The Aviary
Room 2206, 6133 University Boulevard V6T 1Z1 Vancouver, BC, Canada

Following the new Provincial Health Order on limiting social interactions - involving restrictions on social gatherings and a suspension of indoor group fitness activities - the AMS has suspended all in-person events taking place in the AMS Nest and Life Building until further notice. This unfortunately includes the Aviary climbing gym. All bookings are cancelled and memberships will be paused until we reopen. Please let us know if you have any questions.

Apologies to everyone, our Monday October 5th session will be cancelled for health reasons! Our booking site will be updated as soon as I am back at my laptop!

The news everyone has been waiting for! The Aviary is officially reopening on Monday, October 5th for climbing for *MEMBERS ONLY* as of this time. We have adapted the gym rules to keep everyone as COVID19-free as possible, please read them here. The link to book your climbing session is also hidden in there ;). https://docs.google.com//1gmTZZR6S2YCr70uo7ZYQCNtkRA/edit... Once we have been open for a few weeks, we will be re-assessing our plan and potentially open the gym for lessons and belay tests for new members.

Apologies to everyone, our Monday October 5th session will be cancelled for health reasons! Our booking site will be updated as soon as I am back at my laptop!

Has anyone left a friend at the Aviary? Was found in a black plastic garbage bag :'(.

The gym currently remains closed due to the COVID-19 Pandemic. We're currently working on a RE-OPENING plan for the fall. We want to ensure the gym is as safe as can be for our volunteer monitors and members. Any updates will be posted to Facebook and on our website! We thank you for your patience!

VOCers passionate about keeping MEC a co-op or from falling into the hands of an American private investment firm, here's what you can do for starters (if you have already, thank you!):

https://gripped.com//no-2020-thanksgiving-in-skaha-bluffs/

Climbing Closures: A falcon nest site is suspected near the Memorial Ledge. To protect Peregrine Falcons the climbing routes within areas circled in red are clo...sed. Closed routes include Memorial Crack, Memorial Ledge, Karen’s Math and the top of Long Time No See (pitches 8 and 9 and the top of pitch 7). Finish Long Time No See in the trees above the rappel route. Rappel after climbing North Apron routes if possible, but if you do decide to walk to Broadway Ledge to descend or continue up Boomstick to the buttress, do so quickly and use caution. Broadway Ledge can also be accessed via Desert Dyke (#37 in photo). Use caution in areas adjacent to the closure, and if you encounter a falcon keep your distance. If birds appear agitated, leave the area as soon as possible. The closure will be lifted when the juveniles leave the area, which should occur by the end of July. Please report falcon sightings to BC Parks [email protected]. Reports from climbers allow us to base closures on observations and behaviours rather than closing blanket areas. Reports from climbers like you are essential for ensuring falcons are protected without unnecessarily limiting climbing opportunities. Thanks for your help and cooperation! @ Stawamus Chief Provincial Park See more

Want more online adventure films? The Vancouver International Mountain Film Festival (VIMFF) is hosting Best of Climbing June 19th-26th, with 190 minutes of content for streaming, including the 2020 VIMFF "Best Climbing Film" winner CLIMBING BLIND, and other films, such as THE TRILOGY (with Sasha diGiulian climbing big walls in the Rockies), ON THE VERGE (about climbing new routes in Powell River), THE TERMINATOR (featuring Allison Vest), ADAPTIVE, and GONE TOMORROW. Tickets... are $15, but use discount code COVID for $11 tickets ($4 off!). https://tickets.vimff.org/BestOfClimbing-Cora

IMPORTANT - LOGGING @ CHEK From May 19th (Tuesday) to early July logging will be occurring above Chek canyon recreation site. NO PARKING ON WEEKDAYS on the road...side below or above the climbing area/campsite at Chek Canyon (up to 20+ trucks per day will be travelling along the road). The defined lower lot (photo 2) is acceptable with no overflow outside the parking spaces. Please exercise extreme caution and yield to industrial traffic. We’ve been told there will be flagging to control traffic so please be patient and accommodating. Logging activity is anticipated to finish in early July. Any concerns, questions or issues that arise should be directed to the SAS email [email protected] See more

