Alaska S.O.L.E.S • Entered by Loren Karro on March 26, 2020
Meetin with REI Staff, Rock Gym, photo session
March 5, 2020
Participants and Hours
| Pre Planning hours | 1 |
| Post Admin hours | 1 |
| Activity Hours | 5.5 |
| Participants | 2 |
| Total Hours | 13 |
Key Issue: Doesn’t apply
Activity Type: Other Administration (reporting, emails, calls, planning)
Key Partners: REI Anchorage store and Alaska Rock Gym
Short Description of Activity
Met with Martin from REI to review area for meeting and meet with other REI staff. Went to Alaska Rock Gym to meet with Siri (manager), Sagar (photographer) and Eric (membership). They gave us all the gear to climb. Did a photo shoot of us getting ready, with ropes and harness, tying knots etc with Siri as instructor. WE then went to the rock wall and Kathy and Loren each did a couple of climbs on one route, while Siri instructed and Sagar took pictures. Eric was enervated! We then went to another route and climbed side by side while Sagar perched on the top and took photos. We had NOT planned on actually climbing, had actually agreed we wouldn’t, but Siri told us she was going to give us a hard time about that. And we loved the climbing and found that despite our physical limitations we could still do it!! Sagar will make the pictures into a montage to use at the Alaska Soles introduction during the Pretty Strong fundraiser. He said that the pictures would be ours to keep and do with what we wanted.
Reflection/Evaluation
Kathy and Loren both found they could do what they thought they couldn’t /shouldn’t any longer! And they loved it. Both came back ready to improve upper body conditioning so that they could do it again. They will later meet with the group of elders that climb every morning. Siri offered to get them certificated in belaying so the they could be active members of the group. Eric spoke with many members during the shoot, telling them who we were representing and what Broads was and pointing them to the literature there. Eric and Sagar each approached us as we were removing our protective equipment and said it was a lot of fun because of the energy and joy we brought to the activity; we felt the same about them. I think it will be a symbiotic relationship and we are so grateful for both the company’s offers of help, advertisement and donations. We were both hesitant about the gym activity but left our comfort zone and learned and stretched and had a ball. And perhaps spread the word while getting some free photos to use in the future.