Bouldering area north of Elliot Lake expected to draw climbing tourists

Mountain climbers have slowly been discovering a new destination for their pastime — it's on Crown land, 45 kilometres northwest of Elliot Lake, Ont.

The Nooks has been developed for bouldering. That's a type of climbing done close to the ground and does not use ropes or harnesses. Instead there are multiple crash pads underneath.

Brendan Baars of Grand Rapids, Mich., is one of the climbers who discovered the area in 2018. He calls it one of the best locations for bouldering he's ever climbed, and well worth the six hour drive from his home in the U-S.

"For us in Michigan it's one of the closest climbing destinations that we have," he said.

"If you're really into rock climbing and you know about types of rock, different areas and popular areas it's one of the closest, popular, good destinations, like good rock quality."

Four years ago Baars and his climbing friends in Michigan had heard there were climbing opportunities in northern Ontario, but they realized those spots weren't really for bouldering. That's when they started searching on their own.

"We decided to use satellites and topographical maps and pick some of the best locations where we think boulders might be," he said.

They hiked to the area that first winter to locate the boulders, then returned in the spring and fall to develop them for climbing. That involves cleaning the rocks with a brush to clear off the dirt, moss, lichen and other debris before chalk is added.

Since that time Baars has created a guidebook for The Nooks, which was just published this spring. The guidebook includes descriptions of climbing difficulty and number of climbing problems one each one of the boulders they've developed. 

"It was a way to get climbers to come up to northern Ontario," he said of the booklet.

"We see The Nooks as a really, really big major climbing area in Ontario," he said, adding that having a printed guidebook "makes the area more legitimate" and "shows that this area is a pretty serious area".

There are about 200 boulder problems at The Nooks but Baars said there is potential for thousands more.

His favourite is called The Color of Time.