VENCLIMB – Run a safe Rock Climbing Event for Venturers
By: Rod Wilson
Since 1994 the Venturers of Voyageur Region have headed for the hills each autumn for VenClimb, a progressive program that introduces youth to the sport of rock climbing. But VenClimb is much more than an annual activity camp. It is a comprehensive progressive program that encourages safety, development of rock climbing skills, and hopefully fosters a life long involvement in the sport.
Local rock climbers have enjoyed the rock faces at near by Gateneau National Park for many years. Although these ‘hills’ do not offer the majesty and scale of Canada’s mountainous regions, they do offer a range of climbing difficulty, from beginner to expert. Altitude is not a major requirement to learn rock climbing and for Venturers these hills offer a significant challenge over the indoor climbing gyms frequented by Scouts and Venturers across the country. But rock climbing carries considerable risk and much of the program must focus on being prepared, training for all participants before arriving at the camp, emergency preparedness, and overall safety.
VenClimb is usually held at the end of September or early October. Planning starts in June. Preparations are made to accommodate approximately 50 –80 youth in a near by farmers field. Early registration is mandatory so safety planning and training can be scheduled well in advance of the actual weekend. VenClimb is the last topic on the regional advisors meeting before the summer break, and the first topic when things pick up in the fall.
Once the number of companies and participants are known, the skill levels of the advisors are scrutinized. The on hill activities of VenClimb are guided by several certified Climbing instructors. The climbmaster for the past several years has been Mr. Alan Dimond, an UIAA and ORCA (Ontario Rock Climbing Association) certified alpine instructor. Other ORCA certified instructors, including Sean Freill, Dave Humphrys, and Christiaan Burchell round out a superb talent pool. But there is only one Climbmaster. Included in our skills inventory are advisors with Standard First Aid certification, Wilderness First Aid certification and Search and Rescue skills. With this number of participants a major requirement is to make sure that all adults on the climb are safety prepared, assigned specific roles, trained and rehearsed. Our on-site cell phones are reprogrammed to the local emergency services and all are told of the location fo the phones and safety equipment. A Back-board is brought along… just in case.
The advisors meet for 3 training sessions prior to VenClimb weekend. The first session is an indoor session to re-familiarize everyone with the equipment, rules and guidelines and safety procedures. Knots unique to climbing are taught and practiced. Everybody becomes familiar with climbing harnesses and safety checks. We also practice belay techniques with climbing ropes stretched out across the floor or secured to stairways. Practice climbing, belaying and second belay are all rehearsed in detail. Great attention is paid to the discipline of the formal dialogue between climber and belayers. Keeping the youth focused and ‘on task’ has never been a problem at past Venclimbs because of the vigilance of the trained advisors. Once you know what to look for, recognition of even the slightest error is obvious to all. The session this year lasted over 3 hours and was both fun and instructional for all the advisors.
The follow up training sessions takes place on the hills, again for advisors only. Detailed instruction looked at the specific strategy for where, and how the climbs were to be set. Key rules are again rehearsed. Helmets are mandatory and no one is allowed to approach the hill with out one. Safety lines are set up, and, on the steeper slopes or precipitous edges all must be clipped to the safety line. All participants have to check their own harnesses and tie in’s as well as have them check by a fellow climber. The climbing routes are set up exactly as planned for the youth. Experienced climbers know that safe climbing relies on redundancy; the elimination of any single failure point. A practice that Venclimb has never stayed from. Once in place the Advisors are able to learn about the climbs themselves, gain some advice from those more experienced and review all the planning aspects of the event.
Prior to the big weekend, the advisors review all the details with their youth. A participant’s manual has been prepared (http://www.ncf.ca/~ad554/VenClimb_Manual.pdf) and the content, safety, and procedures form the program of an activity meeting prior to the climb. Each company arrives sensitized to the safety concerns… and pumped for an exciting weekend.
Companies arrived September 28 on a fantastic fall weekend at La Ferme de la Montagne, Luskville Quebec. Through the generosity of the La Framboise family the Venturers are granted the privilege of camping on farm property. Under normal circumstances climbers must park some considerable distance from the climbing site and must hike / haul all required equipment. We were blessed with outstanding weather, crisp clear cool skies and nothing short of ideal conditions. Saturday morning came early with ground school starting at 7:30. All companies came self-contained for camping. So breakfast was prepared, eaten and cleared prior to the 7:30 horseshoe.
Because this program has been held annually, some of the youth are quite experienced, for others this is an entirely new experience. The most experienced youth assisted the climbmaster with setting up the climbs. We made good use of the small portable two-way radios. These were great for coordinating setup and wise for safety. All others attended a ground school and reviewed all the techniques and practices. Everyone had the chance to shake out their kit and set up with harnesses and helmets. By about 10am the advisors were satisfied with the readiness of the group and we hit the trails to the top of the hills.
Often we run two separate climbs, part one for less experienced climbers and a part two for more experienced youth. This particular year we felt that everyone would stick with part one. Next year the skill level will be higher and perhaps we will return to this doubled barreled aspect of the program.
We climbed a site known as Home Cliff. This is a popular climbing site for climbers all over the National Capital Region, so to avoid disappointment of others we advised the local chapter of the Alpine Club that we would be there. Fortunately there are many great climbs in the Gateneau so we had this particular location to ourselves for the day. We set up 5 top rope climbs and two rappel stations. Advisors were deployed to assist and monitor safety, but the climbing and belay activity was performed entirely by the youth. The individual routes were set with a couple of easy ones, a couple of harder climbs and one major challenge route. The rappel stations were popular, but it takes a certain amount of courage to jump over the brink for the first time. The two rappels were set up side by side so if one rapeller felt uncomfortable or froze, help was close at hand. Although this has been needed in past years, this year went off with out a hitch.
It was a spectacular day! We took down the climbs and returned to our campsite in time to prepare dinner and have a quiet campfire or two. Unlike most Venturer camps, for the most part, these youth hit the tents early and all was silent by about 11:00… in preparation for Sunday.
Early Sunday morning, after another early breakfast we loaded up all the ropes and kit and drove several kilometers down the road to the cliffs near the Luskville waterfalls. The rock formations here are different. The climbs are longer, higher and more challenging. Again we were blessed with fine weather and blessed again with an unparalled view of the Ottawa Valley in full fall colour. 8 different routs were set and everybody had a chance to try them out. Some of these routes were only 10-15 meters high, but possessed secrets and challenges that teased and tried many. We were back to camp for pack up and departure by mid afternoon… having tested and stretched mussels that every a summer of camping hadn’t found.
Venclimb has been held successfully for many years without serious accident or injury. This is because the attention to detail, planning and adherence to strict safety guidelines. The program has indeed fostered an appreciation of rock climbing and year after year has been Voyageur Regions Venturer Fall round up.
Rod Wilson is the Venturer Advisor for the 1st Manotick Venturer Company Located near Ottawa in Voyageur Region.