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Support Bow Valley’s TABVAR for Route Upgrades and More in 2022

The association has handed out nearly $200,000 to climbers over the past few decades

The Association of Bow Valley Rock Climbers (TABVAR) is doing a call to all local and visiting climbers to the Rockies for support. They want to ensure their bank is topped up for 2022.

“As the popularity of climbing explodes, the demand for new routes and the wear on existing route hardware has never been greater,” TABVAR president Ian Greant told us.

“The Association of Bow Valley Area Rockclimbers (TABVAR) is a non-profit organization that funds the development of new routes and the replacement of old or damaged hardware. We rely on donations from the community and pass those funds to the volunteer route builders and maintainers that make the Bow Valley such a great place to climb.”

Last year, community donations funded 84 pitches of rock climbing (60 new and 24 refurbishments) plus five new rap lines. If you like clipping nice stainless steel bolts and lowering from beefy anchors then here’s how you can help.

The average single pitch sport climb costs about $150 to equip with bolts and hardware. An anchor alone plus bolts is nearly $50 (the Fixe combination belay/rap station that is a favourite here). A typical bolted multi-pitch route is often $500 or more just in hardware costs.

Over the last 20-plus years the generosity of the community has enabled TABVAR to distribute over $180,000 to local routebuilders for their hardware costs. The combination of that funding combined with the hard work of local routebuilders has resulted in the Bow Valley being an amazing place to climb safe lines.

“We know this has been a hard year for many people but we hope you can find a few dollars to help us continue the work we do,” said Greant.

If you’ve climbed at a crag or on a modern multi-pitch in the Canadian Rockies, chances are good that TABVAR helped pay for it.

Donations can be made online via paypal, cheque or you can even slide us some cash at the crag and we’ll make sure it goes to the bank. Visit here to donate, or here if that link isn’t working. Also check out all the amazing prizes that our sponsors have donated. Every $25 donated equals a chance to win.

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