With the resort ski season officially over in Australia, we’re now turning to transitional experiences before the northern winter comes a calling and boy do we have a fun (and free) one for you.
The North Face is celebrating their new ‘We Play Different’ campaign with the instalment of a large free standing bouldering wall in Sydney’s World Square.
The climbing wall comes out of a mega giant inflatable duffel bag and is the centre piece for a three-day climbing takeover from Friday October 11 to Sunday October 13.
The North Face invites customers to step into total immersion of the world of climbing with beginner friendly, free climbing workshops in the middle of World Square shopping centre, in partnership with one of Australia’s leading bouldering gyms: BlocHaus.
The North Face athletes and special guests, including Lucy Stirling, Ben Cossey, and olympian Tom O’Halloran, will join the weekend-long celebration to coach, champion and educate consumers, helping to build a strong climbing community both on and off the mountain.
Participants can expect beginner friendly climbing sessions, live music, interactive games, free drinks, prizes and much more! The activation is open to the public for one weekend only, providing a unique opportunity to explore new ways to play and embrace the outdoors in an urban environment.
The weekend program
Friday 11th October
10am-7pm: Open Climbing Session and special appearance from The North Face Athlete Lucy Stirling.
Lucy Stirling is an Australian climbing icon. Over the last decade, she’s made her mark as one of the country’s most successful competitive climbers, competing in 26 Open World Cups and 3 Open World Championships from 2014 – 2022.
In recent years, Lucy experienced a paradigm shift. While she’d done her best to balance outdoor climbing with her competitive career, her burning desire for adventure was growing, along with her ‘to-do list’ of challenging outdoor projects where she now focuses her energy.
4-7pm: Live DJ – DAYZZI B2B D.A.U.G
Saturday 12th October
10am-7pm – Open Climbing Session and special appearance from The North Face Athlete Tom O’Halloran.
Tom O’Halloran is a professional rock climber from the Blue Mountains. While his focus has been on climbing hard in the outdoors, Tom also competed on Australian Ninja Warrior, and became the first Australian male Olympian to compete in climbing for the 2020 Olympic Games.
When Tom’s not climbing, he’s sharing tips about it on his YouTube Channel where his content centres around lessons he’s learnt from climbing at the top level and outdoor ascents.
1-5PM – Live DJ: (TBC)
Sunday 13th October
11am-5pm – Open Climbing Session and special appearance from The North Face Athlete Ben Cossey.
Ben Cossey is a climber, boulderer, coach and physio living in the Blue Mountains. Climbing for over 21 years, Ben has made first ascents and repeats of the hardest sport routes in the country, and he is known around town for being an obsessive trainer.
With the personality fit for the big screen, Ben will have a feature climb film being released early 2025 exploring climb areas in QLD & northern NSW.
12-4PM – Live DJ – BASCHOE
