OYEYO Boulder Home Review
In the middle of June, just after circuit breaker measures were lifted, my friend invited me to join him for a bouldering session at a place called OYEYO Boulder Home. With time to spend after work and a desire to get back some semblance of my fitter days, I agreed to this endeavour. I was actually pretty interested in climbing during my post secondary school years after getting inspired by some videos on YouTube. During those days I climbed at Yishun Safra because it was the most affordable back then.
OYEYO is actually located in a quaint shophouse at the mouth of MacKenzie Road, which was a short 5 minute walk from Little India Exit A. We had trouble finding the place initally as we did not expect that a bouldering gym could exist in such a small location. Upon entering the place, I was greeted by a homely welcoming vibe coupled with friendly service from the staff.
Signing Up and Costs
Due to covid-19 restrictions, it is highly recommended that you book a slot on their website before going down. First time users would have to sign a waiver form at the counter before proceeding as well. I think that the cost is similar to other climbing gyms in town.
- First time sign up: $10 (Came with free shoe rental when I signed up)
- Shoe Rental: $5
- Day pass: ~$16
Climbing Experience
Discalaimer: This is written from a V4-ish climber point of view and thus avid climbers should take it with a pinch of salt.
I’ve been going to OYEYO for close to 3 weeks now after signing up for a monthly pass. It is a small climbing gym, no doubt about that. The photo below shows almost the entire gym, excluding a small training area at the back which features hangboards and a small wall for endurance training.
Despite its modest size, the walls are densely packed with a wide variety of holds, ensuring that there is no shortage of routes to explore. Most of the routes are graded in the 5C – 6B range (V0 – V4) with a couple of 7As and above as well for the more adventurous, which made it feel friendly to beginners. The problems were also extremely varied and interesting, from slopers to dynamic to overhangs. Due to the height limitation of the wall, several of the harder problems have very awkward starts or first moves in order to increase its difficulty. Personally, I liked the more dynamically focused routes and found that they were a bit more manageable and fun. I found new problems to work on every week and felt that the difficulty of the routes was just right to helping me get stronger and improve my technique.
Conclusion
I chose to sign up for a monthly pass at OYEYO because of its homely ambience, its convenient location and the friendly and helpful staff, which are always ready to advise the climbers on tips and tricks to solve the existing problems. It also makes for a fun day trip with your friends as well as there are numerous beginner routes for them to try out. I would definitely recommend it to everyone, especially for beginners and first time climbers.