Streaming live and online!

We’re excited to announce an all new way for you to still get those much needed (and missed!) Edgeworks Fitness’ Program fixes – we are now offering LIVE, STREAMING yoga + fitness classes with all your favorite instructors!

Because social distancing doesn’t have to mean isolation! The Edgeworks Fitness team is still here for you – helping you stay connected and active.

YOGA CLASSES

Head on over to our new Edgeworks Fitness Facebook page to get direct access to all of our yoga classes taught by the instructors you know and love, offered LIVE and ONLINE.

Yoga classes are offered every weekday with no registration required*. Simply set up your mat, pull up the Facebook page and follow along!

Miss a class or want to take it again? No problem! All yoga classes will remain on our Edgeworks Fitness page, available for you to participate whenever is convenient for you.

*Note: Restorative Yoga, Saturdays at 11am with Mary will not be available through the Edgeworks Fitness page and instead requires advance registration to participate. See below for instructions.

FITNESS CLASSES

Edgeworks members can also participate in their favorite fitness classes!

Strength + Conditioning, Core 45, Circuit 60, and Durability for Climbers are now being offered LIVE and ONLINE through Google Meet! Unlike the classes offered on our Facebook page, Google Meet allows our fitness instructors to engage and interact, live with members – an important element when working on strength and conditioning exercises.

How to join a fitness class:
Head on over to the online schedule and register for class. Once your registration is complete, you will receive a link and easy to follow instructions to join the Google Meet session. It’s that easy!

Fitness class reservations are available to MEMBERS ONLY and will open 24 hours prior to the start of each class. If no times are available, then the reservation window has not yet opened. Please check back 8 hours prior to the start of the class, or refresh your browser.

Space is limited. Sign up online to reserve your spot!

We are excited to begin welcoming sustaining members back to the gym! 

In accordance with the state’s Phase 2 guidelines for fitness facilities and indoor gyms we are continuing to slowly re-open the gym to members at very limited capacities.

In addition to opening retail, private instruction + personal guiding, we are now able to re-open our climbing + fitness areas to small groups of sustaining members – up to 5 per area and by reservation only.

Due to these limitations, we’re opening climb time reservations for SUSTAINING MEMBERS ONLY.

This includes those who did not freeze or terminate memberships during the closure and is one way we’re choosing to say THANK YOU, because our doors would not be open to today without them.

Monthly Autopay:
Members who did not freeze or terminate memberships during the closure.
Unfreezes will not be allowed at this time.

Annual Prepaid Members:
Members who did not freeze or request an expiration extension.
Annual prepaid members who choose to use the gym during this time will be considered “sustaining members” and will not receive extensions of their membership expiration dates.

Limited to one 2-HOUR time slot per day.

Reservation instructions have been emailed to sustaining members. If you have not received information, please contact climb@edgeworksclimbing.com.

*weekday evenings (4pm – 9pm) are exclusive to sustaining members only; other time slots are open to ALL members.

Reservations are specific to 1 area only for the full 2-hour time slot but may be moved to other areas as space permits. Please ask at the Front Desk before moving to a new area.

1. East Bay: Lead + Top Rope | max 5 people
2. West Bay: Top Rope Climbing | max 5 people
3. West Bay: Bouldering | max 5 people
4. Weight + Cardio Areas | max 5 people
5. NEW! Kilter Board | max 2 people

Sustaining members only, please check your email for reservation information or contact us at climb@edgeworksclimbing.com.

As we slowly begin to re-open, there are a few important changes and details you’ll need to be aware of before you arrive.

NEW HEALTH + SAFETY INFO

All climbers must watch our re-opening video AND click here to read ALL of our new health + safety information BEFORE heading to the gym for your next climbing/fitness session.

RGPro CONNECT APP

Members are encouraged to download the RGPro Connect app to their phones. Set-up is easy and the app will allow you to view your reservations and make new ones.

PLEASE ARRIVE ON TIME

Members who DO NOT arrive within the first 15 minutes of their reservation start time risk losing their reservation to other climbers waiting on stand-by.

We know not all of you will agree with our approach to re-opening; however, mitigating risk for our employees + members is our top priority. Therefore, we will require full compliance with our processes + rules.

