About TABVAR
TABVAR was founded in 1994 to raise and distribute money for the material costs of installing fixed hardware on, and maintaining, climbs in the Bow Valley and adjacent areas.
What TABVAR does
TABVAR is the financial link between climbers who want to support local route development and maintenance, and the volunteers who get that work done.
- Founded
- 1994
- Legal status
- Not-for-profit society registered in Alberta
- Run by
- A volunteer board of directors
- Funded by
- Donations, 100%
TABVAR does
- Raises money from climbers, clubs, foundations and businesses
- Reimburses volunteers for the hardware they install on new routes and retrofits
- Buys hardware in bulk, and keeps retrofit stashes in Canmore and Calgary
- Shares best practices with the route-building community
- Runs the TABVAR app for topos and hardware issue reports
TABVAR doesn't
- Set bolting standards, though it shares existing best practices
- Inspect or warranty routes. Every climber is responsible for checking hardware before using it
History
- 1992
TABVAR is conceived around Jon Jones' kitchen table, after local climbers recognize that a handful of people are paying out of pocket for most of the area's new moderate sport climbs.
- 1994
TABVAR is founded to fund fixed hardware for climbs in the Bow Valley and adjacent areas.
- 2009
A donation from the Calgary Climbing Centre launches the Anchor and Protection Bolt Replacement Project. By 2012, some 170 routes have been refurbished.
- 2013
Online donations arrive through PayPal. In June, flooding damages climbs across the valley.
- 2019
The total raised since TABVAR began reaches almost $180,000.
- 2020
Jon Jones retires as president. A community appeal brings in more individual donations in 48 hours than in the previous five years, 92% of them from first-time supporters.
- 2021
TABVAR holds its first donor prize draw: $2,855 in prizes from 21 contributors, given to 68 winners. It also takes out liability insurance for its directors and volunteers.
- 2022
The claims deadline moves from December 1 to August 1, so the community can weigh in on routes before funding is approved. Jon Jones passes away in November.
- 2025
TABVAR launches its routes and issues app, the Supporting Donor Program and the first Golden Crowbar award.
- 2026
New funding guidelines set a stainless steel standard for anchor chain and quick links, starting in 2028.
In memoriam
Jon W. Jones
Founder and past president
Jon was TABVAR's president until he retired in 2020. His fundraising and his route development were key to the Bow Valley becoming the well-established climbing area it is.
He is best known for hundreds of sport routes, but there's no shortage of long, often bold, multi-pitch routes bearing his name, and he produced successive editions of the Bow Valley Rock guidebooks. Jon was very detail-oriented and worked steadily to improve local route-building standards.
Jon passed away in 2022.
Board of directors
TABVAR's directors are all volunteers.
Steve Fedyna
President & Treasurer
Community relationships and keeping the funds flowing
Susan Twitchell
Secretary
Reporting, regulatory submissions and the claims process
Al Black
Director
Communications and community outreach
Tobias Link
Director
Submission guidelines, the Calgary retrofit stash and glue-in workshops
Martin Garneau
Director
Communications and social media
Greg Barrett
Director
Building the retrofitting community
Brendan Clark
Director
Interactive topo maps and the Supporting Donor Program
Devin Serink
Director
IT and hardware issue reporting
Sara Lilley
Director
The TABVAR community survey
Matthew Laird
Community Engagement Officer
Marketing and community engagement
Related organizations
Other groups working on climbing in the area.
- CASAAdvocates for climbing access
- Friends of KananaskisTrail improvements
- Alpine Club of Canada Climbing experiences, skills and leadership
