Bouldering has a strong history in the Frank Slide, but it is only in recent years that the area has exploded in popularity beyond the local and the hardcore bouldering scenes.
The Southern Alberta Bouldering Assocation was formed in 2019 with the purpose of re-launching the Tour de Frank (TdF) Bouldering Festival following the cancellation of that festival after 2016. The TdF Festival had grown in size and bouldering had grown in popularity to the extent that a formal organization representing climbers in the Frank Slide was needed in order to contract with the Government of Alberta to allow the TdF, and that proper liability insurance etc. could be organized.
SABA not only successfully relaunched the TdF, but also stood up as a leader of the local climbing community to advocate on behalf of climber interests in the area, and to ensure that the ongoing development of climbing was done in a sustainable way with the goal of ensuring climber access remains open for future generations.
Although the Frank Slide will continue to grow and develop, SABA is here to help ensure that it never loses the special character that it has, and the endless potential that makes it feel like there is always another new boulder problem to climb just around the corner.
Southern Alberta Bouldering Association 