#WHATTHEMEC ?! [VERSION FRANÇAISE EN DESSOUS] #WHATTHEMEC?! PLEASE READ AND SHARE! ... If you’ve ever made a purchase at MEC, I trust that the following information may be of great interest to you. If you've made a purchase at MEC, it means that you're a member and you can vote in this year's election for the MEC Board. We need your help. If you want the short version of all this, just click the following link (https://elections.mec.ca/vote/#login), log in to your account and vote for the following 4 candidates (scroll to the bottom): Steve Jones Simon Marchand Andrew Escobar Betsy Chaly You may notice that the above mentioned candidates (all exceptional) are the only 4 candidates who do not have a Recommended status placed on their ballot - and that's the whole point of this. Here’s a bit more background... MEC is a co-op. Its founding members had always intended for fair elections and integrity in all of the co-op's affairs. But that's not happening due to the following election practices that have been taking place over the last few years - a matter that is easy enough for us to fix, but only if we're smart about it. The obvious intent of the incumbent Board in labeling some candidates as "Recommended" right on the voting ballot is to give those specific candidates an unfair advantage - and many of us are just not cool with that. You’ll also notice that the Recommended candidates at MEC appear first in the list of nominees. Just like search engines, voters are most likely to review and select from the first results. This practice, coupled with next practice (outlined below) makes sure that each and every year, for years, that only the Board's "Recommended" candidates get elected. *Contest Incentivized Voting Scheme* In past years, MEC gave members an incentive to vote. Store signage advertised that members could win one of four $250 Gift Cards - if they voted. Of course, many members motivated by no more than a chance to win a free gift card, logged in to their accounts on a store computer and voted for the first 3 candidates placed at the top of the list by the Board. Done and entered! "No time to read the profiles, just enter me in the contest!" The members didn't realize it at the time, but in this way, the Board's chosen candidates, given a "Recommended" label and put at the top of the list, would scoop up tons of votes - while other candidates at the bottom of the list were disadvantaged. Perhaps they didn't realize it at the time, but in this way, members more interested in entering contests than by what the candidates had to offer, handed over control of our $500,000,000/annual sales co-op! In case members didn't make into a MEC Store, this "incentive to vote contest" was also advertised to members in MEC newsletters (just do a search in your past emails for Subject: Vote and win! and Sender: MEC and you will find that email. (If you don’t, you are free to DM me your email and I’ll forward you a copy). Remember, that MEC has 5,000,000 members so sending emails out offering sweepstakes-style prizes to members who vote was a powerful way for the Board to rack up votes for their preferred candidates. As a result, for years, only the incumbent Board's preferred candidates stood any chance of winning elections - and that's just how MEC elections were rigged - because we as members were not really paying attention - we trusted our Directors, but that trust may have been misplaced. But, if you, like me, remember what the co-op used to be and want fair elections restored there is great news and it's easier than you think. ALL YOU NEED TO DO IS TAKE 1 MINUTE TO VOTE, RIGHT NOW FOR THE 4 NON-RECOMMENDED CANDIDATES. We seem to be lucky this year. There are exactly 4 candidates without the questionable "Recommended" status. You'll find them at the bottom of the candidate list, yet they are all exceptional candidates and will serve the co-op well. Take Steve Jones for example, a lovely and highly-regarded fellow, disadvantaged by the current Board and put way at the bottom of the list - but Steve Jones is perhaps the most qualified candidate of all of them. Steve stands for things some other's Directors don't - like transparency of executive salaries and sticking to