Announcements - Sender One Climbing - Page 2
Sender One LAX to Host 2021 Paraclimbing World Cup

Sender One LAX to Host 2021 Paraclimbing World Cup

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We are overjoyed to announce that our Los Angeles location, Sender One LAX, will be hosting the 2021 Paraclimbing World Cup this October 9th and 10th. Specifically, this event will be the third Paraclimbing World Cup as part of a series with the two other world cup events held in Innsbruck, Austria, and Briançon, France.

Despite the impacts of the pandemic, we will always be thankful for the opportunity to host the Pan American Championships in early 2020. These special and unique events not only celebrate and support the growth of competition climbing but are inspiring moments that we can share with the climbing community.

Look out for more information about the 2021 Paraclimbing World Cup at Sender One LAX

Read the full press release from USA Climbing and the International Federation of Sport Climbing (IFSC).

Free Covid-19 Testing at Sender One

Free Covid-19 Testing at Sender One

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UPDATED 3/4/2021

One of our core values is to Find Creative Beta. Since being mandated to temporarily close, our team has come up with ways to create jobs, keep the community engaged, be a source of care for kids, and utilize our spaces. We’ve organized kids camps, online yoga classes, and became a place to support distance learning for students. As Sender One remains closed (for now), we’re continuing to think of new ways to be a resource for the community.

Sender One has partnered with Dascena Labs and will be providing free Covid-19 testing in the Sender One SNA & LAX parking lots. There is currently an insufficient amount of free testing sites in the counties of LA and OC. Free means free, with or without health insurance. With new strains of the virus said to be more contagious, we want to provide this option to those who may need it and/or would like peace of mind.

Why is access to free Covid-19 testing so important? According to Dascena Labs and health experts:

  • More available testing helps fight the spread of the virus.
  • Testing is tracked by local health officials to determine the state of the pandemic.
  • Policymakers use results to guide reopening decisions.
  • Results help individuals make important health decisions.

Information about Dascena Labs’ free testing site at Sender One SNA & LAX:

  • These are drive-thru testing sites and individuals will remain in their vehicle at all times.
  • Face masks must be worn while car windows are down and when interacting with medical staff. Face masks can be lowered to cover only your mouth while the painless swab is being administered.
  • Accurate results will be sent via email within 48 hours.
  • No appointment is required, but please register in advance.
  • Hours of operation:  
    • Sender One SNA (BEGINNING MONDAY, 3/8):
      • 7 am -  4 pm, Monday - Friday
      • 9 am - 5 pm, Saturday & Sunday
    • Sender One LAX:
      • 7 am -  4 pm, 7 days a week
  • Locations:
    • Sender One LAX (parking lot), 11220 Hindry Ave. Los Angeles, CA 90045
    • Sender One SNA (parking lot), 1441 S. Village Way, Santa Ana, CA 92705

We hope that our decision to provide free Covid-19 testing will benefit the community. Although the stay-at-home order has been lifted in California, the pandemic is not over. Please continue to wear your mask (two is better than one!) and maintain social distancing if you need to leave your home for any essential reasons.

The road to reopening has been bumpy, interesting, and unexpected. Hopefully, we won’t need to be a Covid-19 testing site for very long and can welcome back our members and guests to climb with us!

For more information about Dascena Labs and to register for a free test, visit https://www.mycovidtest.me/.

Update: Sender One Training Center, Playa Vista, & Westwood

Update: Sender One Training Center, Playa Vista, & Westwood

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Last year, we put a slight pause on all of our new location projects when the pandemic hit. As a precaution to safe keep our future and focus on our existing locations, we made the decision to reevaluate the grand opening plans for the Sender One Training Center, Playa Vista, and Westwood. Some of these decisions were our own, many were out of our control. With the start of the new year, we’ve been fortunate to resume some projects and we can't wait to have new spaces for the Sender One community in 2021!

Sender One Training Center - OPENING SPRING 2021

Construction kicked off in early January with the arrival of Vertical Solutions, who are providing beautiful bouldering walls for this space. The Sender One Training Center is located in the same plaza, McFadden Place, as Sender One SNA and right next door to Gear Co-op. Once completed, we will have limited operating hours for youth and training programs to practice while we slowly open up for member reserved hours.

Learn more about the space by reading our initial announcement.

Images of the Sender One Training Center in its early stages with steel in preparation for the climbing walls.

Sender One Playa Vista - OPENING SUMMER 2021

We are scheduled to begin construction in mid-February with a projected opening date this summer for our very first bouldering only climbing center. If you haven’t already, take a peek at the facility design and walls by Walltopia and head on over to Sender One Playa Vista’s homepage to sign-up for further updates.

Learn more about what this space will have to offer in our announcement post.

Renderings of Sender One Playa Vista's climbing walls. The final design of the space is not entirely reflected. See more here.

Sender One Westwood - OPENING 2022

Still, in its early stages of planning, Westwood is moving at a slightly slower pace with a projected opening in 2022. We have met with the design review board for Westwood Village and the wall designs are almost done. When we decided on opening our second bouldering only climbing center at Westwood Village, we knew that we’d face some challenges due to the historical value of the building. Stay tuned for additional information about Sender One Westwood later this year.

