Vertical limit

Manik Banerjee

A test of endurance and agility, rock climbing gives a sense of achievement when you reach the top after overcoming obstacles

Take the rope, be ready, climbing. OK”. One hears these utterances while moving around the hills and mountains of India, especially during the winter. No, these terms are not used by forest workers or officials of the Archaeological or Geological Survey of India but are calls made by youths seeking adventure by climbing rocks and cliffs. Come weekends, and you will find students, amateurs as well as professionals, carrying backpacks heading towards the hills. They are not heading for any luxury any resort or a tourist hotspot. Rather they are bitten by the ‘rock bugs’. Rock climbing is the “art of moving on the rocks within the limit of safety”. It is an integral part of mountaineering. The other part of mountaineering is known as “snow and ice crafting”. Unlike snow and ice-crafting, rock climbing can be learnt and practiced in any place where one finds some rocky boulders, cliffs or walls.

According to veteran climber and former deputy director of field training at the Himalayan Mountaineering Institute (HMI) in Darjeeling, Nima Tashi, “Rock climbing is a great sport. It enables you to be one with nature and makes you physically fit, mentally alert while teaching you camaraderie and partnership.” It brings a sense of achievement when you reach the top of a boulder or a cliff or a wall after overcoming obstacles.

Where to do

Tenzing Norgay’s historic ascent of Mt. Everest, along with Edmund Hillary in 1953, guided India to take up mountaineering as an organised sport and setting up set up of the Himalayan Mountaineering Institute (HMI) in Darjeeling a year later. Rock climbing was then taught as a part of mountaineering course.

In January 1965, the Himalayan Association, the oldest civilian mountaineering club in eastern India, organised the first rock climbing training course in Susunia Hill under Bankura district of West Bengal.

In North India, the craze for climbing began a little late compared to the East but now the climbers in places like Delhi head for sites like Lado Sarai or Dhauj. Delhi has both man-made and natural rock climbing sites. The natural rock formation in Dhauj village is well known. So are the Old Rocks of Lado Sarai in Delhi.

Uttarakhand is one of the favourites for rock climbers. There are ample climbing activities in Rishikesh and Nainital.

In Himachal Pradesh, some of the popular rock climbing sites are in Beas Kund Region, Hanuman Tibba, Shitidhar Peaks (origin of Beas river) and Deo Tibba.

Among other places in India, the rock climbing destinations in West Bengal are considered best. You can find enthusiasts from not just the state but other parts of India flocking to Susunia (Bankura district of West Bengal) Mathaburu and Jayachandi Hills (Purulia district) or other nearby areas for rock climbing. While practice climbing by small groups is usually allowed, for undertaking training course permission is often needed from the Forest Department.

Equipment

• A good pair of shoes.
• Standard climbing ropes.
• Carabineers (metal loops used as connectors).
• Quick draws (to connect ropes to bolt anchors).
• Harness (used for connecting rope to the climber).
• Belay devices (allow locking off of the rope with minimal errors).
• Rappel devices (friction brakes designed for descending ropes).