COVID-19 Updates

Dear Hive Community,

Thank you for another incredible year at The Hive! It has been so wonderful to see a return to normal, and while there are good reasons to remain cautious, it has truly been a pleasure to keep you all climbing without interruption throughout 2022.

Of course inflation, higher interest rates, and subsequently increased costs across the board are impacting us all, with The Hive being no exception. 

We know that these same factors significantly affect the lives of our staff, and in an effort to support our teams through these challenging financial times, the biggest factor in this adjustment is to directly increase our wages across the board for all our hourly staff. We must do our best to ensure these folks, whom you know and love, can make ends meet. 

On the back of some difficult years (a result of COVID) we have had to take a careful look at our pricing structure in order to continue offering our services while increasing wages. We are aligning our price adjustments in order to retain a stable financial situation that allows us to maintain your facilities, make necessary improvements, develop new and improve existing programs, and return to some of the things we love like community events, fundraisers, and other unique opportunities.

If you would like to take advantage of our current pricing model, we encourage you to do so before the end of the year, as the adjustment will go into effect January 2, 2023.  

(Please note that members with Ongoing Monthly (EFT) Memberships will see no change to their locked-in pricing.)

Thank you so much for climbing with us! We are endlessly grateful for your support of our facilities and our incredible staff team, who deserve it immensely. We are truly excited to see you all in the new year!

Happy Holidays!

Andrew Coffey

Dear Hive Community,

Having reviewed all the feedback, comments and concerns from our staff and via the chalk survey, we have reached a decision on chalk use in the gyms. Thank you for your patience and understanding as we considered this matter deeply from multiple perspectives.

We have adjusted the rules and determined some next steps going forward:

1. Dry chalk will be allowed at Hive North Shore, Poco, Surrey and Winnipeg for the foreseeable future, effective immediately.
2. There will be a minor change to the chalk rules at Hive Heights (chalk balls and liquid chalk allowed in the facility).
3. Hive Vancouver will remain liquid chalk only for the foreseeable future
   (This is due to the inability to effectively enhance the ventilation system in this older building.)

We may reassess these rules if and when there is new information to consider, and reserve the right to make future changes as needed in consideration of the health of the staff team who spend many hours in the gym.

We have discussed the limited scientific information available on air quality in climbing gyms and similar environments with a couple of gracious professors from UBC (one a climber, and one not) and are going to cooperate to allow a research project with some students to run over the coming months. As the gyms which allow dry chalk get busier going into the fall/winter, we’ll be implementing and testing additional options to improve air quality for all, starting with areas where staff spend the most time.

With a broader range of chalk options, we’ll all need to work together to keep the clouds to a minimum by practicing considerate chalk etiquette, please:

• Use liquid and/or a chalk ball where possible.
• Be mindful to keep chalk on your hands or in your bag.
• Avoid the pre-climb ‘clap-and-blow’ with loose powder, especially during peak hours
  (this is usually 5pm-9pm M-F, and weekends from Open to ~ 4pm).

Thank you for your consideration and patience throughout this process; happy climbing!

Sincerely, 
The Hive Team

Thank you again to everyone who took the time to provide feedback through our chalk survey. We received over 1600 responses, and it has taken some time to read through all of your written responses (while still doing all the work required to keep the gyms running smoothly).

Surprisingly (to us), we actually received a lot of support for liquid chalk-only, mainly on the basis of air quality and staff health. We are also listening to the array of challenges liquid chalk brings, and understand the desire by many to go back to chalk balls.

Any decisions that we make regarding chalk use will come with compromise for some of our community, so it is our duty to weigh all aspects thoroughly. Between now and mid September, our team will be discussing the following points:

• How we could make liquid chalk more affordable
• The challenges and potential solutions around using liquid chalk or chalk balls
• The benefits we have seen to air quality (we are in contact with a couple of professors at UBC to discuss this from a professional, outside viewpoint)
• The constructive suggestions for potential solutions some folks offered
• Other important concerns you shared, such as health conditions, impacts on holds, environmental considerations, and of course your climbing experiences with liquid chalk over the last couple of years.

We want to take a moment to share our appreciation for our supportive front of house team – this decision affects them greatly, not only as staff but as climbers, too, with their own unique experiences and challenges.

We wish this could be handled more quickly but we hope you understand that we care a lot about how our staff and climbers feel in the gyms, and this is not a decision we are taking lightly. Until then, we would like to thank you, our community, for your patience and for treating our team with kindness throughout this process.

Sincerely,
A very conflicted Management Team (who are also climbers)

Dear Hive Guests and Members,

As you may have already heard, due to lowered hospitalization and transmission rates the B.C. government has lifted the restriction of mandatory masks in public places effective first thing Friday, March 11, 2022.

While we are excited that this relaxation is a sign of the ‘return to normal’ that we have been longing for, we recognize that many folks may also be feeling uncomfortable or nervous due to a multitude of very valid reasons, and might prefer that the mask mandate remain in place. After living with masks as part of our daily lives for over 2 years now, for many this change feels like it’s happening abruptly. To allow our staff team a little time to make the necessary changes and for everyone to adapt, we will continue to require masks for everyone in our facilities until the end of day Sunday, March 13.

Beginning Monday, March 14, masks will be optional at all BC Hive facilities for staff and guests; we encourage those who feel most comfortable wearing a mask to continue doing so while climbing or working out.

As we share space in the gyms, please keep in mind that not everyone is going to feel as you do (excited, nervous, perhaps both or neither). We expect our community to be respectful and considerate of each other regarding individual choices around mask wearing.

As we have since the beginning of the pandemic, we will continue to follow government mandates. Pending any further changes subsequent to the March 10 announcement, Proof of Vaccination will no longer be required as of April 8, 2022.

We hope that this transition goes smoothly and believe that we, as a community, can remain kind and supportive to one another despite some differing and difficult feelings, as we share this pursuit we all love.

As per the Feb 15 announcement by Dr Bonnie Henry, “starting February 16 at 11:59 pm, many restrictions will be eased. With proof of vaccination and masks remaining in place, many activities can return to normal.”

What this means for The Hive in BC:

• Masks and Vaccine Checks remain in place across all BC Hive locations.

   

• Hive Heights and Hive Vancouver retain a booking system for members and punch users up to and including Feb 28. Guest bookings will reopen for sessions starting March 1; all bookings continue to open one week in advance of the session date/time. Climbers at these two locations will see gradually increased capacity over the coming weeks.

  Please Note: The maintenance of the booking system is to manage a pre-pandemic capacity issue. Those who remember climbing during peak hours at Hive Vancouver will recall that even when we implemented ‘Member Only Hours’ the gym was still extremely busy; the booking system is the best way we’ve found to manage the risks associated with this issue as fairly as possible.
  

• As of Thursday Feb 17, 2022:  Hive Poco, Surrey, and North Shore will no longer require bookings. 
  • Please see google or hiveclimbing.com and click on your location of choice to check hours of operation 
  • If you had a booking, you no longer need it.
  • If you couldn’t get a booking, now you may come climbing anyhow.

     

• North Shore Studio classes will see a capacity increase. We still recommend booking, and ask that if you cannot attend, that you cancel and allow others to use that spot.

   

• Of course, we continue to encourage you to stay home if you’re not well, practice top-notch hand hygiene, and wipe down shared workout equipment when you’re done using an item.

   

• Last but not least, please be compassionate and considerate with those whose comfort levels appear different from yours; we’re all adjusting as best we can, and everyone’s situation is different.