Author Archive

Head Coach | Tacoma

Thursday, March 9th, 2023

LUKAS ANDERSON

I am excited to announce that I was offered and have accepted the position of Team Head Coach here at Edgeworks Tacoma. It has been a pleasure working with the team thus far, and I have sincerely enjoyed getting to know all of your athletes better. I would like to express my gratitude to all of you for your support of Team Edgeworks, as well as the consistent support you provide your athletes.

A bit about myself.

I started as an assistant coach at Edgeworks in August 2022, and had been climbing for about twelve years before that. I began my journey with climbing right here at Edgeworks Tacoma when I was sixteen years old, and have kept at it to varying degrees since. A Tacoma native, I graduated from Stadium High School in 2012, and went on to receive my Bachelors in International Studies at The University of Washington in 2016. 

In 2017, I moved to Japan to work as an English Teacher as part of the Official Jet Program USA. I spent four years as an Elementary and Junior High school teacher, and one year working at a private tutoring institution. My fiancé and I moved back to the Pacific Northwest in June of last year, and were married in mid-July. It has been an incredibly exciting couple of years, with many perspective changes and important life lessons learned. 

My time teaching in Japan left a lasting impression on me, and cultivated my passion for youth education. Upon my return to the US, I decided to do whatever I could to combine this passion for education with my own passion for climbing, and found myself extremely lucky to land a job here at Edgeworks Tacoma.

The assistant coach position has provided me the perfect space to begin applying my teaching skills in a much more physical and competitive environment. While I have a lot to learn as head coach, I am super excited to focus on a few things moving forward: I am incredibly excited to be working as head coach, and look forward to giving my all to help our team be the best it can be.

CHALK UP: Community Comp

Saturday, March 26th, 2022

Saturday, March 26, 2022 | 6:00pm – 8:30pm

Edgeworks Members: $45 | Non-Members: $55 

Registration Includes:
BEST ROPE ROUTES of the year  •  AWARDS  •  RAFFLE PRIZES  •  After PARTY (21+)

Pre-registration closes at 12pm, Wednesday, March 23rd
IN-PERSON day-of registration may be available if space remains; $55 for everyone

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Chalk up and get ready for a fun, new community rope competition! Bring a belayer and all the stoke to send while putting your rope climbing skills to the test on an all new set of competition style routes.

3 comps. 1 day. We’ll start the day early with morning and afternoon USAC Qualifying Events and then roll straight into an evening session dedicated to our members and community. 

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COMPETITION DETAILS:

Location: Edgeworks Tacoma
Date: Saturday, March 26, 2022
Time: 6:00pm – 8:30pm

Climbing Disciplines: Top rope and lead climbing
Format: Redpoint
Belayers: Bring your own belayer!
Categories: Select your gender during sign up – you’ll be automatically placed into a category based on total score.
Genders: Female, Male, Non-Binary
Ages: Competitors must be 16 years or older

SCHEDULE:
Check-In: 5:00pm
Competitor Meeting: 5:45pm
Climbing Begins: 6:00pm
Climbing Ends: 8:30pm
Awards & Raffle: 9:00pm

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WAIVERS:
When in doubt, fill one out! All climbers must complete a signed waiver or have one on file with Edgeworks in order to participate. Waivers must be renewed each year. Click here now!

BRING YOUR OWN BELAYER:
Belayers must hold a current belay certification with Edgeworks Climbing. Top rope and lead tests can be taken at any of our locations at any time prior to comp day! The day is going to be quite busy and our Tacoma staff will not be available for belay/lead test on the day of the event.

AWARDS and RAFFLE PRIZES:
Instead of cash prizes, we choose to invest that money into some pretty sweet swag that everyone has a chance to win! The top 3 competitors in each COMMUNITY COMP category are guaranteed to walk away with a prize. Beyond that, our raffle prize system ensures that every competitor has a chance to win something too. Competitors must be present to win. Raffle prizes will be given out after the Awards (approx 9pm) and will include a sweet Grand Prize drawing!

