Hello, Skyhookians!
My name is Kirby, and I’m the Programs Director and Head Coach at Skyhook Bouldering. I recently sent out a newsletter that looked much like this blog. However, we’ll add some more concrete dates in this post and expand a little bit.
Programming for Portland Climbers
Our goal at Skyhook is to offer exceptional and accessible programming that meets the needs of our community. I want to use my experience in programs across multiple states and communities and your voice to create programming that serves as many people as possible. We expect our programs to grow over time, and while we want a robust program, it will take time to build. We plan to roll out everything in this email as we have the staff, community interest, and bandwidth. However, we will launch our programming on June 24th, 2024 with multiple dates/times for our six week programs, a team program and summer camps. We’ll get these programs off the ground with your excitement and support. We’ve also included interest forms for youth and adult programs in this email so we can hear from you about what you want to see. Without further ado, let’s dive in!
For the Youths:
A cornerstone of our classes at Skyhook Bouldering will be youth programming. Investing in youth education greatly impacts the community and is critical to its longevity. We plan to offer 6- and 12-week Youth Programs, Birthdays, Special Events, Summer Camps, and a team program. Currently, at open, we plan to run our six-week youth programs, and a team program, provided we have the interest. All of our programming is focused on the holistic and lifelong climber. Here is the link to our youth programs' interest form. This form is intended to understand needs, schedules, and interests rather than a commitment to joining our programs, although we hope you do!
Youth Programs: Young climbers with and without climbing experience can join these programs to build their climbing knowledge and develop foundational skills to skyrocket their climbing. These courses will cover footwork, etiquette, safety, vocabulary, route reading, and body position. Athletes may also repeat the program as much as they would like or progress to other programs. We plan to offer the six-week programs offset from our 12-week programs so that you never have to wait more than about three weeks to get your child involved in a program. Summer 2024 will feature two rounds of six week programs with time slots available four days per week and 1.5 hour classes. In the fall, we'd like to offer both programming options.
Summer Camp: We are opening our doors in May and are hoping to launch a small but sensational summer camp! While we get our feet under us, this program will remain small but could expand in future years. We plan to offer week-long summer camps from 9a-12p on the following weeks:
June 24th-28th
July 15th-19th
July 22nd-26th
August 5th-9th
August 12th-16th
Registration for these camps is opening soon, stay tuned!
Youth Team: We are excited to offer a youth team shortly after opening. This will eventually be split into three teams: Recreational, Development, and Competition. The recreational team will be the foundation of our team program and an excellent space to develop key skills further. Climbers with some climbing experience who want consistent coaching and community are welcome to join our recreational team. Our Development team is a space for passionate athletes to continue to grow their skills and challenge themselves. Our competition team will cater to athletes who wish to compete in recreational or USA Climbing competitions. All teams will receive resources and support to compete, but only the competition team will be required to compete. Athletes interested in our team program can email kkahl@skyhookfitness.com for more information or to chat about the program.
Training Camps: Once settled, we plan to offer training camps for competitive athletes in any team program across the state, PNW, or country. These training camps will help athletes prepare for specific events like Regional or Divisional Championships or the season as a whole.
Birthdays: We are planning to offer birthday parties at some point in the future. A party room is part of our construction plan. We want to get our feet under us before launching this program.
For the Not-Youths:
Classes are not just for kids! Professional coaching is one of the best ways to level up your climbing. We plan to offer classes tailored to all abilities, workshops and clinics, personal training, private and semi-private climbing lessons, training plans, and an adult team. Like our youth programs, we plan to progressively roll out our adult programming and classes based on demand, bandwidth, and staff. Please fill out our Adult Instruction form here! This form is intended to understand what our community values and wants to see and is not a commitment to programming. At opening and shortly after, we can offer adult classes up to twice per week! We’ll have a more concrete schedule after opening, but also want to hear from our community what they want to see first.
Classes, Clinics, and Workshops: As soon as possible and often afterward, we want to offer innovative programming to help build skills, focus on specific areas of growth, introduce folks to climbing training, and so much more. These classes will cover everything from hangboarding and campusing to learning coordination moves, using body tension and other advanced skills.
Adult Team: Ever get annoyed at a team kid flashing your project? The common belief is that the lack of pump or size of their fingers is why they are so strong, but they also receive coaching from professionals multiple times per week. The good news is you can too! Our adult team will not be competitive in nature but will offer community, structure, and personalized coaching with consistency in a small group setting.
Bouldering 101 and Beyond: At opening, we plan to offer a Bouldering 101 class focused on building foundational climbing skills for adults new to climbing or wanting formal instruction. As our community grows, we’d love to offer Bouldering 102, 103, 104, and more as a progressive series focused on teaching key skills for each of our circuits and leveling up your climbing. We plan to kick off our adult programming with this offering.
Private Lesson/Personal Training: We plan to offer both private (or semi-private) climbing coaching and personal training. These sessions can be tailored to anything you want to work on, and the athlete and coach will determine session structure, frequency, and scheduling. We will open our doors with private climbing lessons and personal training available.
Training Plans: Going on a climbing trip and need to prepare? Want to send your first V5? V10? We will offer training plans tailored to our members' needs and goals. Currently, we plan to offer a 6, 12, or 18-week plan based on a metric (or measurement) taking-se
ssion with a skilled coach. The coach will review your numbers, goals, and self-reported data. Then, assemble a debrief of your session and a customized training plan. These training plans will be available upon request at opening!
Thank you so much for reading! We are so over the moon to offer top-notch programming with our community in mind. Please take a moment to fill out our interest forms for youth or adult instruction (or both!) and let us know your thoughts, ideas, and schedules. You can also email kkahl@skyhookfitness.com with any questions, ideas, or concerns related to programming and instruction. We can’t wait to see y'all in the gym and in classes!
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