Staff
Our team knows climbing.
Our team has over 20 years of experience growing, shaping and inspiring the climbing industry. From owning and operating climbing gyms across Canada, to helping organize dozens of climbing competitions from Nationals to World Cups.
ROBERT SOMOGYI
Co-owner
Hometown: Island raised, grass fed
Age: 47
Name your kryptonite: Peanut butter and chocolate
Favourite things?: Family, good vibes and seeing people getting stoked!
How long have you been climbing?: 27 years – wish time made me a better climber!
What do you do when you’re not climbing?: Riding, kayaking or any other self propelled motion
Inspiration: All those who explore and push beyond the impossible and keep going
Favorite food: Food!
Worst climbing memory: Having to wash dishes in hot water after first thrashing in Jtree- ouch!
Best climbing memory: First day in Jtree 🙂
SPENCER LAJEUNESSE
Facilities Manager and Head Setter
26 years breathing
22 years Snowboarding
7 years meditating
6 years route setting
5 years being very fond of chocolate milk.
3 years on Vancouver Island
2 years with Boulder House
1 cumulative year spent drinking coffee
Whats next? Adventure – Outdoor climbing trips – Entrepreneurship – A life time of caring for the environment.—
Kyla Mackenzie
Front of House Manager
Hometown: Victoria, B.C.
Age: 29
Guilty pleasure: Bread, fresh from the oven, with salted butter.
Favourite things: Adventures with friends and laughing!
When did you start climbing?: 2.5 years ago and it changed my life.
When you’re not climbing?: Brainstorming my next art project.
Favourite climbers: Akiyo Noguchi / Shauna Coxsey / Margo Hayes
What inspires you?: Watching people in their “element”, it’s pure magic.
Hobbies: Painting, illustration, photography, and music.
Goals: Climb more outdoor projects!
Jonny Ker
Marketing, Media and Mayhem
Age: 26 (around 40 inside)
Hometown: Victoria, BC
Guilty pleasure: Fleming Beach Eliminates, John Wick movies
When you’re not climbing: joking around, checking out nice cafes, planning the next trip, learning about something new
Favourite food: Hakata style Ramen!
Best Climbing Memory: So many! Standing on top of the Ammagamma boulder in the Grampians is a big one though.
JEAN-MARC DE LA PLANTE
Co-owner
Still don’t know who this guy is, he’s just around all the time.
Hometown: Montreal, QC
Age: Undisclosed
First job in climbing?: Been in the industry for more than half my life. Started belaying kids in the 90’s
Climbing Accomplishments?: Now a partner in 5 gyms across the country (Allez Up, Seven Bays, BoulderHouse, Up the Bloc, Joe RockHeads)
If you can’t have coffee?: Entrepreneurship fuels me
Best part of climbing?: I love climbing because of the community. I am so much stronger with friends around
Hobbies: Climbing hold nerd
What inspires you?: Transforming old dank spaces into climbing gyms
When you’re not climbing?: Spending time with my wife & daughter
Favourite climbing term: Started at the bottom now I’m here
Our Collaborators
Our collaborators are hand picked based on their experience in their own fields as well as supporting, healing and inspiring the climbing community.
Milen Kootnikoff
Adventure Photographer
Milen is an avid surfer and rock climber living in Victoria, BC. His photography is a culmination of a life spent growing and learning through outdoor experiences. As a professional creative, he strives to create images that bring people into an experience that are both inclusive and visually inspiring. When not outdoors, you can find him in the climbing gym or sipping tea and stuffing himself with baked goods.
Email: hello@mikophotographer.com
Christy Mader, RMT
Registered Massage Therapist
As a climber and a registered massage therapist, Christy understands how appropriate treatment enables us to continue with our passions! As an elite Ultimate Frisbee player and a climber for over 20 years, she understands the importance of proper training, adequate rest, and rehab protocols for returning from injury. Christy teaches our stabilization courses to provide education for core recruitment and strengthening through climbing specific movements. She is also coaching athletes to push beyond plateaus by exposing areas of weakness and improving technique!
Email: christymaderrmt@gmail.com
Treatment: www.christymader.ca
Our Ambassadors
Our amabssadors share our passion of climbing and are tightly knit into the community. They go above and beyond when sharing their experience and talents not just in climbing but in everything they do.
Becca Frangos
Open Canadian Team Member
Growing up in Canmore Alberta, a healthy lifestyle and mountain sports have shaped my life since the time I was able to walk. Skiing, biking, hiking and outdoor climbing are sports that I’ve grown up with and will always love to participate in, but it’s climbing that ignited my passion for competitive sport. Ten years ago, I began climbing at a summer camp and became instantly hooked by the strength, agility, endurance and mental focus it requires to succeed. I began my competition climbing career at the age of 13 and am currently a member of the Open Canadian Team, where I compete in all 3 disciplines (Bouldering, Lead and Speed) on the international competition circuit. When I am not training or competing I also love to push myself on hard outdoor climbs and I am also a full-time student at the University of Victoria where I am studying a combined degree in Biology and Psychology.
Tosh Sherkat
Climber at Large
Tosh started climbing as soon as his parents dragged him up his first cliff in Nelson, BC.
Born to a climbing family, he found his passion for the sport at the age of 10, and competed on the Canadian youth climbing circuit. These comps took Tosh all over the world as he trained and pursued international success while finishing up high school.
Tosh feels most at home in the gym or at the crag, sharing laughs and sends with friends. Now attending the University of Victoria for writing, Tosh continues to train to achieve his goals of competing on the world stage, and climbing the world’s hardest routes.
Finn Battersby
Climbing and Athletic Powerhouse
Victoria Born and raised I grew up in a family of athletes, always active and involved in
everything from running and rowing to ski touring and hiking. This lifestyle has influenced every
aspect of my life and provided me with some incredible opportunities. I began climbing at 15
followed shortly after with my first climbing competitions. I continue to compete at a national,
and international level, with my eyes now set on the open National team. For me climbing
provides an ever-changing mental challenge, as well as a unique way to interact with your
environment.
The gym is essentially my second home at this point, although I do like to get away and climb
outdoors whenever possible. Little known fact, I’ve spent less than a day total climbing in
Squamish.
As well as representing Boulderhouse as an Ambassador, I also work as setter which provides
an entirely different perspective on climbing. I find it refreshing being able to explore the many
paths that climbing can lead you down, and I’m excited to see where it takes me next.