Camp5
Oct 30th, 2008 | By putra | Category: Camp5, Equipment, Featured Page
Camp5 is a popular and well equipped indoor climbing gym, located in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. No regional guide to climbing activities can claim to be complete without referencing this gym. In writing statements from the visiting world cup athletes of 2006, Camp5 is remarked as one of the best climbing gyms in the world. Although no world ranking list has been produced to validate the claim, it’s not difficult to see that Camp5, standing in a 24m glass tower with a 270deg panorama could be well seated in the top ten.
Built Stretchmarks Asia, the company whose consultation, design and manufacture portfolio, includes among other project, Shah Alam Extreme Park and Putrajaya Challenge Park,Camp5 opened its doors to the eager climbing community in December 2005. It is managed by New Zealander Jeremy Peet (picture below), who together with Stretchmarks Asia’s Managing Director Mr Patrick Andrey, (also Founder of BLOCX the company that produced Camp5 walls) have been active in Malaysia’s climbing scene since 2002, having personally funded and development Nyamuk, Malaysia largest bolted crag at Batu Caves, and organized the Mammut Expedition of 2007 that funded the development of new routes in Perlis and Perak.
Camp5 offers 1800 square meters of climbing space including 300sqm of bouldering along with all the luxuries you’d expect in a fitness facility including showers, lockers and ‘eat well’ cafe. The gym also provides Yoga classes on selected times in the week. The routes offer an ideal spread of grades for beginners to seasoned climbers. The sentinel wall section plays host to lead routes as high as 16 meters, with everything from steep overhang to technical slab climbs.
Unfortunately Camp5 does not yet have a roof section in the lead routes (there is a 1 meter roof section in the top roped castle wall area along the gangway) however there are whispers that their long anticipated “final phase” of construction, a free standing tower to be built in the central void space of the glass tower will provide this missing element.
The array of routes available, and the regular route setting (including changes to wall features via the innovative ‘discs’ inserts) ensures for an interesting environment to develop both strength and technique. The boulder cave offers roofs and overhanging routes to practice and train, and this section is the most popular amongst the climbing community, who regularly meet there and challenge each other through new routes they make up. Cries of desperation, exasperation, exultation and adoration regularly emanate from the hollows of cave.
If you are alone and haven’t got a belay buddy, there is the option of the bouldering section, or the three auto belays set up on a 12m wall just by the entrance and reception. There are enough routes there to occupy a climber for hours. Most climbers use this area for warm up, but several take on specific routes as a project and can be found working on a problem for days on end. We know of several Camp5 employees who regularly (in their off times) use the autobelay to keep their endurance up by doing several routes on the up climb and down climb back to back till they are knackered….. and that’s just warm up.
Equipment can be purchased from the in-house shop or rented from the reception. There is a large selection of equipment to buy. In comparison to prices overseas (especially if you’re from Europe or Australia) you will find considerable savings. However if you’re really on a budget it may be worth checking the prices in Singapore as differences in custom duties between Malaysia and Singapore’s sometimes benefit retailers of one country over the other. Camp5 does provide term members special discount privileges for shop purchases. Also, since the climbing community is still very small, it’s worth checking promotions as climbing equipment manufactures typically release new lines each year forcing retailers to discount old stock that’s been collecting dust on the shop shelf. All in all we believe the pricing at Camp5 is competitive and it is up to the purchaser to shop around for the best deals.
Reviewing online forums and general buzz from other climbers, it is clear that from certain quarters there is some contention over the membership fees at Camp5. With some claiming that membership is expensive. When doing so, climbers make this argument in comparison to the Summit Climbing Gym (the other major commercial climbing gym around Kuala Lumpur). However if we consider that Camp5 is located in one of KL’s premier shopping centers, 1-Utama, with an area larger than your average fitness facility it would hardly seem fair to compare its price to that of the Summit Gym. A fairer comparison might be to compare Camp5 fees with those of Fitness First, Celebrity or California Fitness (which are commercial gyms operating within the same shopping complex), after all the overheads probably aren’t much different.
