Boulder Story
Petaling Jaya, Malaysia
Specs: Boulder Story, a bouldering gym located in Petaling Jaya, Malaysia—a city just west of Kuala Lumpur—opened this past November in the Atria Shopping Gallery. Kip Cheah, Co-Owner and Managing Director of the new gym, stated the ownership team moved forward with their vision “because we wanted to bring a place where we can share the joy of climbing and make bouldering more accessible.” In Malaysia, bouldering is mostly seen as an extreme sport, according to Cheah, so it was important to him to showcase the “warmth, community feeling, and collective support” of a bouldering gym. He added that many people have heard of bouldering in Malaysia, but not everybody in the mainstream audience has a complete understanding of it. So, the Boulder Story team felt the gym’s mall location would be an ideal place to introduce the general public to the sport. “We wanted to create a safe space where people would feel comfortable,” said Cheah.
In the Atria Shopping Gallery, Cheah envisions non-climbers will walk by the gym and ask about the sport, perhaps wondering why there aren’t ropes or harnesses. “Every day we have to explain to people what bouldering is, how you use the mats, how you climb down, and how you stop, drop and roll on the mat,” Cheah explained. “So, as we took our approach and just opened up recently, we’re still trying to find that balance between making it easily accessible and also making sure the current community is challenged enough.”
About the gym’s mall location, Cheah pointed out that it wasn’t a surprising choice. “In Malaysia, especially in the city landscape, in urban areas, bouldering gyms are generally located in malls; very few are in warehouses,” he said. Still, opening a bouldering gym in a mall did come with certain challenges, such as having to “fit around more restrictions and timings,” said Cheah. For example, the heavy, nosier work could only be done during certain hours, when the mall was closed. “It was quite difficult to arrange that labor early in the morning and late at night,” he detailed, noting Boulder Story must follow the shopping gallery’s 10:00am to 10:00pm schedule. Additionally, the team had to fit the climbing walls into the existing space, since they were unable to move pillars and the like. For this reason, Cheah recommends that other operators opening a gym in a mall work with developers who have past experience with mall projects. Fortunately, opening a bouldering gym in a mall does come with multiple benefits: Cheah mentioned that many parents can drop their kids off, and then shop or do other activities. “They know that their kids are in a safe environment,” said Cheah, “and there’s plenty of parking.”
In addition to climbing on 4.2-meter (13.7-foot) walls, Boulder Story visitors can attend yoga or guided sessions inside the gym. Because the Atria Shopping Gallery hosts other tenants that offer traditional fitness equipment, the gym’s operators chose to focus on maximizing the climbing offerings inside the space, installing 500 square meters (5,382 square feet) of wall surface—although the gym does include some training options, like hangboards and some weight equipment.
When the gym first opened, the boulders were graded with a unique twist: boulders were tagged in terms of styles—such as power, modern coordination, or balance—and grades were not listed. “There was a huge mix of responses because it’s such a polarizing way to open a gym,” Cheah explained. “Some people loved it because they love the fact that it’s exploring; they were exploring and it felt super refreshing. Other people were completely confused. Other people hated it. So, we revised that recently.” Now, boulders are still tagged with one of six style options, but grades are listed alongside the styles. The new system was implemented to allow climbers to both warm up more easily and pursue personal progression in their climbing, whatever that may look like. “We realized that everybody likes climbing differently,” said Cheah. “So, in order to welcome everybody, we had to update our tagging system.”
Walls: Walltopia
Flooring: Owner/Contractor
CRM Software: Rezerv
Website: boulderstory.com
Instagram: @BoulderStoryGym
In Their Words: “Our mission is to bring bouldering and the support of it to the forefront. But also, we want Boulder Story to be a place for learning, where you can learn bouldering and where you can climb as you are. So, we’re trying to find a way to have the best customer experience at the end of the day.” – Kip Cheah, Co-Owner and Managing Director