Comments are welcome via our suggestion box or email us at: climb@edgeworksclimbing.com

OUR COMMUNITY RESPONSE

Friends, we hope you’re all doing well. After a long 3 months, we’ve made some big strides!

BUSINESS IN PHASE 2

As we have now entered Phase 2 of Washington’s Safe Start plan, we’re slowly beginning to reopen parts of Edgeworks in very limited ways including retail, guiding, private fitness, private instruction + limited climbing for members only.

Click here for more details!

CLIMBING IN PHASE 3

Ultimately though, we know that the biggest question still remains, “when will we fully re-open for climbing + fitness” ? All indoor fitness/gym facilities with greater than a 5:1 specialized instruction ratio must wait until Phase 3.

When will that be? The answer is highly dependent on our ability to maintain a reduced number of COVID cases in Pierce County. For us, this means that our reopening date is still unknown but we’re all feeling more optimistic . 

Please stay tuned for an official announcement of our Phase 3 reopening date + details.

EDGEWORKS COMMUNITY

We are immensely grateful for the outpouring of support we’ve received from you, the Edgeworks community! Your kind words and ongoing financial support have been crucial in helping us get through one of the toughest times we have ever gone through. We couldn’t do this without you. Thank you! #WeGotThisTacoma

OUR STAFF

Our staff have remained our #1 priority and we know they’ve also been a priority to our sustaining members.

Keeping employees paid, staying current on our rent and continuing to pay the bills has been possible, albeit difficult. The collective support of our community, cash reserves, federal PPP COVID funding, and now state/federal unemployment funding have all helped us get where we are today – preparing to rebuild and re-open stronger than before.

As of May 24, we transitioned to state and federal unemployment benefits for many of our staff – including 23 furloughs, 3 lay-offs and other reductions in pay. This decision was not easy or taken lightly. However, we know that our staff are in a better position today to benefit from government safety nets that were not as reliable or available 10-12 weeks ago. We’re grateful to have had the opportunity to help bridge that gap for our employees. 

YOUR MEMBERSHIPS

Until then, your membership dollars will continue to support payroll for our remaining staff and aid in our reopening as we work to prepare the gym with an all new set of community health guidelines. We continue to be extremely grateful to each and every one of the 880 members who have stuck with us throughout this time. Your support makes our reopening plan possible.

MEMBERSHIP RESOURCES

For more information about membership options, updates and free freezes, please head over to our new Member Resources page.

UPDATES + MESSAGES

June 17 | Phase 2 vs Phase 3 + Our Staff
May 11 | Still on Hold; Ready to Press Play
April 17 | Your Membership Dollars + Reopening Info
March 25 | Update For Our Members
March 16 | Gym Closure Update #2
March 13 | Temporarily Suspending Operations
March 9 | Community Health Information

STAY CONNECTED

If you’re not already following us on Facebook and Instagram, we invite you to join us there!

THANK YOU FOR YOUR SUPPORT + PATIENCE

Please take care of yourselves and your families, stay safe, be kind to one another + continue to follow the advice of the World Health Organization:

– Wash your hands frequently
– Maintain physical distancing
– Wear face coverings while in public or high-risk settings
– Avoid touching eyes, nose and mouth
– Practice respiratory hygiene
– If you have fever, cough and difficulty breathing, seek medical care early

Wednesday + Friday Evenings

Just because we have to practice social distancing, doesn’t mean we can’t also teach some climbing skills. Every Wednesday at 6pm and Friday at 7pm, we will host free online clinics for our members.

Our experienced, professional, and AMGA certified climbing instructors will lead a different clinic – from clipping and un-clipping quickdraws to hauling and raising systems. These clinics will be taught virtually via Google Meet with sign-in links and instructions emailed with registration.

Clinics are FREE for members but space is limited so be sure to SIGN-UP early to claim your spot and take advantage of this cool member perk!

Registration for each clinic will be made available 6 days in advance of the scheduled date.

Cancellations + No-Shows

Because the response to these clinics has been very popular, we ask you to do your absolute best to show up for the clinic you register for. If you cannot make it, please cancel as soon as possible so that we can open up the space for others.