There are several other venues for climbing that require only a nominal fee of a few Ringgit and also some that are free (mostly government facilities that are quite run down, and in some places… dangerous), but none of them are as well maintained and operated as Camp5. It goes without saying that a business has to adjust its pricing to balance the volume of clientele with the demands of operational costs. So the debate between climbers and Camp5 on pricing has to meet an impasse somewhere with give and take on both sides. Camp5 currently (at time of print) charges Adults RM1088 and RM648 and Students RM748 and RM438 respectively for 1 year or 6 month unlimited access. We do a simple analysis as per below:
|
Class |
Type of membership |
Cost (Malaysian Ringgit, RM) |
Cost per Visit |
Cost per visit |
||
|
1 visit / wk |
2 visit / wk |
3 visit / wk |
||||
|
Adult |
Single Entry |
26.00 |
26.00 |
26.00 |
52.00 |
78.00 |
|
10 Pass |
220.00 |
22.00 |
22.00 |
44.00 |
66.00 |
|
|
6 Months Unlimited |
648.00 |
NA |
24.92 |
12.46 |
8.31 |
|
|
1 Year Unlimited |
1,088.00 |
NA |
20.92 |
10.46 |
6.97 |
|
|
Student |
Single Entry |
18.00 |
18.00 |
18.00 |
36.00 |
54.00 |
|
10 Pass |
150.00 |
15.00 |
15.00 |
30.00 |
45.00 |
|
|
6 Months Unlimited |
438.00 |
NA |
16.85 |
8.42 |
5.62 |
|
|
1 Year Unlimited |
748.00 |
NA |
14.38 |
7.19 |
4.79 |
|
Safety is obviously a high priority in Camp5, a copy of the current gym rules are presented to every new member; many key rules are also posted around the gym in respective ‘zones’. Whilst these measures have sparked criticism from some climbers, accusing Camp5 of being too draconian in its safety policies, 3 years of high volume traffic, as witnessed on any weekend, and no serious mishap or injury is evidence that the gym policies, good maintenance and safety monitoring, are effective. In the end an injury free record and a database of more than 11550 unique individuals, is proof that Camp5 must be doing something right.
Whilst the recent closure of the Summit climbing gym limited the options for climbers, there are still several other venues for climbing. With Putrajaya’s wall soon to open KL climbers will again have plenty of choice of climbing. Though the convenience of its location, quality routes and service, we can expect that Camp5 will remain a hub for the climbing community for years to come.
Please find the link to their updated 2008 newsletter here:
Link to their Newsletter
Address of Camp5:
Level 5, New Wing,
1-Utama Shopping Centre,
Bandar Utama, Damansara,
Selangor, Malaysia.
Phone: +60 3 7726 0420
Fax: +60 3 7726 0410
Joanne
Thank you for your comment. It is not normally my habit to respond to online forum posts but having investigated your matter I felt my findings and Camp5’s position may be of interest to other climbers.
Firstly to respond to a point made in your post “I hope the gym can educate their workers on the fact that climbing is a very subjective activity and there are many ways to do certain thing and not just ONE method” if you are referring to ‘safety’ I do not entirely share this opinion, to explain why refer to the instructional booklet that accompanies all climbing equipment of which details in very specific terms the ‘do’s & don’ts’ of the particular hardware. Whilst climbers may choose to interrupt or disregard the advice given, Camp5 will always take the position of the manufacturer.
A classic example of misuse is evident with the Grigri, often climbers inhibit the cam in order to give rope to a lead climber, however in the instructional booklet such action is highlighted as very unsafe. Climber’s reluctance to heed this warning has resulted a sufficient number of accidents to force Petzl (the manufacturer) to invest in a worldwide campaign to stop climbers from practicing this habit.
Of your case in particular I understand that the method of belay you were using was in question. I will refer to the style you used as the ‘pinch’ technique; a method in which the belayer pulls slack though the belay device keeping both brake rope and live rope parallel, then pinches the brake rope with the same hand that’s holding the live rope freeing the brake hand to reposition or slide down the brake rope to the device from which position the belayer can then take rope again and repeat the process.
