Summary / Quick Breakdown 🏃♂️ :
Rating: ⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️
Location 📌: Richmond Olympic Oval, 6111 River RD, Richmond BC, V7C 0A2
Good 👍 : Huge Facility Overall, Many activities to choose from, Olympic grade equipment
Bad 👎 : Costs money for parking if not a member or transiting, definitely a bit more expensive for individual passes, climbing wall is terrifyingly high.
Price 💰 : $$$
For my second adventure I would like to talk about my experience at one of my favourite facilities called the Richmond Olympic Oval.
As you can guess, the Richmond Olympic Oval was built because of the Olympic Games. More specifically, it was built because of the 2010 Olympic Games and was meant specifically for Speed Skating.
Did you know? The arena that was built there originally was destined for SFU, but as the bid fell through it went back to Richmond.
This adventure will specifically focus on the climbing wall, which is a whopping 18 metres tall (about 59 feet) and has a wall that has a 40-degree overhang. In non-climbers’ terms, it’s a really tall and slanted wall. For comparison, our own climbing wall at the school is half the height of this wall.
However, we must also include the other facilities, including the state-of-the-art fitness centre which outpaces many other commercial gyms that I am aware of. My other personal favourite was the Ride Cycling Room, which was really immersive and engaging with the wall-to-wall statistics screen.
Back to the climbing wall, as an avid climber I think that it is definitely worth the price. There are no other facilities of this kind in Metro Vancouver that provide such a unique experience. The nearest one would be in Alberta but doesn’t even come close as they don’t have the overhang wall.
The experience of climbing here is different. Climbing has allowed me to overcome my fear of heights and do crazy things like huge lead falls. However, every time I climb at this wall I get really terrified by the sheer height and open fairness of the wall. I honestly think I would faint if I had to take a lead fall on this wall.
All in all, no matter if you’re new or experienced, love or hate rock climbing, there is something here for everyone. If you can reach the summit, it is rewarding, but you would be lying if you aren’t terrified.