Al Black
Past Chair
Al Black was born and raised in Calgary and started climbing while attending university in Victoria in the 1990s. His first interest was mountaineering, and he has enjoyed all the various styles of climbing since then.
He joined the CASA board in 2008 and has served continuously in various roles. His volunteer work reflects his passion for climbing and the community. It is payback for all the work previous generations of climbers have done and paying it forward in the hope that future generations will have the ability and freedom to climb.
Eric Hoogstraten
Vice Chair
Eric has been involved in recreational land management in BC since the mid-1990s and Alberta since 2003. As then President of the Calgary Mountain Club, he helped support the initial dialogues with the Government Alberta on planning the update to the circa 1984 Eastern Slope Integrated Resource plans. This included organizing the climbing community to, en masse, respond to a survey about recreational uses in the Ghost Forest Management Zone to the point that the contractor essentially had to declare the survey data “perilously skewed.” This galvanization of action by the soft tread community in response to more stringent management oversight in the Ghost assisted in the creation of CASA; where Eric was a founding member. As the CASA rep, he sat for a number of years on the Ghost Stewardship Management Group which oversaw the implementation of the Ghost Waiparous Operational Access Management Plan.
In the midst of this, Eric has continued to engage in the occasional vertical activity throughout BC, AB, Nunavut, NT, Yukon, and Alaska; maybe even South America.
Irene Tos
Treasurer
Irene has been lucky to settle with her family in Canmore for 20 years now after becoming tired of driving for weekend trips from Spruce Grove, which is just west of Edmonton, where she is originally from.
She has been climbing for over 25 years, with many climbing trips taking her around the world including Spain, Greece, USA and western Canada, but she feels that nothing beats climbing in the Bow Valley in the summer.
Irene supported a large part of the development in Echo Canyon, including bolting her own route at The Lookout, Staycation.
Irene worked as an accounting technician in Canmore, however retired from full time work in 2022. Alongside climbing, biking, hiking and walking dogs, she continues to utilize her bookkeeping skills for CASA becoming a board member and serving as Treasurer since 2021.
Alessandro Roome-Sandrin
Secretary/WABA
A native Calgarian, Alessandro was first exposed to climbing through a junior high school outdoor ed class in the early 1990’s. This early experience planted a seed that germinated while he was pursuing a double degree in Environmental Science and Chemistry at the University of Calgary. Like many young climbers he traveled extensively throughout Western North America to build his climbing resume. Initially drawn to traditional and multi-pitch climbing, he also spent a few seasons ice climbing before the obsession with sport climbing and bouldering took over.
Alessandro owns and manages a small second-generation residential renovation company in Calgary. He first joined the CASA board in 2021 shortly after founding the Western Alberta Bouldering Association (WABA). From 2021 until 2024 he served as the CASA Secretary. In 2024 he was elected as Chair.
Besides his work with the WABA, his most notable contributions to CASA thus far include: Big Rock, the Canmore Area Trails Strategy and the CASA GIS project.
Trent Hoover
Member at Large
Trent Hoover is a long-time climber, and has enjoyed participating in the evolution of sport climbing and bouldering since the early 1990s. Over the last thirty years, Trent has made thousands of first ascents of boulder problems and sport routes across western Canada and the northern United States. Currently, he is proud to call Lethbridge (in southern Alberta) home, and he continues to prowl the southern Rockies for new bouldering potential.
In addition to his work as a board member of CASA, Trent is a founding member (and current president) of the Southern Alberta Bouldering Association (SABA), an organization that works to maintain access to the bouldering areas of the southern Rockies, notably the bouldering mecca of Frank Slide. He is also the owner of Object Climbing, a company that designs climbing holds and provides routesetting services for commercial climbing gyms and climbing competitions.
Scott Eveleigh
Member at Large
Born and raised in Calgary, Scott has spent much of his time in the mountains hiking, scrambling and climbing. Scott has been passionately seeking out and developing boulders since around 2014 and has been involved in the development of numerous bouldering areas, most notable to him are The Gateway, Wonder Valley and Noyes Creek.
Scott has been the President of the Western Alberta Bouldering Association (WABA) since its inception in 2021. His interest in collecting knowledge of local bouldering, from the popular to the obscure, gives him a unique view of the bouldering landscape in Alberta. Scott joined the CASA board in mid 2024 as the WABA representative.
Maarten Van Haeren
Member at Large
Born and raised in The Netherlands, Maarten became interested in outdoor climbing after moving to Ontario with his parents and sister. After completing a B.Sc. in Environmental Resource Science at Waterloo University, Maarten moved to the Canadian Rockies . Maarten lives in Exshaw, Alberta in the Bow Valley with his wife Lin and their cat Freya. He has pursued ice and mixed climbing throughout North America, usually going for long walks to seek out new climbs, or scenic alpine picnics. Maarten’s travels have taken him from Western Canada, to Nepal, the Yukon Territories, Scotland and Québec, where he has established new alpine routes over the last decade. He completed his ACMG Alpine Guide program in 2020. He has served as a CASA board member since 2018, and been on the ACMG Access Committee since 2021. Maarten is sponsored by The North Face, where he contributes to the legacy of the “Athlete Tested, Expedition Proven” formula of The North Face Summit Series. He is passionate about promoting sustainable access for climbers and alpinists to current and future climbing areas within Alberta.
Jeff Moore
Member at Large
As a third-generation Calgarian Jeff spent most of his adult life traveling back and forth from the city to climb. He and his family moved to the Bow Valley in 2015. Climbing in many parts of North America, Australia, and Fontainebleau, Jeff is truly grateful for the ability to climb in such a range of temperatures in the Bow Valley. From sunny south-facing cliffs to shady cool canyons, the conditions are always perfect somewhere in the Valley.
Bruce Keeling
Member at Large
Raised in Eastern Canada, Bruce discovered mountains in Switzerland while on exchange completing his studies in Civil Engineering. After moving to Edmonton he tried climbing about 6 years ago, and can be frequently found scrambling and climbing ever since.
In his professional life he works for a General Contractor largely working with and for municipalities to deliver infrastructure solutions in the water treatment and organic waste sector with a focus on beneficial reuse across Canada. His maternal grandfather’s family was expelled from their lands for the formation of a National Park in Nova Scotia. As such, he appreciates that all land has a unique history and story that must be acknowledged, while we collaborate and forge a future we can all be proud of.
He currently serves as the Calgary Mountain Club Secretary, and is the CASA incoming Secretary. He brings a unique perspective understanding the need to balance economic, social, and environmental matters in order to deliver tenable access solutions.