Lessons & Group Bookings

group bookings climbing

We cater to a wide variety of group requirements including birthday parties, community groups, team building, custom bookings, and rappelling experiences.

Booking Types

Private Lessons | 1-3 participants
  • $70 / hour - booking fee for 1 participant
  • $130 / hour - booking fee for 2 participants
  • $180 / hour - booking fee for 3 participants
- Climbing Gym Instructor included
- Equipment included
- Activity options:
  • Facility orientation, rules, and safety precautions
  • Novice to advanced technique/skill lesson
  • Top rope belay school (requires 2 participants minimum)
  • Lead climbing/belaying (requires 2 participants minimum)
School Group | 4-32 participants

$130 two-hour facility booking fee ($50 / hour for each additional hour of booking) +$10 per student participant fee

- non-recurring, experiential OR skill based session for non-post secondary school groups only (i.e. elementary, junior high, highschool)
- Wilson Climbing Centre staff supervision/highwall belays included
- Equipment included
- Activity options:
  • Facility orientation, rules, and safety precautions
  • Climbing movement fundamental lesson
  • Introduction to boulder problems
  • Climbing games/free bouldering
  • Staff belays in the highwall loft 
  • Lead climbing demo
Experiential | 4-32 participants
$130 two-hour facility booking fee ($50 / hour for each additional hour of booking) +$20 per participant fee

 

- Wilson Climbing Centre staff supervision/highwall belays included
- Equipment included
- Activity options:
  • Facility orientation, rules, and safety precautions
  • Climbing movement fundamental lesson
  • Introduction to boulder problems
  • Climbing games/free bouldering
  • Staff belays in the highwall loft
  • Lead climbing demo
Skill Based | 4-16 participants
$130 two-hour facility booking fee ($50 / hour for each additional hour of booking) +$30 per participant fee

 

- Wilson Climbing Centre staff supervision/instruction included
- Equipment included
- Activity options:
  • Facility orientation, rules, and safety precautions
  • Novice to advanced technique/skill lesson
  • Top rope OR Lead belay school (Lead requires >6 months experience top roping; all participants must have a current top rope check from the Wilson Climbing Centre in order to book a lead belay session)
Facility Rentals
  • $300 / hour - boulder area (entire 1st floor)
  • $300 / hour - Highwall loft (entire 2nd floor)
  • $200 / hour - Rappel Tower only
  • $100 / hour - High wall (2nd floor) West Tower / Discovery Wall only
  • $500 / hour - Entire facility

Details:

  • Birthday parties
  • Team building
  • Corporate challenge
  • Etc. 

  • Exclusive facility usage - your booked space will be closed to public use during the booking
  • Equipment included
  • No instruction or orientation will be provided - the Wilson Climbing Centre may require the presence of event staff for supervision as necessary; this will be assessed at $20/event staff/hour (in addition to the facility rental fee)
  • Highwall/rappel tower rentals will only be permitted on a case by case basis, according to Climbing Coordinator assessment of risk
  • All participants must have previously passed the Wilson Climbing Centre belay test in order to use the highwall
  • Teaching of technical climbing skills (such as top rope or lead belaying, knot tying, anchor building, rappelling, lowering, etc.) is NOT permitted during facility rentals
  • An additional staffing fee will be assessed if you are renting before or after normal operational hours
  • Maximum participant number is subject to building fire code regulations

Booking Information

Bookable Times & Days
  • A minimum of 2 weeks’ notice is required when requesting a booking - urgent requests may be considered on a case-by-case basis
  • Booking a climbing session includes instructor(s) (at a ratio of ~8 participants per 1 instructor) and all necessary rental equipment (e.g. shoes, chalk, harnesses)
  • The $130 facility booking fee encompasses the following, 2 hours of staff instruction and 30 minutes for instructor prep, set-up, and take down.
  • If the booking is greater than 2 hours, it will be an additional $50/hour
  • The best time to book a climbing session is in the morning on weekdays or weekends, before we open to the public (i.e. before 11:00AM on weekdays and 12:00PM on weekends)
  • If you choose to book during our public drop-in hours (11:00AM - 8:00PM on weekdays, and 12:00 - 6:00PM on weekends), you will be sharing the space with an unknown number of drop-in climbers, program participants, and students; this may result in compromised climbing experiences
  • The climbing centre can also be rented for exclusive use with or without instruction (additional staffing fees will apply if rented outside of normal operational hours)
  • We do not have a party room available on site - food, snacks, cake, etc. is therefore not permitted in the climbing centre; however, additional party space may be available on campus - please email bookings@ualberta.ca for more information. 

*Parking is not included in your booking*

Participant Numbers
  • A minimum of 4 participants are required for group bookings
  • A minimum of 2 participants are required for private top-rope and lead climbing lessons
  • 1 or more participants is required for a private bouldering lesson
  • We can generally only accommodate up to 32 participants at a time; this maximum is subject to existing bookings, academic classes, internal programming, and subsequent instructor availability
Facility Logistics
  • washrooms and water fountains are available within the facility.
  • There are locker rooms available on-site, but no party/meeting rooms.
Waivers
Youth participants 17 and under need a parent or guardian to print and sign a Waiver | Youth Participants | 17 - form
  • This must be brought to the booking; participants who show up to the booking without completed Informed Consent forms will not be allowed to participate.

Adult participants must fill out and sign a Waiver | Adult Participant | 18+ form.

  • This must be brought to the booking.
Payment / Cancellation
  • All bookings require prepayment (in full) at least 7 business days prior to the group’s arrival at the Wilson Climbing Center; participant numbers must also be finalized at this time.
  • No refunds will be issued if there are fewer than the confirmed number of participants on the day of the booking.
    • If a group shows up with greater than the confirmed number of participants on the day of the booking, surplus participants (selected at random) will not be allowed to participate/use the facility
  • No refunds will be issued if a cancellation is requested within 7 business days of the booking date
  • Failure to pay for the booking in full (at least 7 business days in advance of the booking date) will result in automatic cancellation of the booking.
    • Refund(s)/re-booking(s) will be offered 7 days prior to the booking (if cancelled due to insufficient instructor availability)

Booking Requests

Submission Form

Email climbing@ualberta.ca if you have any further inquiries about your private lesson or group booking request.

Please note that due to Summer Youth Camps and Climbing Programs, July and August booking requests will be extremely limited.