OUR PURPOSE
MICA is a non-profit with the mission to protect and assist in managing rock climbing areas on Vancouver Island in the area bounded by the Chemainus River to the south, Horne Lake to the north, and Sutton Pass to the east.
This includes:
Representing the climbing community to governments, indigenous communities, land owners, and other interested parties.
Promoting sustainable and responsible climbing.
Building, maintaining and restoring climbs, trails, and other needed facilities.
Participating in planning for and management of climbing areas.
Supporting data collection and research related to climbing.
Educating climbers and others with regard to safety and environmental impacts.
Creating and promoting a climbing community that is inclusive and equal for all.
Minimizing, managing, and mitigating user conflicts and environmental impacts.
ACTIONS WE HAVE TAKEN
A few examples of the actions MICA has taken since our founding in 2020:
Ongoing dialogue with the Horne Lake Strata to ensure ongoing access and to assist with seasonal fire closures and other emergency measures.
Creation of a new trail at Darkside to facilitate ongoing crag access.
Rock cleaning at The Steppes in Lantzville.
Hardware upgrade to dozens of the most popular routes at Rutherford, Sunnyside and Mount Benson, including installation of mussy hook anchors.
Releasing the 7th edition of the Nanaimo Crags guidebook.
Coordinating our efforts with our partner organizations South Island Climbers Association, North Island Climbers Association, and Vancouver Climbers Association, all of who are under of the banner of Climbers Access Society of BC.
BOARD OF DIRECTORS
Whelm King
Kent Krauza
Ryan Kurytnik
Allison Krauza
HONORARY LIFETIME MEMBERS
Climbing in the mid Island has largely been developed and maintained by a small dedicated group. Preceding MICA by more than 20 years, these individuals have, often at their own expense, spent countless hours finding, developing and maintaining crags. These are the true founders of climbing in the mid Island and we honor them, with the deepest gratitude, for their generous service to our community.
Jody Bernst
One of the original route developers in Nanaimo. Along with Tony Fitzsimmons, he also wrote the original guidebook for Nanaimo climbing that was published in 1996.
Ray Hawkes
One of the original outdoor route developers in Nanaimo, Ray started bolting sport routes in Nanaimo in the late eighties. He continues to guide rock climbing in BC with his company Solstice Alpine Guides.
Nathaniel Burgess
Nathaniel has contributed countless hours of work putting up routes and building trails, mostly at the Dawg Wall and Wakesiah Wall. He continues to be active in climbing area development in Nanaimo.
Kent Krauza
Kent has been actively climbing for more than 25 years. He is an active mentor in the community and since 2015 he has been the developing and maintaining the Sunny Side and Dark Side crags.
Chris Gill
Chris established many routes at various crags in the early years of outdoor climbing in Nanaimo.
Ryan Kurytnik
Ryan started putting up new routes in Nanaimo in the late 90’s. His passion for route discovery evolved into writing the guidebook for Nanaimo. He continues to be very active in new route creation around Nanaimo.
Jonathan Hamilton
Jonathan is one of the original developers and advocates for climbing in the mid Island area, which continues to this day. He is also the owner of Nanaimo’s original and largest climbing gym, Romper Room.
Greg Sorenson
Greg has been an active climber for the past 45 years. He began developing trails and routes at the Sunny Side in 1995 and the Dark Side in 1996, as well as multiple other climbing crags in the mid Island area.