Who We Are
Learn about Rock On Collective's values, team, and history.
Community: We support each other, on and off the wall. Climbing is the means, a nurturing community is the goal.
Inclusion: We cultivate a space where people can belong and thrive as their true selves.
Reciprocity: We anchor our practice in helping one another, and we aim to build a reciprocal relationship with each other and with the land that we recreate on.
Curiosity: We fuel our drive for growth by our curiosity to understand new perspectives and our eagerness to learn from one another.
Accessibility: We aim to create programs that are accessible to everyone, regardless of experience level and accommodation needs.
Celebration: We celebrate the land, diversity and collective growth; everyone is celebrated for who they are and everyone shares the joy of a new achievement by a fellow climber.
An inclusive rock climbing community in which everyone is empowered to explore, grow, and shine as their authentic selves.
Rock On Collective facilitates rock climbing mentorship opportunities aimed to foster equity and belonging for people facing systemic barriers in the Okanagan.
Our Mission
Our Vision
Our Core Values
Who we serve
Our programming primarily serves people of equity-deserving genders including women, people who identify as gender nonconforming, genderqueer, agender, nonbinary, transgender, and other gender minorities. At program intake, we consider other identity-related barriers and strive to make our programming safe and accessible for people who navigate multiple systems of oppression. This includes, but isn’t limited to, racialized and Indigenous individuals, people in the 2SLGBTQIA+ community, immigrants, people with disabilities, neurodivergent individuals, and people with financial constraints.
Our team
Zanna was born and raised in Sweden and moved to Canada in her mid-twenties. Growing up, she was terrified of heights and never thought she would ever spend her free time hanging off a rock face, nevertheless be the founder of a climbing organization. But oh so grateful she is that life proved her wrong on that. When she moved to BC, Zanna quickly realized that rock climbing was her avenue to community building. Mentoring together with Mountain Mentors and the connections she built through them were monumental in her journey as a climber and newcomer to this country. So when she moved to the Okanagan in 2022, a seed was planted to start an initiative here that would help break barriers and provide inclusive spaces for climbers to grow both skills and community.
Outside of Rock On Collective, Zanna works as a Diversity, Equity & Inclusion Practitioner for BC Co-op Association and at the local childcare center in Naramata.
EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR AND VICE-CHAIR
Zanna Ekeroth
(She/Her)
Born and raised in Kelowna, Robyn has a deep knowledge of the land around the Okanagan. Outside among the rocks and trees, she feels grounded. She loves any outdoor adrenaline sport, including canyoning, ice climbing, snowboarding and of course rock climbing. Robyn co-founded Rock On Collective because she knows the impact that a positive, welcoming climbing community can have. Her rock climbing journey has not been straightforward, but she has learned that progressing in climbing does not have to be a linear path and hopes to share that with others struggling to get into the sport. Her aspirations include developing her alpine climbing skills and continuing to learn about various Indigenous cultures and their connections with the land.
Outside of Rock On Collective, Robyn works as a Certified Canyon Guide and a French Teacher.
PROGRAM MANAGER AND CHAIR
Robyn Solland
(She/Her)
FINANCE MANAGER AND TREASURER
Nels/Rosie Moratz
(They/Them)
Called by the ocean and drawn to the mountains, Rosie made the move from small town Ontario to British Columbia. Scrambling atop boulders in the sugar bush during syrup season and finding inspiration in women climbers like Lynn Hill, they grew up aspiring to ascend the mountains of Yosemite and beyond. Finding the traditional community of outdoor recreation rather inaccessible, Rosie happened upon Rock On Collective and joined as a first year mentee seeking deeper belonging, authenticity, and understanding with fellow climbers. Rosie anchors their climbing practice in acknowledgement of the privilege to explore and experience the wonders of Turtle Island, and recognizes their responsibility to foster respect, knowledge, and stewardship of this traditional land and its history.
Nicole is passionate about creating space for others to experience nature and the wild. As a rock climbing guide, Nicole has worked with numerous outdoor organizations to allow people who identify as women or nonbinary to find themselves learning in natural places. Growing up in the Okanagan, Nicole learned to climb in Skaha Bluffs. Nowadays, she finds herself there every summer promoting diversity within rock climbing and learning how she can do better to recognize and respect the land. Nicole is forever grateful for what the beautiful bluffs and lakes of the Okanagan have allowed her to experience and has joined Rock On Collective as a way to give back to the people and the land. Outside of climbing, Nicole is a dancer. Through dance, she does her best to find balance and explore herself. She also plays with dance to express emotion and thoughts as movements.
