Bouldering at Turahalli

On Sunday (April 4th 2010) I had my first climbing experience on natural rock, outside of sport climbing (on the wall at Kantierva Stadium). Getting up at 5 am in the morning was the hardest part. That done I was very excited to get a feel of outdoor climbing. After picking up my friends we headed out for Turahalli, which to my surprise was just a few kilometers from Banshankari bus stand on Kanakpura road (Bangalore). In fact it took us longer to reach Banshankari bus stand from my place (which is behind Carlton Towers, btw I mentioned Carlton towers since everyone in Bangalore now knows about it. Earlier even the auto guys would go huh!!!), than it took to reach Turahalli. Turahalli might be the best kept getaway secret about Bangalore. Talk about places to visit on a weekend from Bangalore and everyone talks about Nandi Hills as the closest option. I did not even know this place existed. But to be fair, it is not a everyone's cup of tea. If you are not a bird watcher, climbers or a trekker or just plain old nature lover this place does not hold much.

On reaching Turahalli the first boulder we choose to climb was the Ski. The route we chose started around the center of the rock and then moved on towards the left as there were very few hand holds along the center. After a couple of failed attempts at the very first move (mainly due to the fact that I did not trust my feet to stick to the rock) I was able to complete this climb. What surprised me was the grip these rocks provide. At the wall my hands often slip off the holds, especially if they are finger holds. On the rock however, it seemed to me as if they got super-glued. Even if I had just my finger tips on a hold, they would stick to the rock. It was the probably the first time I had some confidence to pull up myself using finger holds. On the wall I generally avoid these or else my legs begin to shake (my friends call it the Elvis effect :D), especially if the hold is on my left hand (btw I am right handed).

Then we moved on to the next rock Phd. This boulder has quite a few routes. The first one that I climbed was along a protruded part of the rock (towards the right in the picture). The second move was all along a crack. This had an easier first move but had a balancing move a little way up to get to a hand hold. But I was able to complete this one with much more ease than the Ski. However there was one route on the Phd which I was told was a V3. It had a slight overhang at the beginning and then you had to overcome a small roof over which you had to reach out for a hold. It is on this route that I found that I could not even lift off the rock on the first move. My finger would just not give me enough pull for me to put my feet on the rock. Then I tried matching my hands on just one hold to try and lift off. I was about to lift off when my fingers slipped. Awww!!! I had not anticipated that. Man did my fingers burn for 5 minutes after that.

Right behind Phd is the Telegraph. Here the route lies along a crack going all the way to the top of the boulder. The first 3 moves are easy but that is it. After the initial few moves there are no holds. Neither for your hands nor for your legs. You need to use the crack, to jam your hand inside the crack and there are places in the crack where you can insert your foot and use the reduced crack width below your feet to stand. The problem here is that you need to use one hand to give you the balance while pushing on one foot. To top it off the hold you reach by standing here is a two and a half finger L shaped hold. You cannot dig your fingers in as you can in upward sloping holds. Only one of us was able to reach this hold but he could not pull himself up on it.

By this time the sun was high and we were getting tired. We went in search for one last boulder in the shade. The one we found was Shadenallisedu which is right in front of the the temple at Turahalli. This rock had some pretty difficult route and was very sharp to grip. I chalked out an easy route, from the ground that is, and that too since the initial moves were obvious. But still, it is the first route I have ever figured out, so I was pretty pleased with myself. I climbed, no, rather scrambled up the boulder and I did not like my climb at all. So I came back down and had another go. This time, at the last move, I slipped and landed on the crash mat. Upon landing on the mat, my knees jerked out and hit the rock. There was blood all over but the flesh wound was just superficial. It took 2 weeks for the internal wound to heal although I did not stop playing football or climbing in that period for that matter. Bouldering is a lot of fun and the best thing is that you need very little equipment for it. At most you need climbing shoes and a crash mat, otherwise just your enthusiasm. Coming up next are my climbing experiences at Ravugodlu and Ramanagaram. Ramanagaram deserves a picture blog and I will put that up once I get the pictures from my friend :D.

Ever held a person's life in your hand

Last weekend I literally had my friends life in my hand and I was the one who was scared. On Sunday, 21st Feb '10, when me and my friend went to the wall at Kanteerva stadium none of our friends who knew belaying came along. It was just me and my friend. My friend has been climbing for quite a few years and knows climbing so I was secure in the knowledge that at least I would be able to top rope the wall. However his climbing was a problem since I had never belayed anyone before.

After I had my turn climbing the wall, my friend taught me the basics of belaying, how to use the belay device, proper use of the belaying hand among others so that I could belay him. Fortunately we met someone there who knew belaying. My friend started his climb with me as the belayer under the watchful eye of our new acquaintance. It was scary to know that I was the safety net for my friends in case he slips off the wall and also for his descent. We had fixed the rope in the middle of the wall but we were climbing at one side since the routes in the middle and at the other side of the wall were pretty tough.

After he reached the top, the rope connecting his harness and the top of the wall was nearly parallel to the ground. He contemplated letting go and taking a swing before being lowered by me or moving towards the center of the wall. He decided to move to the center of the wall. The first two hold were simple to reach but the next was a bit tricky. In trying to move his body in position, he slipped off the wall. I had been pretty tensed till then holding the rope with my belay hand with all the strength left in it after the climb. My friend slipped, I was lifted off my feet for a fraction of a second, but there was hardly any force on my belay hand. It held on easily. Friction from the belay device did all the work for me. I lowered him down slowly. His fall actually gave me confidence in my belaying abilities. But belaying for the first time was still somewhat scary.