Learn more about this location in our announcement post.

Renderings of the exterior of Sender One Westwood. NOTE: This represents a design concept and not the final look. 

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Although the unexpected events in 2020 slowed the progress of our new locations, we’re happy that we can begin moving forward and cannot wait to open these Sender One locations. We’re looking forward to creating more climbing experiences while welcoming existing members and new folx to the community!

Sender One vs. 2020: A Look Back

Sender One vs. 2020: A Look Back

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Well, we’ve made it to the end of 2020 and maybe we can all agree that this year was not what we had in mind. It’s bizarre to reflect on what this year has been for Sender One. We could not have made it through this year without the strength and support of the climbing community, Sender One members, and our incredible staff. We won’t go into major detail as we look back on 2020 because let’s face it, who really needs to relive every moment this year has provided? Instead, we’re taking this moment to reflect on good news from the year and some of the hard lessons learned.

January & February

We hosted the 2020 Pan American Championships at Sender One LAX, qualifying Alannah Yip and Colin Duffy for the (now) 2021 Tokyo Olympics. Little did we know that this would be the last large international climbing event in the states for the entire year. What an honor it was to experience this!

March:

Both Sender One locations were mandated to close for the first time as the rise of COVID-19 began impacting our local counties. At this point, we thought the closures would be short-lived. A real pandemic causing businesses to close and forcing us to stay inside, mask-up, and physical distance? Nah.

April & May:

Hello, at-home workouts, the Sender One online shop, and virtual yoga classes! With our locations still closed, we took action and got creative. While trying to maintain jobs and community engagement, we launched an online retail shop and provided virtual yoga and fitness classes. We even sold limited-edition Sender One hangboards, personally handmade by a few of our routesetters, and Sender One masks that were handsewn by another ultra-talented employee who is literally a knit-master. 

This was also the time many people and businesses, including ourselves, were reminded to reflect intrapersonally as the Black Lives Matter movement took rise over the killing of George Floyd (10/14/73-5/25/20), Breonna Taylor (6/5/93-3/13/20), and the many other unjustly deaths of Black individuals. We will always have a zero-tolerance for racism and understand that this fight for an equitable and just society is far from over. As we continue to learn from the collective community, we hope to always create ways to foster an inclusive and diverse climbing environment.

June:

Sender One turned 7! Though we didn’t have our typical birthday bash, we were fortunate to reopen both locations during this month. It was interesting to reopen with new standard procedures, health protocols, and navigating through the so-called “new normal”. The amazing Sender One team really climbed together by getting the facilities ready to welcome back our members.

Also during this month, we held a virtual Pride Event, raised money for the NAACP Legal Defense Fund and Black Lives Matter, and kicked off our climbing camps. We were unaware that youth camps would become our main offering this year.

July & August:

We entered our second closure for both Sender One facilities after being open for a few short weeks. It was time to pivot our business even more so we went a little camp crazy while maintaining virtual yoga classes and running the online shop. Although fitness/climbing centers were to remain closed, youth day-camps were allowed to operate since they provided an essential service for working parents. Being stuck at home as a child can be hard, so we were happy to cultivate an environment for youth to connect through our summer camp, routesetting camp, and distant learning camp (COOL Camp).

September & October:

Sender One SNA got the green light to reopen! During this time, we held a couple of COVID-friendly community events, brought back our popular Bouldering League, and helped form the California Indoor Climbing Coalition. It felt great to bring the community together while uncertainty still loomed. We made sure to cherish and celebrate every moment - big and small.

November & December:

Sender One SNA reopened for 9.5 weeks. These weeks were filled with under-the-mask smiles and laughter, new climbs, new projects, new sends, and a lot of hand sanitizer. We were extremely saddened to re-close our doors again, but fortunate to carry on with youth camps and a virtual raffle for a good cause.

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Looking back at this year, it’s easy to think about all the negative aspects. Don’t get it wrong, this year was extremely hard for us and many others. We have all just experienced a year that will forever change our lives. It’s important to take into consideration the different experiences of those around you and to take time to check in with loved ones. 

Sender One will continue to survive and thrive into 2021, but we are not leaving this year without acknowledging the difficult decisions we made, lessons we learned from, and changes we’ve adopted in order to safe-keep our future. So here’s to a year filled with challenges, growth, adapting, staying resilient, and endless gratitude.

Thank you to the climbing community, Sender One members, our phenomenal staff, and the families and friends that continue to support and be here for us. Lastly, Alice Kao (Co-Founder, CEO) has put together a letter for the community which you can find below.

 

See you in 2021!

Kids Climbing Offerings (Fall & Winter)

Kids Climbing Offerings (Fall & Winter)

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Looking for something fun and engaging for your kids this season? Sender One has some great in-person options for kids ages 7 and up! We’ve put together youth offerings that are not only confidence-building and fun, but mindful of the health and wellbeing of each participant.

Check out our list below!