Nicole is proud to represent and work with other organizations like Girl In The Wild, The B.I.G Initiative, and Diamondback Rock Climbing (her own mindset and guiding company) to continue to give back and share knowledge.
COMMUNITY AND COMPLIANCE CO-MANAGER AND DIRECTOR
Nicole Chickloski
(She/They)
COMMUNITY AND COMPLIANCE CO-MANAGER
Tammy Twyne
(She/Her)
Tammy was born and raised on the coast of Newfoundland, living recently in the Okanagan near Skaha Bluffs. Her first year ever on a rock face was 2023 and has not looked back since. Tammy has enjoyed outdoor activities all her life, so being outside on a big giant rock (having grown up on one in the ocean!) was an easy thing to fall in love with. Her goal this season is to confidently lead climb an “easy” route and to develop her skills in anchor building and rope rescue. Tammy works as a physiotherapist and yoga teacher as her day job, devoting time outside of work to friends, getting outside and being involved in the community as a volunteer.
SOCIAL MEDIA AND DESIGN MANAGER
Shaira Veñegas
(She/They)
Shaira was born in the Philippines, but moved to Canada when she was 5 years old. Over the years they played various team sports from soccer and basketball to rugby, but one day they realized that they really enjoy climbing. From that point on, climbing became a source of passion, connections and exercise. Aside from climbing, she is passionate about nature and giving back to the community. She stumbled across Rock On Collective through a post about a mentorship program, learned more about the organization and their mission and found that our values aligned closely with their own. This motivated her to be a part of what Rock On Collective set out to accomplish: an inclusive rock climbing community.
Outside of Rock On Collective, Shaira works at MEC, but has intentions to do work as a Kinesiologist and possibly as an Occupational Therapist in the future.
COMMUNICATIONS AND EVENTS MANAGER
Ashley Stasuk
(She/Her)
Ashley was born and raised in Calgary and made the choice to move to the Okanagan to finish her studies. Drawn to the landscapes of BC, she found her passions among the trees, sunshine and water. She loves hiking, paddleboarding and found her love of climbing a few years ago after taking an intro course at one of the local climbing gyms. Since then, Ashley has focused on trying to be outdoors as much as possible and climb some neat rocks in that pursuit. She wanted to share her love of climbing with others and make new connections within the climbing community, so she joined Rock On Collective both as a mentee for the 2024 program and as part of the team.
Outside of Rock On Collective, she works as a lab technician in an analytical chemistry lab.
Our history
Zanna Ekeroth and Robyn Solland, two enthusiastic rock climbers, got together in the spring of 2023 to start what was then known as Babes in the Bluffs. They wanted to help break down barriers in the outdoors and change the narrative of what it means to be a climber- a sport that has historically been dominated by masculinity and shaped by boldness, risk-taking and a “conquering the mountains” mindset.
Committing most of their free time towards making the idea a reality, they started building out a mentorship program for people facing gender and identity-based systemic barriers in the outdoors.
The pilot program saw interest far beyond their expectations (and capacity), and they were happy to be able to welcome 23 participating mentors and mentees. The financial seed grant to get it all started came from TakingITGlobal’s initiative “Sprout Ideas Fellowship”.
In the fall of 2023, the team grew three new members- all of whom had participated in the pilot program and now wanted to continue contributing to a more equitable climbing community. The team decided to change their name to Rock On Collective and register as a non-profit in early 2024.
The original name, Babes in Bluffs, was meant to reclaim the word “babe” as an empowering term and encapsulate the evolving definition of the word where anyone can be a babe, regardless of gender, age, or physical features. At the end of our 2023 pilot program, we received feedback which prompted us to open a broad discussion with our community and get their input on a potential name change. As the word babe has historic connotations with femininity and women, we recognized that “Babes in the Bluffs” could be an obstacle for some folks to feel safe or welcome in our programs. Striving to foster a space where people feel they are able to participate freely and authentically express who they are, our team decided to change the name to Rock On Collective.
Thanks to everyone who trusted us with their input and helped us learn and become a more inclusive community along the way!
So, why the name change?
Contact Us
Rock On Collective Climbing Association
With respect and gratitude, Rock On Collective would like to acknowledge that the land across which we live and climb is the traditional, ancestral, and unceded territory of the syilx and nlaka’pamux Peoples. Furthermore, we recognize tu?ikən (Skaha Bluffs) as a culturally and spiritually significant site for the Okanagan Nation Alliance and commit to our role in respecting and interacting in a reciprocal relationship with tmixʷ (the land and all life forms which interact on it).