directors for the Salt Lake climbers alliance and sits on the Jedi and communications committees. He is the director of Climb United Initiative and the host of the Wilder Mind podcast.

Shara Zaia

Shara is an Assyrian-American climber, educator, and community organizer based in Denver, CO. She is the founder of Cruxing In Color: a meetup platform aiming to connect, inspire, and educate self-identified POC within the context of climbing by offering free mentorship and access to gear.

Gym 2 Crag

This virtual Gym 2 Crag event will be hosted by board members Sara McFadden and Michelle Lloyd-Dedischew. If you have mostly only climbed in the gym and want to know the basics of climbing outside, this is a great starting point!

Michelle and Sara have loads of experience climbing in Western Massachusetts and are excited to share that with you. The presentation will cover the basics of equipment, safety and crag etiquette. It will not cover trad climbing or building anchors.

Please register in advance to receive the zoom link.

Climbing gear arranged in the shape of a question mark.

Virtual Trivia Night – Feb. 10th, 2021

The WMCC is hosting a virtual TRIVIA NIGHT. Test your knowledge of local climbing history with topics ranging from “Local Legends” and “Name that Route,” to “Gear Geeks.” The winning team will receive WMCC swag and prizes.

Compete in teams of 3-4! Message your dream team and decide on a team name. You will be asked what your team name is when registering so that we can pre-assign break out rooms. Don’t have a team in mind? Don’t be shy– register anyway and we will add you to a team that night!

Trivia Night is FREE, but please consider donating $5 to $10 if you can afford to. Your donation for this event will help cover the costs of prizes, pay for the new WMCC zoom account, and ensure that we run more fun events like this in the future.

All participants will have to register in advance to receive the zoom link.

Photo by Michelle Bourget

Western Mass Bouldering History: A film presentation on the past, present, and future of New England’s best bouldering

Western Mass Bouldering History: A film presentation on the past, present, and future of New England’s best bouldering

A presentation by Jonah Meyer and Kai Webler.

Watch archival footage of historic first ascents, learn more about the development of bouldering in Western Mass, and watch high-end video of modern first ascents.

Tuesday, February 26th
7:00-9:00 Central Rock Gym Hadley, Party Room

” Western Mass Bouldering History” is one of two Winter Seminars hosted by the Western Mass Climber’s Coalition this year. Seminars are free and everyone is invited to participate.