Building new addition to bouldering community

If you can’t find your footing, try climbing.

It worked for David Kalmakoff. Now, almost 10 years after taking up the sport, he’s opened the Kal Climbing Gym, a bouldering facility in Winnipeg where climbers can practice their skills.

It’s not the first bouldering facility he’s owned, but it’s the first one the public can visit. When the entrepreneur purchased a two-bedroom house a few years ago, he turned the extra bedroom into a climbing space.

“It’s this tiny little wall that doesn’t look like anything at all, but it’s led to hours of enjoyment,” Kalmakoff said. “It’s kind of what sparked the idea that I could do the same thing on a scale that involves other people.”

After a few years of dreaming and scanning Realtor.ca every so often for a space to rent, Kalmakoff came across 222 St. Mary’s Rd. earlier this year. He signed a lease, got the keys to what was once a mixed martial arts studio, moved in and started renovating.

On Monday, he opened for business.

The 2,000-square-foot facility is split into four sections. The first is a standardized climbing board designed for comprehensive skill development. The other three sections feature a variety of climbing routes Kalmakoff said will change every week.

“You keep it fresh so that people have something to look forward to and something that continues to challenge them,” the 30-year-old said.

It’s the challenge that drew him to the sport.

Born and raised in Winnipeg, Kalmakoff spent a couple years in his early 20s living in Vernon, B.C., and working a manufacturing job. He felt aimless and unsure of himself until a co-worker brought him to a bouldering gym and introduced him to climbing.

“From that day on I was just kind of hooked,” he said. “I wanted to just be there all the time and I met genuinely good people.”

The physicality of climbing appealed to Kalmakoff. He also appreciated the mental challenge, as well as the push to try new things and keep moving forward, even if he failed at first.

Eventually, wins in the gym built Kalmakoff’s confidence. Soon, he found himself taking care of all aspects of his life. He moved into a better living situation, started eating healthier, got out of debt and returned to studying software development.

“That feedback loop (in climbing) of trying something, failing and figuring out how to move past it was this incredible thing that just seeped into the rest of my life.”

Kalmakoff moved back to Winnipeg a few years ago to help take care of his father, Leonard, who was living with early-onset dementia.

He visited local climbing gyms and made new friends. They introduced him to outdoor climbing and it wasn’t long before he was travelling around Canada and the United States camping, exploring and climbing.

Kalmakoff’s father died in 2023 at 61 years old. Kalmakoff named the gym after Leonard, who was known to his friends as “the Kal.” He also incorporated an owl into the facility’s logo, since Leonard’s Indigenous name translated to, “white owl.”

Leonard was a machinist who ran a side business renting and maintaining carpet cleaning equipment. He had a standing rule that Kalmakoff could skip school, so long as he spent the day helping him with his business.

When Kalmakoff started playing baseball, Leonard coached his team, and when he took up snowboarding, Leonard did, too.

“He was a great dad. He wanted to be involved in my life in any way he could.”

Now that the Kal Climbing Gym is open, Kalmakoff is balancing the new endeavour with his day job as a software developer. He credits his friends in the local climbing community for helping him get the gym off the ground.

“This sport that is kind of simple and meaningless — you’re just climbing up a wall or climbing up a rock or a cliff — can do so much for you and give you so much without asking for anything in return,” Kalmakoff said. “If I can build something where someone can have that same experience, or even a glimmer of it, it’s all worth it for me.”

Chris Beauvilain, a board member at Climbing Manitoba, said the sport is exploding in popularity around the world.

“We’re seeing a big uptake here in Manitoba as well,” he said.

Kori Cuthbert, managing partner at the Hive, a bouldering facility on Lorimer Boulevard, said he’s looking forward to visiting the Kal Climbing Gym.

“It’s really exciting to see some more options for climbing within the city,” he said.

aaron.epp@winnipegfreepress.com