Newfoundland’s Climbing Hub

Wallnuts opened its doors

in July of 1995 and they’re still the only commercial climbing facility in Newfoundland. The family business was started by Inge van Ulden, whose son Leo took the gym over in 2006. Leo is an avid climber who makes regular trips to Squamish and has been to the Bugaboos, Skaha, Red Rocks, the Gunks and the Arctic Circle for ice climbing near Nunavut’s Iqaluit.

The members and staff are like a big family. Ben Winstanley is the head coach for the Newfoundland Team and he has been training at the g ym for well over a decade. Wallnuts is one of the oldest g yms in Canada; you can feel the histor y when climbing on its walls.

Despite being 19, nearly al l of the holds are only a few years old. There are 19 routes, eight of which are leadable and the bouldering ter rain goes up to four metres and is about 80 - square metres. They are cur rently looking for investors to do an expansion or to build in the nearby town of Paradise. As more people are f inding climbing to be their pastime spor t, Wallnuts is getting busier by the season. There is a core group of dedicated members and outdoor climbers who train at Wallnuts. Leo has always promoted outdoor climbing and he helps climbers transition to real rock ever y summer.

In 2014, they hosted a members’ night cal led Climb n Cheese. “We rented a bouncy boxing r ing and had bouts bet ween staf f, management and members. It was a lot of fun,” said Leo van Ulden. “We also helped put of f the third Annual Flatrock Climbing Festival. We bolted a few new routes, set up 23 top ropes and supported the Newfoundland and Labrador section of the Alpine Club of Canada ( accnl) in r unning the event. There were over 150 people in attendance as well as Quebec climber Jean-Pier re Ouelette who ran some clinics.”

Wal l nuts changes their routes on a week ly basis, the ent ire g y m is changed with in t wo months. As the fa l l approaches, the st a f f is get t i ng ready for potent ia l ly one of their busiest year s