Early Bird Tickets for this year’s Beaver Valley Climbing Festival are here!

Come party with us August 14-16 and celebrate all that Ontario climbing has to offer! We’ll have overnight camping, yoga, dinner, music, vendors, and guided clinics — PLUS our famous raffle, full of so much gear you to win, you won’t know what to do with it!

This year’s BVCF is brought to you by the OAC in partnership with Patagonia — we’re so psyched to hang with you!

Early Bird tickets are available to Active Annual OAC Members until June 5th. Tickets open to the general public on Friday, June 5th at 7:00am. You’ll want to get yours before it sells out!

Need another incentive to get your ticket now? If you purchase an Early Bird ticket before June 5th, you’re automatically entered to win a Patagonia prize pack! The grand winner will receive: a Patagonia Black Hole pack, Terravia hip pack, Trad cap, AND a $25 gift card to spend Wild Rock Outfitters! One winner up will also receive a $25 gift card for Wild Rock Outfitters.

Not a member yet, but want to secure your spot before it sells out? Get your membership today and you can get your BVCF ticket right away!

The Spring Fling is a day spent contributing to crag maintenance and strengthening our relationship with Conservation Halton.  We’ll spend the morning picking up trash, celebrate our hard work with lunch, and then spend the afternoon climbing.  Register now to participate in this day of giving back to the climbing community!

Sunday, May 3rd, we’ll be picking up trash at two crags just like last year – Rattlesnake Point, and Mount Nemo!

Come join us in this day of giving back, meet some new climbing friends, and enjoy the sunshine!  This event is open to all ages — and yes, we can sign volunteer forms for anyone trying to log volunteer hours  Register now so we can get your name on the list and account for your free volunteer lunch!

Fill out our 2025 Climber Survey NOW!

Our annual survey was launched earlier this month to help us learn more about the Ontario climbing community. The more we know about you as a climber, the better we can represent you!

Complete the survey by midnight on November 30th to be entered into a draw to win a free OAC T-shirt

2025 Bolt Fund Recap

This year we launched the OAC Bolt Fund to help offset the expense of maintaining existing routes. We received applications for reimbursement for gear on 71 routes across Ontario!

We’d like to send a big thank you to Crux Capital Corporation, who stepped up to fully fund our inaugural year of the Bolt Fund. Thank you to both Crux Capital and the routesetters who have put in the work to keep us safe

AGM Summary

The 2025 OAC AGM was held on November 5th. With OAC members joining from across the province, we held our elections for the Board of Directors. Congratulations to Mike Penney, Jeremy Fortier, and Jessica Best on being re-elected!

We also provided a recap on what we’ve been up to this year, and had guest speakers provide climbing access updates from across the province.

Miss the AGM? You can watch the full recording below.

You can access our financial report here:

Enjoy the coming winter season!

We’ve got our fingers crossed for a good ice season

Until then, keep your eyes peeled for the launch of our 2026 Ontario Crags Calendar We’ll have it in time for holiday gifting!

This is a great opportunity to ask questions about our organization and to share input on our future direction. We’ll also be holding the election for board membership, talking about recent developments, and speaking about what’s on the horizon.

Details for the virtual meeting will be announced October 22nd via official email to all OAC members.

If you would like to run as a candidate for the board of directors, please submit your bio to info@ontarioallianceofclimbers.ca by end of day October 15th in order to have your bio included with the formal meeting announcement. You may also submit your name for the election during the meeting on November 5th.

Hope to see you all there!

The Ontario Crags Calendar aims to celebrate and highlight the wide variety of climbing that Ontario has to offer. We want to showcase everything from as many different crags, seasons, and climbers as possible — ICE, SPORT, TRAD and BOULDERING are all honoured here.  Let’s celebrate the diversity of our province and our community!  Valid photo submissions must have LANDSCAPE orientation (i.e. horizontal), and be of climbers at Ontario crags only (of course!).  In order to meet print standards, full size images must be clear and at least 8.5″x11″ at 300 dpi.

Submissions do not need to be dated from this year, but they DO need to showcase your love for Ontario climbing.  So make the most of this tail end of the season, or take some time to venture down memory lane and rediscover some forgotten gems!

The Crags Calendar helps us raise awareness and funds in support of Ontario access.  Please consider donating a photo!  Send your best shots to submissions@ontarioallianceofclimbers.ca by SUNDAY, OCTOBER 19TH for a chance to be featured.  Chosen entrants will receive a free copy of the calendar, credit complete with name and website, and a little slice of local fame 

Please see additional rules of submission here:

The Spring Fling is a day spent contributing to crag maintenance and strengthening our relationship with Conservation Halton.  We’ll spend the morning picking up trash, celebrate our hard work with lunch, and then spend the afternoon climbing.  Register now to participate in this day of giving back to the climbing community!