accepted governance principles - principles which help keep co-ops operating honestly and in the best interests of their members - but you can read his profile for more info. Steve's also the former Director for Leave No Trace Canada, just one position amongst many other high-level positions in outdoor advocacy that Steve has held. As members, we couldn't hope for a better fit - so why are we allowing a Board to play 'fast and loose' with our elections and our interests? And it's not just Steve that deserves a fair shake, it's also Simon Marchand Andrew Escobar and Betsy Chaly So let's vote them in! This year, there are 4 open spots and you, as a member, have 4 votes. So if you haven't done so yet, click this link to vote (https://elections.mec.ca/vote/#candidates), scroll down and use your 4 votes to vote for the 4 candidates who do not have Recommended status and who deserve our support. That would help level the playing field at MEC. It would also send a message to our current and future Boards that we won't let them rig our elections anymore - we're on to it. Please let me know if you have any questions, and thank you so much for your time on this - oh, and don't forget to SHARE THIS POST. ----------------- [VERSION FRANÇAISE] MERCI DE LIRE ET DE PARTAGER AUSSI TÔT QUE POSSIBLE ! Si vous avez déjà fait le moindre achat chez MEC, je suis certain que cette information suscitera votre intérêt. Si vous avez acheté chez MEC, cela veut dire que vous en êtes membre, et que vous pouvez voter cette année à l’élection pour le conseil d’administration de la coop. Et on a besoin de votre aide ! Si vous voulez la version courte: cliquez sur cet URL (https://elections.mec.ca/vote/#login), connectez-vous à votre compte et votez pour ces quatre candidat.es (en bas de la page): Steve Jones Simon Marchand Andrew Escobar Betsy Chaly Vous remarquerez peut-être que ces candidats (tous et toutes exceptionnel.les) sont les quatre seul.es qui n’ont pas le statut recommandé sous leur nom. Et c’est justement le nœud du problème ! Mise en contexte MEC est une coopérative. Ses membres fondateurs aspiraient à des élections équitables, et à une totale intégrité dans toutes les actions de la coop. Mais, ce n’est malheureusement plus le cas, au vu des processus électoraux qui se sont imposés ces dernières années. Or, c’est un problème que nous pouvons aisément régler, si nous réagissons promptement. Les membres actuels du Conseil d'Administration étiquettent certain.es candidat.es comme recommandé.es , directement sur le bulletin de vote. Leur objectif, de toute évidence, est de donner un avantage inéquitable à leurs favoris. Et pour le moment, beaucoup d’entre nous n’en font pas grand cas Remarquez aussi que les candidat.es recommandé.es apparaissent en haut de la liste, plutôt que d’être triés selon un ordre alphabétique ou aléatoire Comme dans une recherche Google, les électeurs ont une forte tendance à consulter et sélectionner en priorité les premiers résultats, tout en haut de la page. Cette pratique, en tandem avec d’autres méthodes présentées ci-après, assurent depuis trop longtemps que, année après année, seules les personnes recommandées soient élues. *LA MÉTHODE DE LA CAROTTE ÉLECTORALE* Ces dernières années, MEC s’est mis à récompenser les gens pour leur vote. Un affichage massif en magasin communique aux membres que leur vote leur fera courir la chance de gagner l’une des quatre cartes-cadeaux d’une valeur de 250$. Évidemment, plusieurs membres, motivés uniquement par la perspective de remporter la carte-cadeau, se sont connectés et ont voté pour les trois premiers candidats de la listes (qui, rappelons-le, ont été placés en haut de la liste par le CA). OK! C’est fait! Pas le temps de lire les profils des candidats, inscrivez-moi juste au concours! Ces membres ne l’ont peut-être pas réalisé à ce moment-là, mais de cette façon, les candidats sélectionnés par le CA actuel ont raflé des tonnes de votes, tandis que les autres candidats, non recommandés et relayés au bas de la liste, étaient gravement désavantagés. Ce qu’ils ne réalisaient pas non plus, c’est qu’ainsi, des membres intéressés par le concours plus que par les propositions des candidats leur ont cédé le contrôle de notre