This belay technique is most prevalently used (and in some cases still taught) in USA. Though whilst attending the 2008 Climbing Wall Association Summit in Boulder, Colorado, the unanimous feedback I received from those I spoke to, of the 200+ attending climbing wall managers and instructors, is that efforts are being made to curb and eventually replace this technique.
To illustrate the danger of this technique we should first consider its origins. Prior to the invention of the belay device, the HMS knot (otherwise known as the Munter or Italian Hitch:Left) was used in combination with a HMS carabiner for the purpose of belay. To maximize the rope friction created by the knot, both the brake and the live ropes need to be pulled in the same direction. Thus the pinch style of belay was born.
However most modern belay devices, in fact all that I know of (including autolocking devices like the Grigri) are designed so that the friction of the device is increased by pulling the brake rope in the opposite directions of the live rope. This consensus amongst climbing gym manufacturers is not by accident. The device is intentionally designed to work with the belayer natural reflex response; as an example, if I place a rope in your hand and I pull on that rope naturally you will pull in the opposite direction.
Now I am aware that supporters of pinch technique would argue that they still pull down on the brake rope when a climber falls. And it is by this statement that the answer to ‘why the pinch technique is not the safest method belay’ is revealed. Since the default position of the pinch technique, with the brake and live rope parallel, effective disables the belay device, the safety of the falling climbing then relies entirely on the attentiveness of the belayer. If distracted or caught off guard the fall of the climber would pull the brake rope though the device at such speeds that if the belayer has not already let go, the rope burn on the hand will ensure they do.
Given that it is human nature to fall prey to lapses of concentration, the reliance of vigilant attentiveness is the Achilles heal of the pinch technique. Yes it may not have resulted in an accident yet, I’m sure a great many would reinforce you on this point, but consider the alternative, what if tomorrow, or next week or 2 years from now it didn’t?
If you would like to read more on this topic I can strongly recommend the following PDF downloads (in German – however I am working on a English translation).
German Article 1
German Article 2
The articles are written based on independent studies of accidents and reveals that the No 1 cause of a climber hitting the deck is unsafe belay practices including the pinch technique.
It is from such resources that we inform our staff of concerns that need to be addressed. We understand that criticism is not always readily received, but it is our mission as a company to support the sustainability of the sport by doing whatever we can to steer climbers away from potential hazards.
Jeremy Peet
Camp5 Director
We went to Camp 5 a few times already when we were in Malaysia. I find the gym quite impressive with lots of routes including a section of crack wall; I’ve never seen this in any gym I’ve been to. The price is ok. However, here’s the cons: the routes are quite boring and a little confusing. This could be due to the fact that I’m so used to gym with tapes marking routes. In order to be challenged you have to be creative and make up your own routes. One more thing to comment, not to sound like a snob but some guy who works there approached me and told me that I WASN’T belaying correctly. I’m so shocked. Just because I was not belaying like the gym instruction, it doesn’t mean I’m doing it wrong. I’ve caught plenty of falls and never have I drop my partner. Anyway, maybe I was just a snob and didn’t like being criticized. I did however comply to the guy but I made sure he understood that I wasn’t doing anything wrong but complying just for the sake of the gym rule. I hope the gym can educate their workers on the fact that climbing is a very subjective activity and there are many ways to do certain thing and not just ONE method.
I been to Camp5 before a few times. The single entry charge is EX… but the 1 year one is very cheap. I think for regular climbers it is worthwhile, but not for one off visitors.
Camp5 rocks! We dont have anything like that here in singapore and the prices are cheap. But I guess this is from a singaporean perspective…. malaysian salary isnt as high. But still if you take the annual packages, or 6 month one…. very reasonable pricing.
The Camp5 article has been updated with more accurate information on the gym with the help of our friends at Camp5.
Regards,
putra@putraclimb.com