Dear Ground Up Members,
We know this is not a message you are looking forward to.
We waited as long as we could for things to shake out, for costs to balance and for the changes of the past two years to settle in. We know cost changes affect everyone; during visits to the grocery store, the gas pumps, restaurants and beyond. Many in our community are feeling the squeeze and this is why we have waited until we knew as much as possible to adjust our prices.
It’s been 6.5 years since Ground Up opened. Each year, we have seen minimum wage rise, as the cost of living has overtaken this metric. Over the past two years this was paired with rising cost of goods, insurance and rent as we weathered the pandemic and the challenges that came with it. We know these changes are not over and there is little we can do with speculation as to when inflation will slow down or what other world events will bring more changes.
We have done our best to support our staff through the pandemic and beyond. We plan to keep doing so by continuing comprehensive staff training, reassessing wage structures, and providing benefits. We also plan to continue to make your experience better through facility upgrades and operational improvements. In order to do this, we will need to raise our prices.
We have taken a critical look at our business and the cruxes we are facing. We have looked at other business models to see how they are being creative to support their communities and staff in a sustainable way. This has helped to inform our new pricing structure, to be made effective on September 12, 2022. Details are attached below.
I want to thank you, personally, for your patience and support through the past 6.5 years. Never would I have guessed that we would come up against so much, so quickly. We have heard your frustrations and been blown away by how many of you persisted in your encouragement, constructive feedback and support. I hope that we can continue to support you in return and support our whole community in growing from challenges we have faced.
Thank you,
Lauren and the Ground Up Team
Moving Forward
As always, we will continue to use Ground Up’s mission statement and objectives as our guides.
Ground Up Mission Statement
To be the foundation for a climbing community committed to sustainable knowledge, training and growth.
Objectives
- Promote community engagement through indoor climbing
- Encourage youth participation through programs and opportunities
- Create an inclusive space for climbers of all levels to learn, train and grow
- To provide comprehensive climbing education that allows for good habits, problem solving and decision-making throughout the climbers life
What will we keep doing?
- Re-evaluating our standards and our policies to meet changing needs of our community
- Consulting with community members and staff to guide our changes and improvements through conversations, surveys and other avenues
- Supporting and catering to local not-for-profits and charities that in turn strengthen our community.
- Updating our equipment, climbing holds and infrastructure to meet the needs and expectations of our members.
Ground Up Prices as of September 12, 2022
New Prices For Pre-Existing Membership Offerings
All prices are listed with GST (without tax price in brackets)
Prices will be applied to all Frozen and Active EFT (Electronic Funds Transfer) memberships on September 12th, 2022
Monthly (EFT)
ADULT – $89 ($84.76)
YOUTH – $67 ($63.81)
SENIOR – $53 ($50.48)
FAMILY – $185 ($176.19)
ADD A YOUTH – $47 ($44.76)
Prepaid Year
ADULT – $910 ($866.67)
YOUTH –$682 ( $649.52)
SENIOR – $546 ($520.00)
FAMILY – $1,878 ( $1,788.57)
ADD A YOUTH – $512 ($487.62)
Monthly EFT Freeze Fees
$12 ($11.37) individual
$7 ($6.67) per person in a family
New Prices For Pre-Existing Pass Offerings
Day Passes
ADULT – $26 ($24.76)
YOUTH – $23 ( $21.90)
SENIOR – $23 ($21.90)
Month Passes
ADULT – $126 ($120.00)
YOUTH – $94 ($89.52)
SENIOR – $75 ($71.43)
Punch Passes
ALL AGES – $220 ($209.52)
Freeze, change or cancel your membership by contacting our Memberships Manager directly through our online form HERE.
New Offerings
Hours Change
We’ll be adding Tuesday mornings to our climbing schedule. Three cheers for early birds!
Setting will take place in the bouldering area on Tuesdays between 8am-3pm, during our new open hours. While it may be a bit louder than usual, the impact on the space will be minimal. Only 1 or 2 sections of the bouldering wall will be closed for setting at a given time.
Monday mornings will remain closed for route setting as our team navigate the main rope climbing area
Early-In Membership ( Access Facility Before 1 PM)
MONTHLY (EFT) – $67 ($63.81)
Ground Up is becoming notoriously busy during our weekday youth programs and just after. We have tried making members-only hours as well as capacity limits during the pandemic restrictions but we are still seeing a huge traffic jam and desire for space between 4 and 7 pm.
We hope this new offering is two-fold. First, it offers an appealing price to those who are more impacted by price changes. Second, it will encourage those with flexible schedules to choose times outside our primetime evening rush hour.
This offering will be reassessed after 4 months to evaluate how well this is serving the community.
Early-In membership allows you to reap the benefits of a membership during our off-peak hours. If you find yourself in a situation where you want to come after 1pm, there is the option of purchasing a discounted day pass – $10 ($9.52).
Early-In members have the same initiation, freeze fee and frozen day pass price as regular EFT monthly members.
Switch to an “Early-In Membership” from your current EFT membership for September 12th, 2022 moving forward by contacting our Memberships Manager HERE.
Student Semester Passes ( 4 Months)
Available any time of year with proof of enrolment (active student card or program enrolment letter) for $315 ($300)
This will be the only student offering moving forward. All active and frozen EFT monthly student memberships will be transitioned to Adult pricing on September 12, 2022 if no change request is received.
For reference, you can see our current pricing here.