AFTER PARTY! 8:30PM – 10PM
Once the competition ends, competitors and guests who are 21+ are invited to join us upstairs for the after party! Please note: all climbing will shut down at the conclusion of the community comp session; post-comp climbing sessions will not be available during this time.

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FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS: 

Prizes: 1st, 2nd and 3rd place competitors in each category will receive a sweet product prize from one of our event sponsors.

USAC Credit and Chalk UP: USAC Competitors CANNOT get credit for competing in the Chalk UP community comp. In the event that a USAC participant wants to compete for BOTH USAC credit AND prizes they must register for and climb in both sessions. Yes, that means they have to pay twice.

Climbing Time: Climbers will be allowed EXACTLY 2.5 hours to climb. All climbing will end at the 2.5 hour mark.

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WALL and GYM CLOSURES:

Monday – Friday, March 21st – 25th:
Wall closures will begin as competition setting takes place; closed areas will include all of the EAST BAY rope walls. The rope and boulder walls in the West Room will remain open to members and customers throughout the week!

Saturday, March 26th | Gym Closed 8am – 6pm
Because the morning and afternoon USAC Qualifying sessions will run as onsight competitions, the entire gym will be closed to all non-competitors from 8am – 6pm (including ALL of the climbing walls in the West Room, weight area, upstairs lounge, yoga and instruction rooms). All youth programs, climbing school courses and fitness classes will be cancelled. Our parking lot will be full so please plan ahead! Spectators are welcome in the competition area.

The West Bay and fitness areas will OPEN to MEMBERS ONLY after 6pm while the East Bay remains closed for the Chalk Up! rope comp.

Sunday, March 27th | Gym Re-Opens to Everyone
Climbing will fully reopen on Sunday, March 27 with a large selection of all new competition style rope routes for everyone to try!

Community Challenge

Tuesday, August 3rd, 2021

COMPETE WITH FRIENDS. TRACK YOUR PROGRESS. HAVE FUN. WIN PRIZES!

Download the KAYA app TODAY to join!

Our ALL NEW Community Challenge is similar to our Boulder Series (or leagues) of the past but amped up in a whole new way!

Designed to be 2 competitions in one (seasoned pro or newbie), prizes will be awarded for top overall winners; recognition for “most improved”, “most recommendations” and “most unique routes”; plus a variety of weekly flash challenges worked in for added fun.

Regardless of your climbing ability (strong or newbie), this is sure to be a fun social experiment – er, EXPERIENCE –  for everyone involved.

WHY ARE WE USING THE KAYA APP?

The KAYA Climb app may be new to the Tacoma community but is used by climbers all around the world and its features help us better facilitate the challenge by:

  1. Making it easier for us to track participation and progress.
  2. Giving you real time standings to see where you’re at, how your progress compares to others and exactly what you need to do to WIN! 

CHALLENGE DETAILS: 

Here’s all that you really need to know.

BOULDERING:

Four categories: (prizes for 1st place in each category + most improved)
– Intro VB -V1
– Beginner V1 – V3
– Intermediate V3 – V5
– Advanced V5 – V+

ROPES:

Elevation Comp: (most feet climbed during comp; top 3 win prizes)
– 25 ft for West Bay (ropes)
– 40 ft for East Bay
– 50 ft for Lead Prow

OVERALL PRIZES:

  1. Flash Challenges
  2. Most recommendations

PRIZES AWARDED DURING OUR NEXT MEMBER SOCIAL: AUGUST 3RD!

NEW! Facility Updates

Saturday, May 1st, 2021

Building a community where all climbers feel welcome + engaged.

With a front entry renovation in Seattle and an expansion project expected in Bellevue (stay tuned for details!), we expect that everyone will have a lot of questions. Below are a few of those answers. 

HONORING STONE GARDENS’ HISTORY: 

Undeniably, Stone Gardens is “The Climbers Gym” with 25 years experience “providing the best climbing at every experience level—from beginners to seasoned climbers—and a knowledgeable, friendly staff ready to help.” It is this long standing passion and drive that will stay with us as we carry through into the future. 

