Salt Spring Island's Fitness Centre, Celebrating Our 20th Anniversary.
trainers
Peter Vincent B.A, UVic
Owner and Co-Founder, North End Fitness
I will never run a marathon, and that’s ok. Most people won’t. When first opening North End Fitness twenty years ago, I wanted to have a fitness facility for the everyday Salt Springer, a fitness facility without the spandex, without the muscle shirts and testosterone laden gym rats. My personal goals were to be able to live a long, healthy life . . . one where I could still cut the lawn at 85, or go for a paddle in my kayak without breaking a bone or pulling a muscle. Sometimes its not about quantity, its more about quality. What’s the point of living to 100, if you have tubes in your arm in a hospital bed for fifteen years? And so North End Fitness was born, not so much for the elite athlete, but for the average joe, or josephine.
Now don’t get me wrong, there is nothing wrong with the Olympic Dream. In fact, my facility has a huge amount of free weights and machines to train the very best athletes. We have had many ‘carded’ athletes through our doors over the past two decades. But our focus is on helping the average guy or girl reach their personal goals, whether that is as basic as losing a few pounds to maybe summiting Mt. Baker. I think North End Fitness has achieved that.
Although I originally was a personal trainer, my job at the fitness centre now revolves around keeping all the machines in “running order.” The job includes new equipment purchases, keeping up with exciting trends in the industry, and separating the “fads” from legitimate developments. You will usually find me in the gym daily, scurrying around with a handful of tools.
As I have a background in advertising, I also take care of any advertising and web site management. Together with my manager Caroline Rowley, we look at members’ needs and chart out long term planning.
Because I have owned the fitness centre for almost twenty years now, I have witnessed three, sometimes four generations of islanders coming to the gym, all the way from toddlers in the child care through to pensioners strolling on the treadmills. I am proud of our little island gym and grateful for all those Salt Springers new and old that have supported us through these two decades.
Visit Peter Vincent’s blog.
Sonja Collombin
Sonja has been with us for over fifteen years! She started in child care, took a hiatus, working from home on boring accounting things for a time, while she raised children, and has recently joined us again at the front counter, both as our assistant manager in charge of member services, as a trainer, and leading some great spin classes!
Leslie Wiens
ACE (American council on Exercise) Personal Training Certification
BCRPA (British Columbia Recreation and Parks Association) Certifications in:
- Fitness Theory
- Personal Training
- Weight Training
- Exercise to Music
- Post rehab
- YMCA Certification
- Personal Training
- Colgan Power Program Level II
- CPR and First aid
Leslie has been a trainer at North End Fitness since 1996, after returning from a teaching career in Japan. Highly qualified in all areas of personal fitness, Leslie is available on a one to one basis as a personal trainer. She is also deeply involved in the island’s karate club, and is teaching kids’ karate.
Chris Denbigh
Chris came to Salt Spring Island via Victoria, where he worked for the Provincial Museum constructing clay models for the exhibits. The government at the time was offering “golden parachutes’ and Chris jumped on the opportunity to get out of the rat race and come to Salt Spring Island.
Chris joined the North End Fitness ‘team’ in 2o03. He has his British Columbia Recreation and Parks Assosiation, Fitness Theory course, and is very involved with the karate club here on the island. Chis is also a gifted sculptor in his own right. His work can be seen at Pegasus Gallery in downtown Ganges.
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Vanessa Grey
Our newest addition!
Vanessa has a bachelor of science degree in exercise science
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Stevie Rae Robinson
Yes, named after Stevie Nicks of Fleetwood Mac fame! She is our student trainer, working for us during the summer months while she tries to make some money for college! Look for her at the front desk and training our members.