NEXT UP:

Wednesday 6pm | June 12, 2020: Multi-Pitch Rope Management w/ Andrew
Ledge stack or lap coil? Come find out! We are going to be demonstrating and discussing rope management practices.

Suggested equipment: Anchor, Harness, Belay/rappel device, PAS or 120cm sling, 3 locking carabiners, Prussik loop or 60cm sling, Rope

Don’t have the listed equipment? Feel free to watch and contribute with questions.

Space is limited. Sign up online to reserve your spot!

Calluses gone and finger strength waining? Time to dust off the old hangboard and start re-building your strength. But where do you start?

Join route setter and Team Edgeworks new head coach, Michael, for a weekly live video series all about HANGBOARDING – Fridays at 7:15pm on the Edgeworks Fitness Facebook page.

Each week, Michael will focus on different tips n’ tricks of hangboarding, and each week will have a different theme; starting with the basics of hangboarding, who should hangboard, how to safely hangboard and more.

Miss a session or want to take it again? No problem! These videos will remain on our Edgeworks Fitness page, available for you to participate whenever is convenient for you.

The ALL NEW Member Challenge!

Report your weekly challenge points here.

Because we’re all missing the climbing gym, our friends and the member challenge … and because we can all do our part to #flattenthecurve while still having some fun …

We’re excited to announce an ALL NEW LIST of 140+ social distancing approved member challenge items to help keep everyone active, engaged and SANE during this time of community health isolation.

We present to you: EDGE OF SANITY!

Here’s how it will work:

1. New challenge sheets can be found HERE. Print one out and join the fun!

2. Each box = 1 point; unless otherwise marked with an # on the form.

3. Members are responsible for recording and reporting their points each week.

4. This link will be updated weekly for members to log in and report their points; it will also be shared on Facebook and Instagram.

5. While we’re curious to track these points separately, points will be added to existing Member Challenge tallies.

6. Anyone not already participating in the member challenge is invited to join us now and start Earning Your Peaks!

7. The same points and peaks will apply.

8. FREE t-shirts and iron-on peaks will be awarded when we re-open*.

9. Timeline to be extended as needed!

And, don’t forget to share your photos and/or videos with us on our Facebook and Instagram accounts! Because if a challenge is done at home and no one is there to see it, does it really happen?

*Challenge REWARDS are for Edgeworks MEMBERS only!

Am I doing this right?

by: Joe Stangel

It’s a word you will hear all the time when you’re hanging out with climbers – beta.

The word comes from a long time ago; in a galaxy far, far away. It references a time when climbers used to film their climbs on beta max tapes. People would ask each other for the beta tape of certain climbs to figure out how they did the climb. Nowadays, the word is thrown around everyday by climbers big and small. What is beta? What’s the beta? What’s your beta? There is often a big difference between those questions. 

Beta is a shorthand way to reference the sequence of movements that someone used to climb their way through a route or problem. It can apply to an entire climb or even a single, specific move.  As route setters it’s our job to create sequences that appropriately challenge climbers of all skill levels. A 5.12 climber has a different bag of tricks and tools of the trade than the ones a 5.10 climber does. Experienced climbers know how to use body positioning to solve more complex sequences rather than just relying on pure strength. One of our goals as route setters is to teach these more complex sequences to less experienced climbers. By positioning and ordering hand and foot holds just right, it’s possible to lead people into unique and different body positions. This is often what is called the intended beta. Our objective is to make sure that the intended beta is appropriate for the grade and to be the easiest way to complete the climb. But, it may not be the simplest or most obvious way. For newer climbers this is where the beta is often ‘broken’. 

In a climbing gym, route setters have nearly complete control of what hand holds and foot holds a climber can use. Because of this we have more control of the consistency of grades, both in relation to climbs of the same grade and climbs of the grades directly above and below that one. This leads to situations you won’t see outdoors. The most obvious example of this is foot holds on easier climbs (think 5.5 to 5.10-). At Edgeworks, the feet on these climbs are often nearly as big as the hands, only less incut and positive. Often they are sloped or flat. The goal is for them to be not as nice to grab onto than the nice, positive jug right next to it. This is how we ‘force’ sequences on the lower grades. This is often also where people create the habit of grabbing whatever they can and muscling their way to the top. After a few months, hand strength increases and climbers start to feel more comfortable using smaller edges and crimps. Next, those climbs that ask for more technique to get to the top become a little easier to get, think 5.10- to 5.10+.

