‘A place to connect’: How the South Asian Climbers Coalition creates community in Metro Vancouver
The organization hosts monthly meetups across the Lower Mainland to make climbing culture more accessible
The coalition hosts indoor and outdoor climbing events for members of the South Asian community. (Submitted)
Shabana Ali created a group for South Asian climbers in the Lower Mainland to come together unintentionally.
When she did not win a social sciences and humanities grant to support her kinesiology master’s project at the University of British Columbia, she looked for corporate funding.
To boost her application for this funding, a friend of hers who runs a queer BIPOC climbing initiative recommended she start an organization of her own — and soon after the South Asian Climbers Coalition was born.
With the support of the Arc’teryx Community Grant and Mitacs Accelerate Grant from Hive Climbing and Climb On Equipment, Ali used the money for exactly what she set out to do — bringing out five South Asian climbers and five South Asian mentors with 10 to 15 years of experience to Squamish in May 2022. The participants were photographed rock climbing in saris and engaging in other outdoor activities.
Afterwards, Arc’teryx’s Metrotown location reached out to Ali to provide more funding, which prompted her to start meetup nights at Hive Climbing’s Surrey location.
“It just snowballed from there,” Ali says, adding one of her early participants, Pirabalini Balasingham, made her believe there is an interest to keep the meetups going. Balasingham has gone on to contribute to the coalition in various ways, including starting its website, grant writing, and hosting sessions.
“We have 100 members in our WhatsApp chat group, and we run six climbing meetups monthly, so you can climb at half price in six gyms across Vancouver every month,” Ali says.
The coalition hosts monthly meetups at Hive Climbing’s Surrey, North Shore, and Vancouver Heights locations, as well as Vancouver’s Progression Bouldering Gym and Climb Base5’s North Vancouver and Coquitlam sites.
Members can also organize their own meetups, including outdoor climbing sessions, under the coalition and use it as a way to create more access for fellow South Asians in climbing, Ali says.
“For me, whoever wants to run something [so] long as everybody’s being good to each other … I think it’s great. People should just go for it.”
At the meetups, participants begin by introducing themselves to each other, sharing their name and pronouns.
“The organizer usually thinks of something that at least gives everybody a touch point for communication. It could be something silly, it could be something profound, it could be whatever. And then folks can pair off and decide if they want to climb together.”
Ali says when a new participant joins a meetup, they are added to the coalition’s WhatsApp group right away and made an admin.
“You’re forever able to connect with folks to keep coming to other events, find out about promotions, and just find climbing partners.”
Ali says because Canadian society has structural racism and oppression, the South Asian Climbers Coalition is a place where people can find commonality and share their experiences.
“[It serves] as a place where brownness is centred rather than marginalized,” Ali says.
“I think that’s the reason folks come together — to find a place to connect and find community. A lot of people find climbing very intimidating, so it just gives them a reason to come out and know that they’re going to feel welcome, see friendly faces, and have somebody to climb with.”
She adds there is an overlap between the Lower Mainland’s large South Asian population, many of whom are not engaged in climbing, and B.C.’s outdoor and climbing culture.
“It’s important for [South Asians] to be recognized, start engaging with the outdoors, and find opportunities in that way. If they feel like traditionally they haven’t had access, it gives them an opportunity in, like a foothold, to be able to come into that culture.”
Ali hopes through the coalition, members gain an understanding of other peoples’ identities because the South Asian community is inherently diverse.
“I love the fact that there are gay climbers, gender-queer climbers, people of very different class backgrounds — just all sorts of differences. I love being in a space with folks with disabilities,” she says.
“I feel like we should all be together in this space and support each other beyond the commonality of a similar cultural background.”
For more information about the organization and to join a meetup, visit www.southasianclimbers.com.
