Thomasina Pidgeon

Thomasina Pidgeon has been living in Squamish off and on since 2000. She is a climber, photographer, writer, coach, nomad, and mother. Thomasina is the first Canadian female athlete to boulder V.11 and V.12 grades and enjoys the climbing lifestyle.

She lives in her Toyota Previa with her daughter, Cedar.

Cedar and Thomasina have lived in the van for most of Cedar’s life. They lived in a house when Cedar was first born, but then Thomasina realized that it wasn’t necessary for raising a child.  She says that living in a van “helps you to downsize on stuff you don’t need.” It also makes a lot of other neat climbing areas accessible. At the drop of a hat, she can go down to Leavenworth and hit up some gnarly routes without having to worry about where to stay. Moving and travelling is in Thomasina’s blood, and living in a van suits her and her daughter perfectly.

Grand Wall Bouldering Co-op

Of the many places to climb in Squamish, Thomasina loves the The Grand Wall Bouldering Co-op. She compares it to some of the gyms she’s seen in her Europe travels as a professional athlete. She says that “a lot of the world cup climbing teams use gyms just like the co-op.” It is a place that allows for a lot of creative freedom.

The Grand Wall Bouldering Co-op started in 2008 and originally was in someone’s garage. It was made by a group of climbers that wanted a place to train during the winter.

“It is one of the original souls of climbing in Squamish,” says Thomasina. The Co-op has evolved into a multi-use complex, inviting more guests in than every before. They also hold different climbing clinics – like dry tooling with Paul McSorley.

The Bouldering Co-op is available anytime to members who sign up. Not to mention that the pricing is unbeatable. Thomasina says that

Thomasina says that at the Co-op “everyone there’s accepted for how they are.”

You can be as weird or not weird as you want there.