Founded in 2019 by a group of friends and avid climbers, it’s the first boutique gym of its kind in Malaysia offering varying levels of difficulty to climbing enthusiasts – young, old, experienced and newbies.
FMT chatted with co-founders Daniel Lim and Benedict Tan about their exciting business venture.
The duo said the concept of the gym started at a very Malaysian setting: over drinks at a Mamak stall, where the conversation turned to the sad state of rock-climbing facilities in the country.
Their friend Ben Toh, who was with them, said: “If you guys think you can do it better, why not do it yourself then?”
It was a challenge they couldn’t refuse, and roping in Toh himself and another buddy, the four got down to work.
But it wasn’t as easy as they thought. According to Tan, procuring the gym supplies was an uphill battle from day one.
“Most of the companies are based in Europe where there is a much larger market for them, so getting the connections was definitely the hardest for us.”
Next came securing a prime spot. “There are a lot of factors to consider, such as ceiling height and whether there’s enough space to position the pillars, and so on,” Lim said.
Catering to their customers’ needs also proved quite an obstacle for the team, as people from all walks of life showed up at the gym eager to give rock climbing a go. However, each of them also had varying degrees of fitness, dexterity, stamina and expectations.
“Luckily for us we made some good hiring decisions, and over time we slowly got the hang of how to deal with them,” Lim added.
Curiously enough, Tan himself said he only got hooked on rock climbing some years back after he was diagnosed with clinical depression.
As a young man though, he was into video games. Besides playing it, he also wanted to design and develop his own. However, life had other plans for the 41-year-old and this career path did not take off.
“Climbing made me try hard to achieve my goal, and through it I learned to take things slow and savour the small victories in life, which in turn gave me the motivation to achieve bigger things down the road,” he said, adding that the physical exertion of rock climbing helped his weight issues as well.
Besides being a business venture that they hope will be profitable, the friends also see the gym as a way for customers to get fit, find purpose in life and just enjoy themselves engaging in an exciting and challenging physical activity that also uses their brain power.
“We want people to realise their full potential and see what they can do when they put their mind to it, other than finding a sense of community here with the other members,” Lim said.
Head to Bump Bouldering’s official website here, or follow them on Facebook and Instagram.
Bump Bouldering
Lot 1.051, Level 1
The School
Jaya One
72A, Jln Profesor Diraja Ungku Aziz
Pjs 13,
46200 Petaling Jaya
Business hours:
12.00pm-10.00pm: Weekdays
9.00am-7.00pm: Weekends
Contact: 018-3604355