Creative Climbing Retreat

Saturday, July 18, 2:00 - 6:00 pm
Pasadena, CA
hosted by Amanda L. Andrei and Christina Tran

Join us for a half-day retreat for folks with self-directed creative projects and peer-supported climbing projects! Enjoy some quiet, devoted writing time, followed by social indoor climbing time. See what metaphors the wall unlocks for your creative process.

We will be convening at La Pintoresca Branch Library in Pasadena for our creative project time. Bring any creative project-in-progress you are working on for some head’s down project time fueled by snacks, quiet, and co-working company. Any medium that is portable, workable, and clean-up-able in a library meeting room is acceptable – whether that is writing, fiber work, thumbnailing, or other!

For those who are interested, Amanda will be offering a hands-on, intuitive research workshop on moving through creative blocks with library materials and community. Both Amanda and Christina will offer 15-minute 1-on-1 consultations to talk through anything you’d like around your creative projects or processes.

We will be climbing at The Post (a Touchstone gym) in Pasadena. The Post has both bouldering walls and top rope walls. While newbie climbers are welcome and equipment available for rental, there will be no formal lessons or training during our retreat. We welcome peer support, encouragement, and beta!

If you have any questions, email us at christina [at] sodelightful [dot] com.

• A container and devoted time to work on your creative project
• Snacks and drinks to keep you fueled during writing and climbing
• Oracle card reading from The Skybound Traveler
• Day-pass to climb at The Post, including gear rental and sauna access
• Peer beta and encouragement on climbing routes
• A chance to meet other creative climbers
• Intuitive Research Workshop
• Optional: 15 minute project consultation

2:00 - 2:20 Opening

2:20 - 4:00 Creative Project Time

Including: Intuitive Research Workshop to move through blocks

4:00 - 5:45 Climb

5:45 - 6:00 Closing

Stick around for optional: sauna time, more climbing, more writing, socializing, or tarot.

We are an independent group using these locations: This program is not sponsored by the Pasadena Public Library, and this program is not affiliated with Touchstone Gyms. All participants will have to fill out a waiver with The Post prior to the event. All participants should be 18 years or older.

Amanda and Christina met in 2018 at an artist residency at the Atlantic Center for the Arts. They reconnected when Christina moved back to LA in 2024, and have been regular climbing buddies at The Post ever since.

Amanda started climbing with two friends after college at the Sportrock facilities in Virginia. She then took a ten-year break and recently returned to the wall two years ago after inspiration from another writer/climber friend. She is a playwright, arts journalist, cultural critic, and literary co-translator whose artistic practices are informed by her third culture kid upbringing, love of folklore and travel, and time spent in archives and mountains. Her plays have been presented and developed with theaters across L.A. and the country, and her articles have appeared in the L.A. Times, Rappler, Stage Raw, American Theatre Magazine, and more. Through her work and writing, Amanda hopes to honor her past and future ancestors while creating sanctuaries of imagination for her communities. You can connect with her via her newsletter on AmandaLAndrei.com and @theamandalandrei (IG).

Christina started climbing on her lunch breaks when she worked two blocks away from a Touchstone gym in SF ten years ago. She is a creative coach and facilitator who accompanies creatives as they navigate capitalism with anti-capitalist values. She brings somatics, spiritual direction, and design thinking into her space-holding — with over 20 years experience in teaching, facilitation, and community weaving. She created an artist residency program at a renegade community art space called Mt Caz and was a co-director of the interspiritual intergenerational community of mystic misfits at Nuns & Nones. In her own creative practice, Christina makes tender autobio comics, zines, and lyric essays that pull us towards a more compassionate world. Find her work at sodelightful.com.

Your money will be refunded if you cancel more than 10 days before the retreat.

We recognize that Covid is still a serious threat to our community’s health and safety, especially our disabled and immunocompromised community. Masking is encouraged but will not be required for this event. We strongly urge anyone who is not feeling well to stay home!