SCHOOL BREAK ACTIVITIES

Fall & Winter Rock Climbing Camp
Location(s): Sender One SNA & LAX
Duration: 3-day camp
Best For: Ages 7+ looking to be active and have fun through games, climbing, zip-lining, and more!
Prerequisites: None

FUN FOR THE ENTIRE FAMILY

Sender City Family Camp
Location(s): Sender One LAX
Duration: 2-hour, Single Day Camp
Best For: Learning pods, established cohorts, and close families and friends to enjoy a day of climbing together.
Prerequisites: None

DISTANT LEARNING SUPPORT

Climb Onward with Online Learning (COOL) Camp
Location(s): Sender One LAX
Duration: 2 weeks with 2, 3, or 5-day camp options
Best For: Working families with children in the 2nd-6th grade who are looking for an in-person space that provides distance learning support and staying active through climbing
Prerequisites: None

AFTERSCHOOL PROGRAMS

Climbing Academy A & B
Location(s): Sender One SNA
Duration: CA(A) is 2 hours and CA(B) is 90 minutes, once a week for 4 weeks
Best For: Ages 6+ with little to no climbing experience
Prerequisites: None

Recreational Teams
Location(s): Sender One SNA & LAX
Duration: 4-week sessions, attendance 1x/week (more options are available when we can resume “normal” operations)
Best For: Ages 6-17 looking to expand their climbing experience and become a well-rounded climber
Prerequisites: Climbing Academy (SNA only), please contact locations for more information

Advanced Team
Location(s): Sender One SNA & LAX
Duration: 4-week sessions, attendance 2x/week
Best For: Young climbers (Training Team and Competition Team) who are ready to embrace a training environment to achieve maximum climbing performance and growth
Prerequisites: Assessment with the Head Coach, please contact locations for more information

To inquire about any of our afterschool youth programs, please contact:
[email protected] (Sender One SNA)
[email protected] (Sender One LAX)

A Letter from our CEO 10/23/20

A Letter from our CEO 10/23/20

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Dear Sender One Community,


Thank you for all of your support during our second shutdown as best as you’ve been able--for sticking with us, and for returning.

It’s been over a month since SNA reopened again.  Each day and evening since then, the staff and I have seen more and more familiar faces (albeit under masks).  I am also just astounded by the number of LAX members that unfroze their memberships and have been making the drive to Orange County.  After months of living under a cloud of uncertainty, the progress in just the last few weeks has brought all of us hope and reminded us that our passion and efforts to help others discover and connect with climbing are meaningful.  We may just “run a climbing gym company,” but we see how important it is to have this space for all of you to get through the days ahead.

Over the past few weeks, we have listened to you and--within the constraints placed on us by public health regulations--slowly expanded our capacity, our hours, and welcomed back punch pass users.  We have also brought back on-demand instruction, private training, and aerial silks.  Before each step, we carefully evaluate its potential effects on the risk and safety to our community of members, customers, and staff.

If the coronavirus pandemic continues to remain in check, and hopefully improve, we will look at continuing to expand operations at SNA, such as: opening the SNA fitness center for member and punch pass users; welcoming back Sender City Annual Pass holders; and allowing day users and guest passes for members.  As a parent of two little girls, I dream of a time when birthdays are celebrated in Sender City once again--even though I know this may be far in the future.  

Many of you have also asked the staff and me about construction progress on Playa Vista, Westwood, and the SNA training center.  All of these projects are still happening, but any major movement is on hold until 2021.

Despite all of these hopeful and positive steps forward, each day I walk into one of our gyms, I remember what it was like not too long ago, and how different our pandemic-stricken present continues to be.  To continue to keep Sender One open, we all need to keep meeting our personal and social responsibilities to comply with health and safety guidelines the best we can--especially as we enter the flu season.  I also cannot avoid the fact that each day, when I review Sender One’s finances, I see the same reality--under current state and local guidelines, where SNA is allowed to open at only 10% capacity in the “red tier,” Sender One loses more money being open than it would if the gym remained closed.  We opened for our community and our staff and because of our core values--but the truth is Sender One needs help.

To that end, alongside 25 other California indoor climbing companies, Sender One has helped form the California Indoor Climbing Coalition (CICC).  The CICC’s first mission is to petition state health authorities and the Governor’s office to allow indoor climbing facilities to open in the “purple tier”.  Based on the science and data we have received from medical and public health professionals; and the experiences of literally hundreds of climbing facilities across the country that have been open the past 4 months, we know that with social distancing, vigilant mask-wearing, and the move to liquid chalk, indoor climbing facilities can meet state and local health guidelines.

I’m writing to ask for your help.  Over the next few days, the CICC and each of its member organizations will be contacting their state representatives and local legislators.  At the same time, each member organization will be asking their respective community of members and customers to email the Governor and California Public Health office.

Please join Sender One and the CICC in this effort.  Contact the governor’s office by sending them a letter from our website: www.ciccoalition.org.  Tell your friends who climb at other indoor climbing facilities to do the same.  We will get through this, together!  

With love and gratitude,

Alice Kao
Co-Founder, CEO

PS - We are thrilled to announce that a Covid-conscious Bouldering League is returning to Sender One SNA! More details can be found at www.sender.one/league.

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