This is when grabbing and pulling isn’t always the easiest way to do a sequence.  This is where the route setters are trying to teach climbers the different capabilities of their bodies. This is where we are trying to lead you into doing something a little different. It might feel insecure or awkward or require you to do something you haven’t before, but it should feel ‘right’. It should also make you want to naturally move through the sequence. Once you are used to it, it should feel easy. Easier than grabbing on that tiny, sharp foot chip, stepping up and getting fully stretched out to grab then next good hold. Which oftentimes will put your hands out of sequence for the next move. So a clumsy hand match on an obviously single handed hold is required to keep moving. I don’t know about anyone else but that doesn’t sound like a fun climb to me. Just because you can reach something doesn’t mean you should. 

These types of situations are when we see the most complaints about a route or problem being reachy, awkward, hard for the grade or just bad. It’s tough to hear and deal with. Not because it’s a negative review of our work, but because there’s no easy way for us to address it. We can’t offer the beta. We can’t help or talk you through the difficulties. We can’t offer little tips or tricks. We can only set the challenge and then hope climbers will accept it and be open to learning new ways to work through the tough spots. 

Modern climbing isn’t about just getting to the top, it’s about the journey you take to get there. Route setters create a maze, a puzzle for your body and mind, and we are rooting for you to get to the other end.

An open letter to the Edgeworks Community

written by: Hal Warren

To my Edgeworks family,

In light of the pandemic that we all have been affected by, I would like to speak as an athlete whose lifestyle is inherently intertwined with training at the gym and getting outside to climb. But most importantly, I would like to speak as a member of the Edgeworks community. A community that has practically raised me since I was 11 years old.

Things are difficult. And for most of my life I have dealt with difficult things by going climbing. Over the years, the sport became an outlet like no other, a perfect mindfulness practice, and a place where I could freely and unapologetically express my personality. Edgeworks, alongside the local climbing areas in WA, became my sanction. In the same way Washington’s wild beauty serves many members at Edgeworks, I felt the happiest when out in the forest climbing.

When my school shut down and Edgeworks didn’t, my first response was psych that I now had 30 extra hours in my week to be at the climbing gym. Then Edgeworks closed. And I got ecstatic that I would finally have time to put down some of my sport projects at exit 32 and to finally send my projects in Index. With that excitement for all the climbing I was about to do came the statewide “Stay Home Stay Safe” initiative by Gov. Inslee, an act to keep Washingtonians safe and make sure those who need the resources we do have can receive the care they need.

At first, I was confused and had trouble wrapping my head around the fact that I was going to have to spend the near future at home. Not in the climbing gym, not at the crag, and not with my people. Confused about why my happy place in the forest was suddenly not where I was supposed to be and why it would have any effect on others if I just made my little escape to the rocks. My privilege slapped me across the face. I was worried about my little escape to the forest more than I was worried about people’s family members dying. And how could I not? I was only acting out of instinct and doing what I’ve always done. I just wanted to climb. As climbers, smart Washingtonians, and humans, we have an obligation. An obligation to help our climbing, state, and human communities stay safe. We can’t let our personal desires get in the way of doing what is right.

With the closures of areas like Bishop and Moab, I started to think about our own areas here in Washington that need protection. If we flood the crags and boulder field parking areas at first chance once they reopen, we are at risk of access becoming limited, restricted all together and/or worst case, we risk our reputation as climbers. We must think holistically and proactively as to how we are going to continue to help our own community and at risk communities with limited resources. We must be aware of the impact our recreation and sport has on smaller communities and we must take initiative to ensure that we as climbers are helping, not making things harder.

I am committed myself and encourage you as a community to think about how your actions as climbers and outdoor enthusiasts will affect the places you love. Before you launch out of the house at first knowledge that areas are opened again, reflect on your impact and how you will reduce it. This is a defining moment for us as climbers to do a small bit of good in the world. And the world needs as much good as it can get.

With love,
Hal Warren
Team Edgeworks coach and athlete