A long time ago, I had a brief obsession with watching boxing.
Eventually, I got the idea that for my New Year’s resolution, I’d get in shape and join a gym.
What kind of gym came to my mind?
A boxing gym, of course.
This was an ill-conceived project that didn’t last very long. I have since accepted that I’m not going to make it to the Golden Gloves.
But anyway, there were two choices.
There was the shiny, pretty, new gym.
It was a sleek, well-oiled machine. All the equipment looked as if it had only been used for a few months.
If this gym was a person, it would be a young, athletic, handsome-looking, lycra-wearing dude with a Nike endorsement.
That was Option 1.
Then there was the other gym.
It was an old, rickety place.
The aging wooden floorboards were waxed to a shine, but when you stepped on them, you could hear a chorus of creaks and moans and groans.
The air was thick with a mix of sweat, iron, blood and leather built up over years and years of use.
If this gym was a person, it’d be a crotchety old man yelling cuss words by the ringside while chain-smoking a pack a day.
That was Option 2.
I ended up choosing the crotchety old man. He wasn’t very well put-together, but I liked the character. It felt like something intangible would be lost if it didn’t have my support.
Why do I talk about this now?
Well, the Grand Wall Bouldering Co-op is fighting for its life right now. When compared with the other climbing choices in town, it’s the crotchety old man smoking a pack a day.
But there’s something special about it.
It hearkens back to the beginnings of the indoor climbing scene in town, when climbers made their own ‘gyms’ by putting up climbing boards in garages.
In fact, you can find a board in Grand Wall that was carried over from that time.
Now, I’m not saying it’s better or the best choice in town — I also hang out with the shiny lycra dude regularly.
But in a place like Squamish where history is getting swept away at a startling pace, it’s sad to see a place like this struggle.
Something intangible would be lost if it goes away.