GROWTH

Also undeniable is the amount of growth that has happened in the sport of climbing since 1995, when the Seattle gym first opened. With all of this growth, comes change and with change comes opportunity. The biggest of which is the opportunity to expand the meaning of the word “climber” to be more inclusive and welcoming, and to repackage what it means to be “The Climbers Gym”.  

WHO IS A “CLIMBER”?

The days of the dirtbag climber might not be fully behind us (some of us can still dream! #vanlife), but today’s answer to the question of “who is a climber” is open to so much more potential and possibility. It is this exciting growth in diversity that has been a driving factor for our entire industry to be better, more inclusive and more modern. 

At Edgeworks, this is a challenge we have always embraced with excitement; believing that everyone should feel at home inside our gyms.

We’re working to build a space where:  

  • Seasoned climbers know they’ll still find the best, most challenging and fun boulder problems and routes. 
  • Weekend warriors can run laps on the wall to maintain their endurance and train in the off season when they can’t get outside. 
  • New climbers feel welcome and unintimidated, as they walk through our door. 
  • Kids can be introduced to a sport that builds confidence, communication skills, responsibility, teamwork and a healthy dose of calculated risk. 
  • Community happens, built upon a shared interest in climbing, fitness, and fun (and sometimes beer!)

All in all, we aim to create a space that feels active, vibrant and welcoming. Where people choose to hang out even if they aren’t climbing because they know that this is where they will find their people and it’s where they belong. 

WHY RETAIL? 

We can’t think of a better way to answer that question than with a question:
What’s the 2nd most popular thing climbers love to talk about most? GEAR. And that’s true for us too! 

In recent years, we’ve seen many of our beloved, locally owned gear shops close their doors. From Marmot Mountain Works in Bellevue and other similar shops in Seattle + Tacoma. These stores offered services that aren’t always easy to find with big retailers; leaving a gap that we can help fill. 

Our staff are experts in climbing gear and combining this knowledge with thoughtfully curated retail options for our members allows us to:

  1. Offer a complete user experience for all climbers; new and experienced. 
  2. Get you closer to the vendor with shoe demos, special orders, product questions, etc.
  3. Connect with our members and build community. 

WHAT ABOUT THE CLIMBING?

As an indoor climbing gym, our walls and our route setting program are our #1 products. In order to provide the best experience for our members and customers, it’s crucial that we keep diversity in mind as we work to update our facilities, build new walls, and develop our setting teams. 

We are committed to providing the time and resources to ensure that we’re meeting, if not exceeding, your expectations (and ours) with the following: 

  1. Route quality and density
  2. Variety of setters and routes; including complex, challenging and thoughtful moves
  3. Available, varied and accessible terrain

If at any point if feels like we’ve taken something away, trust us that we have a plan to provide something better in its place. 

EDGEWORKS CLIMBING + GUIDING

When our new outdoor signs are installed in Bellevue and Seattle, you’ll notice this new tagline on the outside of our buildings. As part of our rebrand in 2020, Edgeworks Climbing + Fitness and Edgeworks Climbing + Guiding were both adopted as 2 interchangeable taglines; the first to highlight that which our facilities offer and the second to highlight our outdoor programs. 

The decision to use “Climbing + Guiding” in both Bellevue and Seattle stem from multiple considerations: 

  1. The Seattle facility has a strong history and focus on climbing with little space dedicated to fitness. 
  2. As part of the agreement with Crossroads Shopping center in Bellevue, we’ve opted not to include “fitness” on the outside of the building but do have plans to grow our fitness offerings inside!
  3. Guiding is a huge part of who we are, what we do and why we do it. This is our chance to highlight our commitment to this program and share our favorite wild spaces with more of our community. 

We can’t wait to share these new spaces with our community!

