Name: Jeremy Peet
Title: Managing Director and Co-Founder at Camp5
Location: Malaysia
Behind the Desk…is an ongoing series of interviews with professionals from around the climbing industry. For this installment, we spoke with Jeremy Peet, Managing Director and Co-Founder of the Camp5 gyms. Camp5 was founded in 2005 and has since expanded throughout Malaysia, with six open gyms in the country. Peet dives into the origins of Camp5, some unique aspects of operating a climbing gym in Malaysia, and tips for operating a gym in any market. Since this interview was conducted, Jeremy has also gone on to co-found the Asian Climbing Summit, which will make its debut next week on May 15-16 in Kuala Lumpur.
STEVENS: What is the background story behind the founding of Camp5?
PEET: The full story of Camp5 goes back many years before the founding of our first gym, with the chance meeting of the core team that included two Malaysians, one Swiss, and one New Zealander on the island of Phuket, Thailand. While only two of us were climbers, what we all had in common was an entrepreneurial spirit and a can-do attitude.
In the early 2000s, climbing was still very new in Asia, but there was promise in Kuala Lumpur. KL’s population, economic and environmental attributes are typical of a high-density city in Southeast Asia. We mapped a prediction of growth using available data released from sources in the USA and Europe. We saw the potential and made a bold move to open Asia’s largest indoor climbing gym in the world’s fourth-largest mall at the time. Our goal was to make climbing accessible and bring climbing to the people, while fast-tracking the sport’s recognition within the health and wellness industry. Camp5 was founded in 2005 with the launch of our flagship outlet at 1Utama Shopping Centre.
Why did the Camp5 team decide 2023 would be a good time to open your 6th climbing gym?
There was steady growth in the first years, from 2005 to 2010, and we soon recognized that with a city as large as Kuala Lumpur, having only one location—even if it was the largest climbing gym in Asia—was always going to have a limited reach. Like any metropolitan city, traffic and availability of public transport options have a significant influence on where people choose to spend their leisure time. Not everyone is going to sit through an hour of traffic for a climb.
We also recognized that the expectations of the equipment brands we wished to provide to climbers in Malaysia would not be met by the sales projections from a single outlet—no matter how big—and so we looked at options to expand. The recessions of 2008 and 2012 caused some minor setbacks to our plans. But by 2015, we had signed on to open our second location in the southern state of Johor, a short drive from Singapore. Camp5 Paradigm aimed to capitalize on the value proposition we can offer to climbers across the border. Due to the weaker Malaysian Ringgit, climbers would get plenty of bang for their buck, with more walls to climb and premium facilities.
This second location also presented a rare opportunity to integrate the climbing gym into the build of the mall. This choice resulted in some unique features, such as a pedestrian walk-bridge passing through the climbing arena. Mall pedestrians get to see climbers in action when they walk from the lifts to the cinema. It’s sometimes the first time they’ve seen anyone climb. Often, climbers would receive a round of applause from spectators when they would top a route. This exposure helped accelerate the growth of climbing in Johor. We’re proud to play a part in the growth of the local climbing community.
Three more outlets followed: Camp5 Utropolis, a 6,000-square-foot bouldering gym; Camp5 Eco City, a 22,000-square-foot bouldering and roped climbing facility; and Camp5 Jumpa, a 20,000-square-foot climbing gym that shares its space with Beast Park. Beast Park is a new concept for us as an attraction which combines a ninja course, low ropes elements, and other active elements. Located in the heart of Kuala Lumpur city center in the shopping district of Bukit Bintang, Camp5 Jumpa and Beast Park serve a tourist market.
Like Camp5 Paradigm, our latest baby—Camp5 KL East—was integrated into the design of a mall. We signed onto Camp5 KL East in 2016 with a projected target to open in 2020. The COVID-19 pandemic put the project on hold for two years. The build was kick-started again in 2022. In December of that year, we opened a section for kids, which we call “Play Climb.” Work continued on the main climbing areas, with the gym finally opening in the summer of 2023. Camp5 KL East offers bouldering, top rope and lead walls up to 15-meters high (49 feet), along with fitness rooms, suspension training, a Moon Board and more.
Why did you feel Kuala Lumpur was an ideal place to open a climbing gym?
In the early 2000s, our initial exploration into Asia was about looking for potential places to set up a wall manufacturing company under the brand name “BLOCX”. The BLOCX brand had already been founded in Switzerland by the co-founder of Camp5, Patrick Andrey, and his business partner, Mike Tscharner, the owner of B2 Bzwei (Boulders & Bar in Basel, Switzerland). With Patrick’s know-how, we set out to establish BLOCX walls in Asia.
Kuala Lumpur was chosen as the preferred base due to its openness to foreign investment, stable infrastructure, local resources in plywood and steel, a large shipping port, and relatively low labor costs. In between building walls, we were developing many crags and bolting new routes at the neighboring Batu Caves. Gradually, we started receiving enquiries to teach climbing and began offering climbing courses. However, weather can be unpredictable in tropical Asia, and it would almost always start raining around 4pm, or any other time it’s hot and humid.
