Help Rock On through this COVID lockdown.

My name is Melanie. Over the past three years, I worked tirelessly making plans to fulfill my dream of opening a bouldering gym. I could not have foreseen or prepared for a worldwide pandemic hitting at the exact same time. 

After four months of delays in construction, in which fees associated with my business loan were eating into my savings, I finally got possession of my leased space in March and was immediately hit with the first COVID shut down. I had to stop construction while still continuing to pay those bank fees for several more months before finally getting to start the build out in June. After months of hard work and several adjustments to the plan to cut costs in response to the delays, I was finally able to open my doors to the community on September 7th, 2020. 

Despite the pandemic, my first month of operations was everything I could have hoped for. I met so many people from both the climbing community and the immediate residents of the community. New and experienced climbers alike made it through my doors and had fun getting physically active again as well as stimulating their minds to solve difficult climbing problems. The feedback I received was extremely positive, and I'm so grateful for all the support in the early days.

I worked diligently to design and implement a comprehensive safety protocol to minimize the possibility of spreading the virus. This included limiting the space to 10 people max, creating a 2hr pre-booking reservation system, fogging the space with disinfectant between each timeslot, enforcing 2m social distancing between people, barring spectators, making hand sanitizer readily available, installing plexiglass barriers, and enforcing masks at all times. All of this costs several thousand dollars of unforeseen expenses while also limiting the possible revenue to be had.

On October 9th, 2020, just a month after opening, I had to shut down my climbing gym in order to do my part in slowing the transmission rate of COVID-19. I was able to open again for a week in November before being shut down again on November 23rd.

While I strongly support the measures implemented by the government including closing businesses where outbreaks are likely to occur; I believe all the precautions I took created an extremely safe environment and I should not have been included in the current shutdown. 

As a new business that opened after March 2020. I do not qualify for any government subsidies or loans such as the Canada Emergency Business Account (CEBA). The only staff is myself, and I have been working a second job to continue paying my bills. This means I don't have payroll as an expense to qualify for other government subsidies.

As an independent run business, I can't afford to take on more debt and so I am reaching out to the community asking for help. I know these are difficult times for everyone, but for those in a position to help, any amount is appreciated.

I love the community but operating a space in Canary is a premium expense. 

My monthly breakdown 

$14,000 on rent 

$2000 in interest fees for my business loan

$2000 for miscellaneous things like insurance, gas, hydro and internet


Thus, I am setting a goal for one month of expenses at $18,000 to get me through to the new year.

Please share with your friends and family, every share helps.

Thank you so much. I look forward to reopening my doors and serving everyone again.


Melanie Wong