Social parties can be sometimes very helpful.It was one of those parties..birthday party of Chetna , some 3 years back where I met this person called Sunand. Instantly came to know that he is an adventure sports enthusiast.We kept in tough through mails.Those days he used to be associated with karnataka mountaineering association(KMA). later he founded his own organization (now a pvt. ltd. company) called IQuest. www.iquestindia.
Day1: Bangalore hates to wake up early on saturdays.So do I.But I had to reach the pickup point at 7AM. The pick up point was kanteerva stadium.I was the first one to reach the place.Slowly a few more confused and sleepy faces joined me.Around 8AM our tempo traveller came.Sunand introduced us to all the team members and training staffs. It always good to meet people of similar likes and passion.Soon we reached Ramnagaram . We again had a formal round of introduction.Pranesh and gaurav were our instructors. WE started with some stretching exercieses.Gaurav showed us several stretching exercises which are also a great way to warm up our muscles.Then he and Pranesh told us some basics about rock climbing. (All these were sort of boring as I already heard them in my previous rock climbing classes) the came the best part ..actual bouldering....i changed to my climbing shoe (which was in real bad shape after several years of wear and tear on rocks ).My first bouldering was impressive.And soon I was climbing almost all the bouldersa around me.I should add "Bouldering " is like having a practice match before the actual match. There was one boulder..some 15 ft high and witha gradient of 75-80 degrees.It looked challenging. I was aked to try it out. I did an eye climbing( imagining the climb, moves and postures before u actually climb) I knew it would be tough.I tried it ...only to fall on the crash pad kept below to take our fall...The secoud try also resulted something simlilar...on my 3rd try i used my fingers to pull my upper body ... after the launch ..it was normal climbing and I reachged the top.I was really satisfied..and I knew i made a point...a good start...
After that, we all assembled form our resective boulders..its lunch time and the difference is that we need to make our own lunch...ration and fuel was distributed in 3 seperate teams... we struggled initially to light the portable stove called "MSR"..but finally we made something edible...
After that we were informed that we would spend the night on top the hill in tents...and before sunset we need to bring up all our supplies and pitch our tent... itching tent has always been a painful exercise for me..and this time was no differnet...first to finda stable land ..and then to fix the rods...finally after 15 minutes of traila nd error methods we made our self a shelter....I arranged the mats and brought in all our supplies .After all the teams had pitched their tents , we awere asked to ssemble for some theory classes on ways to live in wilderness.What to do and what not to. I was tired and frankly no mood t listen to all these things( these are important nevertheless, but I am not built for theory classes..I like to learn things from experience...first hand.) After my "camp wali maggie" i went to bed in my tent....it rained the whole night...
day 2: I woke up early ..and was looking forward my my actual wall climbing.. after a few more stretching seesions and a session on knots...we packed up and moved towards the Temple rocks...the place where we were going to climb...the reason I came tro the camp...last time I climbed the wall I did it in a record 3 mins.. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E5Uv7c-qhBA&feature=player_embedded
But last time I did not enjoy the climb..it was more of a race...I dont like races..I want to enjoy the climb..calm and quite...steady andstrong...I wanted to show all my moves...my reflexes which I had gather over the years fdrom various talented climbers... before climbing gaurav told ...its gonna be a walk in the park..I told him that..the last leg of this route is difficult...but i will make it...I took a long breatha nd started climbing...As planned ( I had already eye climbed several times ) , I went in a slow pace...i used finger pinch,upper cuts, lower cuts, jamming and other such common techniques to climb up the wall. i was enjoying the climb...this is what I want...i think of nothing but the climb...my concentration levels are at peak...halfway up the way...I gt stuck a bit...then I did something which I never did before...something which just came...I used my left hand fingers to pull my whole body up...and place my left foot on the same place where my left hand is...it was very tough but a very rare move... I gained a lot of confidence and smoothly climbed the rest ....when I reached the top I just felt the strong wind gushing ..its a great feeling...words can definitely not explain that...for me its an achivement... I came down rapelling...Forme the camp is done... ..After all the other team mebers climbed or attempted the climb..we all came down.. we had a small theory test..and personal intervieww...after that the successful candidates were handed away the certificate and recommentation for level 2.
After that with mixed feelings we drove back to bangalore...Looking forward to level 2.
Glimpses of Level 1: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6LEaFLAiDaA
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