Ramnagara

I’m mainly a boulderer. Boulering is the type of climbing where the climbs are relatively short (2-3m) and no additional gear such as ropes or quickdraws are required. All you need is a pair of shoes and perhaps a crash pad for when you climb outdoors. In a gym you are quite safe. There are thick mats you can drop down on safely. You can focus on pushing yourself, without worrying too much about taking a bad fall. There is no need to inspect the ground carefully, check the type of rock, or be concerned about much of anything else. Outdoor climbing is a different beast. One that is totally out of reach in the Netherlands. There is not much in the form of natural rock here and the closest option is Fontainbleau in France.

Though, I do “top rope” occasionally, most of the time that I am in the Netherlands, I only boulder. This is mainly because most of my friends find it a lot more convenient to go to a bouldering hall as opposed to taking courses on learning how to belay. Top-roping is a type of climbing where you climb long routes (30-40m) while being secured by a rope. One end of the rope is secured to the climber and the other held by a belayer. This is also quite safe as the climber is suspended from a pulley or anchor at the top of the route. This requires someone to set the rope up initially for others to top-rope. In indoor climbing halls, the gym has several walls with ropes already set up.. A climber falls is immediately caught by the rope. The ropes used stretch dynamically decelerating the fall and most modern belay devices automatically lock, preventing the climber from taking a big fall.

Lead climbing is the type of climbing where no ropes are set up. On the way up, the climber clips himself to pre-existing bolts on the rock face. The climber first clips one end of a quickdraw onto a bolt, followed by clipping the rope onto the other end of the quickdraw. The climb until the next bolt is completely unsecured and the climber can take a fall up to several meters. The local climbing community is responsible for maintaining the bolts drilled into the wall. They also take on the task of establishing the climbing routes, usually referred to as a “sport routes”.

I do know how to lead and have led on a few occasions. I took a course a while back in the Netherlands to do this, but with covid and the lack of too many climbing partners, I’ve mainly just stuck to bouldering. Moreover, I do not really have access to sport routes in the Netherlands. My closest option is to go to the Ardennes in Belgium. While I yearn to try the different routes there, sadly I only know one other friend who can lead. Lacking sufficient experience, I do not have the confidence to guarantee anybody else’s safety 30m off the ground. If I do find climbers I trust, I might still embark on this journey after all. But, then again I was witness to a friend cracking his ankle in front of me, before I could lift a finger to break his fall. Safety first!

Interestingly, the only times that I have led ever on outdoor routes is when I’m back in Bangalore. Serendipitous enough, a close childhood friend of mine is also an avid climber. It came as quite a surprise to find out that there is a bustling climbing community in the city that I grew up in. And in contrast to the Netherlands, here there is plenty of granite to file your skin on just an hours drive away. I can really imagine the blissful joy of being able to drive out every weekend to try these routes.

A key difference I find in this experience is the rush I feel on leading a route. It is entirely different from climbing a boulder problem in the comfort of a gym with a thick mat to catch your fall. We are out in the open. In the wild. I can feel the heat of the sun on my neck as I push through a route. I can feel my heart race as I place my foot on a tiny piece of rock, hoping that it doesn’t flake. Luckily, the rock around Bangalore is granite (its tough). While I lead the route, I am only clipped a meter or two above or below me, meaning, I can have a whipping fall a few meters down. Assuming, of course that I clipped my rope in correctly and the quick draw holds. To clarify, taking a fall of two to four meters, is certainly quite OK. In fact, not getting over the fear of falling can be limiting to your performance. However, it is scary nevertheless.

There is a measure of trust that I need to place in my equipment. This requires a certain level of confidence in my skill and good safety practices. Yes, there is danger, but there is also a challenge. I feel a rush going up these routes. I feel a certain sense of calm in surrendering to my situation. I feel happy and content on the rock knowing that I have faith in my ability. Its a different experience from grinding my teeth on plastic in a controlled indoor situation.

These granite rocks can be found in Ramnagara, in the outskirts of Bangalore just outside the city limits. Another bonus is the sense of community. One of the reasons I love bouldering is the community around it. Its so homely to walk into a climbing hall and know half the people there. It gives me a feeling of being united in this pursuit. Here, in Bangalore, I have been welcomed into a community of climbers. We share our experiences and joke about them when we are down on the ground belaying or simply hanging about. A very endearing way that I look at climbers, is that we are just a bunch of goofy clowns who like fooling about, for whom doing something regular and boring simply wont cut it. We share our equipment, our experiences and we teach each other. Climbing would simply not be the same without a excited motivated fun loving group of people to climb with. It took me no time to get to know my fellow climbers. I was laughing my head off by the time we left the crag.

While my bouldering experience allows me to leverage my strength and gives me good control over my mobility, I severely lack the feeling of practical problem solving and learning to trust myself. Indoor climbing routes are simulated and color coded. Its a lot easier to climb a route when you can clearly see where you need to place your hands or feet. It doesn’t make the route any easier but its entirely different from being presented with a giant rock with a multitude of features. Outdoor climbing really challenges you to feel the rock, figure out what the moves are. It forces you to spend time understanding the route. I yearn for this challenge. Further, I also enjoy being out in the wild, in nature. We even spotted a giant owl and even its eggs on a high perch on the cliff face. Being in touch with the outdoors, is something I do not get in my conventional climbing environment.

I was rather oblivious to the climbing community in India. Albeit small, I am happy to see it thriving. I look forward to seeing this develop in the years to come. I am also happy to have been introduced to this community. This now for me is another tug back to Bangalore. I am excited to climb and I like how this is going.