There is this climbing gear store that I've been meaning to visit. Reader, you may remember this post from some months ago. I finally dragged my heavy bottom off my comfy chair last Sunday and got myself there! It is nestled within a neat little commercial area no more than 10 - 15 minutes' drive from some of the favourite climbing spots at Batu Caves... a most befitting location, indeed.
The moment I stepped in, the friendly staff greeted me warmly and offered me a chair. You wonder why? Well, I was half-panting (the shop is on the 3rd floor, but seriously, what kind of climber am I to start losing breath after just 3 flights of stairs? *sigh*) The store is modest in size, but extremely well-stocked. They carry every climbing necessity from the very basic shoes, harnesses etc., to headlamps and even ice axes!
(I only had with me a wimpy compact camera, Reader, so please excuse the quality of the photos)
There is something inherently different, special, about a gear shop run by climbers for climbers. At one corner of the amazing little place, there is a bouldering wall. Yes, an actual bouldering wall with crash pads, complete with a 7a+ route marked out!
See? I'm not joking about the 7a+:
I imagine, other than satisfying the climbing addiction of the staff when on staff-duty, the wall gives a huge plus point if a customer looking to buy shoes wants to get a feel of how those shoes would perform on the rocks.
I did not get onto the wall there, but I did try their slackline (in retrospect, I should have tried that crazy 7a+ and see how miserably I'd fail!) Walking on the slackline is supposed to train one's balance, focus and core strength. If one can get on it at all. I couldn't. I tried several times and each time, I wobbled off before I even got completely on. Climbing Sifu tried to help by sitting on the line to stabilize it for me, but even then, I could only manage to stand on it only for fractions of seconds longer before falling off, as usual. It was awfully embarrassing, but Sifu, being the good, professional Sifu he is, didn't laugh at me. :D
Needless to say, there isn't any photo of me on the slackline. I mean, if someone were to attempt to take a shot of me up there, he / she would have to use a super high-speed camera, like those used in Time Warp, considering how extremely momentarily I remained on it!
Visit them virtually at -
http://www.verticale.my/
Or, physically at -
2-105, Jalan Prima Sg 3/2, Taman Sri Gombak, 68100 Batu Caves, Selangor, Malaysia
(I only had with me a wimpy compact camera, Reader, so please excuse the quality of the photos)
*pretty pretty pretty*
*new arrival, in a cool black!*
There is something inherently different, special, about a gear shop run by climbers for climbers. At one corner of the amazing little place, there is a bouldering wall. Yes, an actual bouldering wall with crash pads, complete with a 7a+ route marked out!
See? I'm not joking about the 7a+:
I imagine, other than satisfying the climbing addiction of the staff when on staff-duty, the wall gives a huge plus point if a customer looking to buy shoes wants to get a feel of how those shoes would perform on the rocks.
I did not get onto the wall there, but I did try their slackline (in retrospect, I should have tried that crazy 7a+ and see how miserably I'd fail!) Walking on the slackline is supposed to train one's balance, focus and core strength. If one can get on it at all. I couldn't. I tried several times and each time, I wobbled off before I even got completely on. Climbing Sifu tried to help by sitting on the line to stabilize it for me, but even then, I could only manage to stand on it only for fractions of seconds longer before falling off, as usual. It was awfully embarrassing, but Sifu, being the good, professional Sifu he is, didn't laugh at me. :D
*Sifu*
Needless to say, there isn't any photo of me on the slackline. I mean, if someone were to attempt to take a shot of me up there, he / she would have to use a super high-speed camera, like those used in Time Warp, considering how extremely momentarily I remained on it!
Visit them virtually at -
http://www.verticale.my/
Or, physically at -
2-105, Jalan Prima Sg 3/2, Taman Sri Gombak, 68100 Batu Caves, Selangor, Malaysia
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