coopérative, et de ses 500,000,000$ de ventes annuelles. Et pour ceux qui ne se sont pas rendus en magasin, ce concours/carotte électorale a aussi été publicisé dans l’infolettre des membres MEC (vous pouvez vérifier vous-même, si vous l’avez reçue. Sinon, écrivez un message privé à @Niv Froehlich, qui vous en fera parvenir une copie). Souvenez-vous ! MEC appartient à 5 millions de membres ! Leur envoyer des courriels en offrant un prix à ceux et celles qui votent est un moyen redoutablement efficace d’amasser des votes faciles pour leurs candidats préférés. Résultat : Durant des années, seuls les candidats sélectionnés par le CA en place avaient une chance de remporter les élections. C’est ainsi que les élections MEC ont été truquées. Parce que les membres n’ont pas porté attention à ce qui se passait : ils faisaient confiance à leur Conseil d’Administration. Mais cette confiance n’était pas méritée. Si, comme moi, vous vous rappelez de ce que la coopérative représentait et désirez revenir à un processus électoral juste Bonne nouvelle ! Ce sera plus facile que vous ne le pensez ! TOUT CE QU’IL Y A À FAIRE, C’EST DE PRENDRE UNE PETITE MINUTE POUR VOTER, DÈS MAINTENANT, POUR LES QUATRE CANDIDATS NON RECOMMANDÉS. On a de la chance, cette année ! Il y a exactement quatre candidats qui ne profitent pas de la suspecte mention recommandé . On les trouve tout en bas de la liste, malgré qu’ils et elles soient d’exceptionnel.les cadidat.es qui sauront servir dignement la coopérative. Prenez Steve Jones, par exemple : un individu aimable, et hautement apprécié de tous, mais défavorisé par le CA actuel et relayé en bas de la liste (alors qu’il est peut-être le candidat le plus qualifié de toute la ribambelle). Steve milite pour des causes dont les membres du CA ne veulent pas entendre parler : par exemple, divulguer de manière transparente les salaires des hauts dirigeants de la COOP, et respecter les principes de gouvernance qui ont fait l’ADN de la coop (des principes qui poussaient la coop à se comporter de façon honnête et responsable, dans le meilleur intérêt de ses membres). Vous n’avez qu’à lire son profil si vous voulez en savoir plus! Steve était anciennement président de l’organisme Sans Trace. Ce n’est là qu’un seul des nombreux postes décisionnels qu’il a occupés dans des instances de défense et de promotion du plein air. Comme membres, nous ne pouvons rêver d’un meilleur candidat. Alors pourquoi permettons-nous au CA de jouer leur propre jeu avec nos élections et nos intérêts ? Steve n’est pas le seul à mériter notre soutien et un processus électoral équitable. Il y a aussi: Simon Marchand Andrew Escobar Betsy Chaly Allons voter pour les inclure au CA! Cette année, il y a quatre sièges à pourvoir. Et en tant que membre, vous avez quatre votes! Alors, si ce n’est pas déjà fait, cliquez sur (https://elections.mec.ca/vote/#candidates), allez en bas de la liste, et offrez vos quatre votes pour les quatre candidat.es qui n’ont pas le statut recommandé.es , mais qui méritent notre soutien. Cela aidera à égaliser le terrain, et enverra un message clair au futur CA : nous ne les laisserons pas truquer nos élections. On est là! Adressez-vous à Niv Froehlich si vous avez la moindre question, et merci énormément d’avoir pris le temps de lire ceci. Et surtout ***allez voter, et partagez largement cette publication dès que possible*** afin que nous nous adressions à autant de membres qu'on peut... avant qu’ils ne se laissent tenter à voter pour des candidats au hasard, sans avoir été conscientisés à la flagrante carence démocratique qui a infesté notre processus électoral. traduit de l'anglais par Anis Azzoug

While we are all waiting to get back on to the rock we have created some online courses for you. Hoping to keep learning and progressing to make the most of our time climbing outside when that comes again! Get 50% off our courses if you use the coupon "vanrock"

Looking for something fun to do this weekend while at home? Check out the Pretty Strong film tour online! Use code COVID to get $9 tickets. This gets you an access code that is valid from noon today (April 17th) until noon Sunday (April 19th) to watch the Canadian premiere celebrating these bad ass women in climbing!