Sunday, June 8th, we’ll be picking up trash at two crags just like last year – Rattlesnake Point, and Mount Nemo!

Come join us in this day of giving back, meet some new climbing friends, and enjoy the sunshine!  This event is open to all ages — and yes, we can sign volunteer forms for anyone trying to log volunteer hours

Or, visit Ontario Gear Co. or Climb Smart Shop to pick one up in person!

If you subscribe to our newsletter, you should have received our 2024 Winter Occasional recently, with a recap of the year. Did you miss it? Here’s what happened!

2024 Climber Survey

Every year we put out a survey to learn about the everchanging climbing community. We launched our annual survey at the end of November, and we’re keeping it open until January 3rd. Help us get to know you better, so we can represent you better!

Click here to fill out the survey now. You could be a winner!

Ewan W. and Taryn K. were the lucky respondents randomly selected to win $50 MEC gift cards for filling out the survey. We will have another prize drawing on January 3rd for some OAC t-shirts, so make sure you fill it out now if you haven’t yet! It only takes 5 minutes =)

2024 OAC Annual General Meeting

This year’s AGM was held in November, and saw us elect Tori Silvera and Tyler Coffin as the OAC’s newest Directors. Congratulations, and welcome to the Board!

Please join us in extending a big thank you to Randy Kielbasiewicz and Mike Makischuk for their many years of service on the Board. Keep an eye out for them on the wall!

We had 36 attendees for our virtual meeting, and covered highlights from crags across Ontario. Some notable news items include:

– The release times for Turtle Crag permit booking will move to 7pm in 2025 to better serve the majority of users.
– A reminder that NO topouts at the Niagara Glen are permitted on any boulder, in order to preserve vegetation with increased climber traffic.
– The OAC is working with the Alpine Club of Canada on options to improve access at Eagle’s Nest in Bancroft.
– There has been a TON of new development in the Ottawa Region, Sudbury and Thunder Bay. Put these places on your list for next year!

You can watch the full recording of the AGM on our YouTube channel by clicking here.

Volunteer with us!

Are you passionate about helping us secure access to climbing in Ontario? We’re always looking for more volunteers to help out! Right now we’re looking to fill a few specific volunteer roles:

Newsletter Author

Perma-potties Project Manager

Beaver Valley Climbing Festival Organizer

Message Jeremy at jeremy.fortier@ontarioallianceofclimbers.ca if you’d like to get involved!

Featuring local climbers shot by local photographers, the OAC calendar is a tribute to everything Ontario climbing has to offer.  With a mix of climbers, crags, and disciplines featured, there’s no better way to celebrate the growing Ontario climbing scene.

Calendars are available for a $25 donation each, plus shipping via Canada Post*.  All proceeds from calendar sales go toward promoting, advocating for, and maintaining open access all across the province. Calendars are shipped in an untracked cardboard envelope for protection.

** Online sales are now SOLD OUT. Pick up a copy at a gym or retailer near you! They can be found at:

• Basecamp Climbing Bloor West & Queen West
• Boulderz Climbing Etobicoke & Junction (and Climb Smart Shop)
• Climber’s Rock
• Gravity Niagara
• Guelph Grotto
• Junction Climbing & J2
• Ontario Resoles & OR Gear Co – You can order online from OR Gear Co by clicking HERE
• Toprock Climbing
• True North Climbing

This is a great opportunity to ask questions about our organization and to share input on our future direction. We’ll also be holding the election for board membership, talking about recent developments, and speaking about what’s on the horizon.

Details for the virtual meeting will be announced October 24 via official email to all OAC members.

If you would like to run as a candidate for the board of directors, please submit your bio to info@ontarioallianceofclimbers.ca by end of day October 22 in order to have your bio included with the formal meeting announcement. You may also submit your name for the election during the meeting on November 7th.

Hope to see you all there!

Also, it’s that time of year again!

Photo submissions for the 2024 Ontario Crags Calendar are now OPEN!!

We’re looking for a variety of photos showcasing the diversity of Ontario climbing: different crags, different people, different seasons, different disciplines (ice, trad, sport, AND bouldering!). Show us what you got!

Submissions are open until the end of the month, closing at midnight on October 31. Send your photos to submissions@ontarioallianceofclimbers.ca. All entered photos will be subject to the full Terms of Submission, found below:

This is your opportunity to hear from us about the latest news concerning Devil’s Glen, and to learn about what’s to come. As with previous Town Halls, registration will open closer to the date, but it will be held online so as to be as accessible as possible.

Also, if you haven’t yet filled out our Economic Impact of Climbing survey, please do so NOW! The survey window is only open until Wednesday May 31st. Your responses will help us advocate for the importance climbing has on our greater community.

Complete the survey NOW!