Wall Climbing

After months of procrastination I finally went for wall climbing at the Kanteerva stadium in Bangalore. Two of my friends have been doing it for a couple of years now but they have been lazy these past six months. A couple of weeks ago (last Saturday of Nov '09) some friends came over from the US and we had a big get together at my house. That evening a plan was laid to go for wall climbing the next day. The next day some relatives came over at my place, one friend went to Delhi to attend a marriage and the third had some unexpected work come his way. So much for our plans.

This had all the making of yet another plan never executed. We decided we would go the following weekend. On Saturday my friend sent me an SMS inquiring if I was still game to to go wall climbing on Sunday evening. I replied in affirmative. Sunday evening came and I went to my friends place and from there we proceeded to Kanteerva Stadium. My friends had all the equipment required, ropes, climbing shoes, belay device, carabiners etc. the works.

I started with bouldering (i.e. going to a height of 5-8 feet and then moving right to left) to get a feel of rock climbing and also to gauge the effort and techniques of wall climbing. Then we started on top rope climbing i.e. have a rope loop round the top of the wall with one tied to the climber and the other in the hands of the belayer. I was taught to tie the figure of eight knot and the follow through figure of eight knot. That done I stared my ascent. To my surprise my hands now did not have enough strength to hold me even at the lowest point (I am proud of the fact that my arms can lift my body weight easily and rope climbing and pull-ups have always been easy for me). So both my friends climbed before me. One reached the top, the other unfortunately, pulled a muscle. I tried again, having given my arms a rest, and was able to go up 3-4 holds before slipping. I tried again and slipped at the same point at which point I gave up.

After a couple of short tries on the wall we decided to call it day. Going back to my bike I was shocked to discover that I could not press the clutch with my left hand. It was as if the hand did not belong to me. I was willing it to press the clutch but my finger tips did not move. My friend drove my bike and I rested at his place for some time (almost an hour) before starting for my home. Even after an hour's rest my fingers still did not respond to me. I had a torrid time coming back home, pulling the clutch with the third segments of my fingers or using my wrist. After a difficult ride, wherein I regretted more than once my decision to come back on my bike instead of taking an auto, I reached home. I have been dreaming of wall climbing since then. Anyways, next weekend I am going for it again but this time I will take my car :).

Air India Rocks

It's been a while since I have flown with Air India, Indigo being the one I have traveled with most this past year. But the experience I had flying Air India this time was awesome. It started with meeting my wife's cousin who is a Captain in Air India. Actually he is my daughter's cousin and calls my wife Mausi (Most Indians would have a bhanja/ji or bhateeja/ji older their age :) although he is not older to us). In fact my two year old tied rakhi to him on saturday but that is besides the point.

Then came the boarding process. I had forgotten that domestic airlines use the aero bridge too, becoming accustommed to boarding the aircraft via a bus. So walking into the plane via the aerobridge, avoiding the hassle of a bus pleased me. Once on board we were given wet tissues and a small bottle of lemon juice which refreshed me.

By now I was already pleased by the service. Then came the food. Thai food on AI, that too on a domestic sector. Surely it cannot be good. But when I ate the thin noodle with the chicken in red curry, the food that i had had in transit, in the Cathay Pacific lounge in Hong Kong came to my mind. The chicken was soft and gave way easily under the knife. The Noodles were well cooked and had a nice flavour. Apart from this there was a veg sandwich which was fresh and tasty.

For desserts there was a chocolate walnut brownie. Not a pastry, not a mousse but a brownie (I love brownies, especially the walnut ones). On finishing my food, a very satisfied me sat back sipping a cup of black coffee. This had been a nice flight altogether. Oh! did I mention that there were no delays.

N-Gage QD

I had always wanted to get the N-Gage for a mobile. Even I after I read several blogs and reviews which condemned the N-Gage, I still believed that it was the mobile for me. When I finally got my mobile nobody was impressed. My wife and brother said it was too bulky. My mom and dad said it did not have a camera and so on and so forth. That did not bother me and still does not.

For me, the primary reason to get the N-Gage was for it's gaming capabilities and the available games for N-Gage. There are also a number of softwares available to play mp3's on your mobile. The games that I have, though stripped down versions of their PC counterparts, are still a pleasure to play. Here are the best of the games that I have played on the N-Gage:

1. Fifa-2005: This is the best game that I have seen on the N-gage so far. The graphic are just the essentials - small figures with the shirts and shorts (which are the usual colours of the respective teams). The game play is exceptional. It is simple and yet has all the features you would expect from a PC Fifa game. There are seasons, tournaments and challenges that you can play. A must have for N-gage. I would give it a 9.5 out of 10.
   
2. Glimmerati: This is a racing game set in the world of the the rich and famous. The game has great graphics. The initial car you get is a bit slow and hard to maneuver but the races are good and one needs be in the top 3 to qualify for the next race. This would rate 8 out of 10 ion my books
   
3. Requiem of Hell: I am a big time RPG fan. I tried playing Elder's Scroll on the N-gage buy was unable to find my way around with the first person view. In RoH though, the view is an third person isometric view. This eases the game play as you can see the surroundings and your enemy's easily. The graphics are remarkable and the game-play is very simple. The game itself is difficult. This game rates 8.5 out 10
4. Rayman 3: This game reminds of Super Mario 2 as the graphics are similar. The game is fresh and easy and has a nice feel to it. A game you can play for hours or till your thumbs hurt. This game rates 7 out of 10 for me.
5. Sims Bustin Out: This is a great game, whichever platform you play it on. The thing I like is that characters are large (they need be since they are the heart and soul of this game). The tasks requires some organization and logic. Overall a great game. 9 out of 10 for this one.

These are the top 5 games in my list, but then I have not played all the games that are available for the N-Gage.