USAC Youth Bouldering Comp

Tuesday, November 24th, 2020

2020 Virtual Climbing Competition

November 9-23, 2020

Edgeworks has always been dedicated to providing opportunities for youth climbers to advance their skills and become strong competitors on a local, regional and national level. That is why we’ve chosen to partner with USA Climbing and other gyms in our region to offer a Virtual Youth Climbing Competition, November 9-23.

In preparation, we’re also excited to announce a new combined effort of Edgeworks and Stone Gardens route setters who will be working to reset both our boulder and rope walls! 

Starting November 2, you’ll notice focused attention on our boulder walls as these teams work to reset for the competition. The benefit will be 60+ new competition problems for all to enjoy! You don’t have to be a youth climber to get your hands on these stellar new routes. 

And, while we’re working with other coaches and climbing teams to reduce any impact on our reservation system, it’s important to note that during the 2-week comp period (Nov 9-23) reservations for ZONE 4 could fill up faster than usual.

Please make sure to adjust your plans accordingly.

End of Summer Sale

Wednesday, September 30th, 2020

SAVE up to $110 on new memberships!

Offer valid: September 1-30, 2020

It’s the end of summer and this year we’re extending our annual student membership sale to EVERYONE! Offering a savings of up to $110 with ALL AVAILABLE MEMBERSHIP TYPES qualifying for the $0 Start-Up Fee.

Did you cancel your membership because of our COVID closure?
Now’s the time to rejoin!

Are you looking to start something new, active, fun, healthy + safe this Fall?
Now’s the time to join!

Here’s How It Works:
Sign up online or in the gym for an AUTOPAY Membership with only a $0 Start-Up Fee!

All AUTOPAY Memberships are included: 

✅  Individual – save $60
✅  Student – save $50
✅  Family – save $110
✅  Military – save $50

New members are strongly encouraged to review our COVID Health + Safety information before completing the membership agreement.

Offer ends September 30, 2020.

Industry Deals During COVID

Thursday, April 30th, 2020

Get deals on holds, hangboards, shoes, apparel and more!

Based on the number of requests we’re receiving, we know you’re all staying busy building home woodies and dusting off your hangboards.

Unfortunately, the used hold sale that we had “pre-COVID” wiped us out of any more climbing holds to sell BUT you’re in luck… many hold companies have stepped up to offer “Support Your Gym” discounts.

What this means is that you receive a % off your purchase and/or Edgeworks receives a % of the sale – it’s a WIN, WIN!

So iLL

We have partnered with So iLL, in order to benefit our gym community and generate revenue for the gym during the upcoming weeks while our operations are closed. Your Win Is Our Win #TAKEHOLD

Here’s how it works:
You shop the So iLL website, use your unique gym coupon code – and you’ll receive 10% OFF all available/in stock products*. What happens after that? You get your goods and So iLL provides a kickback to our gym. It’s that simple.

Remember to use code “EDGEWORK10” at checkout! In order for Edgeworks to benefit, this unique code provided must be used on your purchase for tracking purposes.

Trango, eGrips + Tenaya

We’re also partnering with the Trango, eGrips + Tenaya retail support program where you can get a deal on new gear and support Edgeworks at the same time!

How It Works
Visit www.trango.com or www.e-grips.com and place your items in the cart.

Use the discount code “EDGEWORKS-SUPPORT” when ordering Trango, or place the code in the Customer Notes Field on eGrips website. Trango will fill and ship the order directly to you and then provide us with proceeds, just like you bought directly from our gym!

Pretty Strong Screening + Discussion

Friday, April 24th, 2020

Can ‘Pretty Strong’ be the next big climbing movie?

PRETTY STRONG, the film that follows eight of the world’s strongest female climbers as they explore new climbing areas, send hard projects, and push the boundaries of the sport and themselves, is now available to stream on Vimeo!

Step 1: WATCH

Rent it this week (or anytime) for only $5!  https://vimeo.com/ondemand/prettystrong/402224933

Step 2: DISCUSS

Participate in a FILM DISCUSSION hangout session with others from the Edgeworks community on Friday, April 24 at 7pm!

Join us for the discussion here: meet.google.com/owt-ycxt-rin