At that time, there were few indoor climbing gyms in Kuala Lumpur. With a population of over four million people in the greater KL area, we then became aware of the opportunity to build a facility that would showcase our wall brand BLOCX, as well as present climbing as a lifestyle and fitness option for KL’ites. We found our champion in the owner of 1Utama Shopping Center, who took a big gamble on a small team of climbing enthusiasts and provided us with a 20-meter-tall glass tower and fully air-conditioned space.
Why did you decide to build the Kuala Lumpur gym within a mall?
The central tenet of Camp5’s business plan was to “bring climbing to the people.” There is very little climbing or mountaineering history in Malaysia. Thus, our main target market consisted of beginners. Setting up a climbing gym in an industrial area would have made it more difficult to attract new climbers. With a totally new market segment, it’s more advisable to make the gym easily accessible.
For us, in a large urban city like KL, accessibility meant opening at a mall. Due to the heat and humidity, most KL residents flock to the many large and popular shopping malls during their leisure time. Malls in Asia are very different from malls in the USA or Europe. The typical Asian mall is a multi-story mix of retail, food/beverage, entertainment and lifestyle outlets—a one-stop shop where people can work, rest and play! More and more, malls in Asia have been offering space to unique lifestyle tenants as a means to distinguish their malls from the competition. After all, every mall has the same Uniqlo, Starbucks, and other branded retail stores.
Because of the recognition we built for the brand, our quality of service and large, established member base, Camp5 has become a sought-after tenant. We did not have to chase the next location; the malls come to us, which grants us advantages with respect to tenancy rent terms and even access to capital.
Another unique attribute of Camp5’s business model is recognizing that we need to “create” the climbers, unlike a climbing gym that might open in a US city where there is already an established community. In Kuala Lumpur, our outlets are about a 20-minute drive apart. This commute can become a 60-minute drive during peak hours. The heavy traffic often inhibits travel after work. Thus, each of our outlets in KL is tasked with cultivating its own residential community.
We have designed our facilities to be family-friendly, with some offering spaces for little climbers. Each outlet also houses our own cafe, which not only complements the facility but draws its own clientele, who come for the food and to watch the climbing. Every month, each of our branches receives hundreds of new climbers. They are introduced to the sport either by existing members or through our introductory courses.
Of course, one of the biggest challenges is finding a space that fits a climbing facility, particularly for roped climbing. However, as we have seen in recent years with the explosion of bouldering gyms in neighboring Singapore, we have plenty of scope to explore spaces dedicated to bouldering, a direction we intend to pursue now that we have established a solid base of roped climbing facilities.
What did the Camp5 team learn through the first five Camp5 gyms that was implemented at the KL East location?
It’s true that every project is an exploration. While all part of the same brand, each Camp5 outlet has a unique offering. Sometimes it is intentional, sometimes it’s a result of restrictions on the space. With each project, we gain insights into what our members are looking for and what they expect from Camp5.
Many of the staples of the brand are present: the simple, minimalist-styled interior bathrooms, foyer and café areas; lots of wide-open spaces; and an abundance of natural light via the floor-to-ceiling windows. The windows run the full length of the facility, which is fully air-conditioned, of course.
What makes Camp5 KL East unique is the Play Climb zone that we have created. It’s located on level G3 and connected to the main climbing area via an internal staircase. The Play Climb wall and other vertical challenges offer an easy, fun experience for those who want to try their hand at climbing.
The main climbing arena is at the upper level. It offers a 15-meter lead wall and 12-meter top-roping walls, along with a large bouldering zone. In Camp5 Eco City we explored having a small in-house fitness space, and it was well received by our members. Camp5 KL East has a similar arrangement of weight training options, suspension equipment for TRX classes, and spaces for conducting yoga and mobility classes.
KL East stands out from our other outlets through its walk-in experience. Whether you are entering directly from the car park or via the stairs from the Play Climb area, you are brought into a space of towering walls, flooded in natural light. We saw a lot of slow-head-turning, open-jaw moments from our members’ first entry.
Do you have any tips you would give to other gym developers or operators?
I would say to anyone looking to explore opening and operating a climbing gym, there are some key considerations you will want to take on:
- Consider your need to grow. Whether it’s expansion options within the same premise or exploring new locations, it’s important to consider what options you have in play before you begin building the first outlet.
- In conceptualizing your facility, it can be incredibly valuable to involve people with different experiences/skill sets. If your concept team is solely climbers, you may be in danger of making assumptions or, at the very least, losing an opportunity to see what is really possible.
- Have fun. Of course, we want our facilities to be successful, but success comes with building a community of members who resonate with your brand, so remember to close the lid on your laptop and go out and climb with your members. They’ll get to know you and you can get to know them (this is a lesson I have to remind myself of every day, as it really does require discipline to ensure a work-life balance when you are an entrepreneur and father of two).
- Take good care of your staff. Happiness, engagement and productivity are interlinked. Happy staff make great ambassadors of the brand.
