July - August '08 |
Hot Rock: Climbing in India |
 |
Crossing the border into the Punjab region of India we will stop at the Golden temple of Amritsar, the holiest of Sikh temples, before turning East for a very special exploration of Himchal Pradesh
According to the Indian Mountaineering Association, “the best thing about rock-climbing in the Himachal is the availability of all rock features like – slabs, chimneys, walls, overhangs, at almost all the places…” They have their headquarters in Manali, and it is to Manali, an important hill station and nowadays hippy enclave in the heart of the Himalaya, that we will be heading.
 |
 |
 |
The small town was the beginning of an ancient trade route to Ladakh and from there, eventually, over the Karakoram Pass into Tibet. Manali has spectacular views of snowcapped mountains and is surrounded by towering peaks – not for nothing has it been nicknamed ‘The Valley of the Gods.’
We’ll
be exploring the climbing in the Beas Kund region and the lower reaches of
the Hanuman Tibba (5930m), the Deo Tibba (6001m), the Manali and the Shitidhar
peaks around the source of the river Beas. The Chandra Bhaga ranges, the Pir
Panjal and Dhalaudhar ranges are also developed, and the valley rock will
hopefully be extensive.
Worn out by Manali, we now wend our way to one of the holiest sites in India:
the Gangotri Gorge. Source of the Ganges, major pilgrimage destination and
set in 200m high cliffs, Gangotri has been recommended by a number of Indian
climbers.
We’ll spend a few days checking it out and enjoying the hospitality
of the locals.
Leaving Gangotri, we continue to Delhi to finish this stage of the expedition. It will be goodbye to a few people and a welcome to some new faces. A couple of days in Delhi will be spent getting used to the chaos and cultural explosion that is India, and picking up our China visas. We’ll probably take the time to give the expedition vehicle some maintenance and loving care after her long desert and mountain crossing. This is where the expedition mechanic will be calling in favours, as many hands makes light work – and means he (or she) can get to the bar quicker!
We
will meet up with a few local climbers in Delhi and head out to Dhauj, a climbing
area 50km south. There is a guidebook for the area and over 300 climbs from
VD to E4 (5.4 - 5.12). The rock is steep and juggy quartzite with one and
two pitch routes mostly on excellent natural protection. We will camp at the
base of the crags next to the lake where a herd of friendly water buffalos
seem to welcome climbers. A couple of days should be enough here, and then
we’ll set our sights on the beautiful lands of Rajasthan.
Rajasthan, meaning land of the Kings, is famous for its impressive forts set starkly against the Thar Desert. It is a fascinating region to visit as we make our way in a loop South; destination Mt Abu.
There are a number of places we can stop over during the next few days, so again we will put it to a vote, but needless to say whatever we do will be exciting. We can visit the Red Fort at Agra, with the exquisite architecture of the Taj Mahal. We can spend a day wandering around Jaipur: the 'pink city,' before continuing to the holy village of Pushkar, home of the famous camel market.
We
will then arrive at the hill station of Mt Abu, a granite mountain at 1,720m
that is refreshingly cool after the Thar desert and provides us with the opportunity
to climb in a stunning setting. The area is dotted with lakes, temples and
strangely shaped rocks. There's a 15-year history of climbing and I am chasing
up the route descriptions at present.
Moving on from Mt. Abu's granite climbs, the expedition will spend a day in the beautiful town of Udaipur (where the film 'Octopussy' was made), with its enchanting marble palaces, rock gardens and forts. Continuing south we will check out the potential of a climbing area named Pavagda before entering the Western Ghats near Bombay. The Ghats are a range of mountains that descend to the Indian Ocean topped by old forts from the British Raj.
There are many different climbing areas in the Ghats, from accessible roadside
cragging to remote multi-pitch climbs with difficult approaches on long forgotten
(or is that best forgotten) paths. 
Elephants
can still be seen in the hills filling their traditional role as beasts of
burden working for logging companies. 
After checking out some of the climbing areas in the Western Ghats, including the basalt cliffs, and big game in Bonivali national park, we will continue south for a few rest days on the beach at Goa.
The small coastal state of Goa is full of brilliant lush fields of irrigated paddy, villages and hamlets. There are bright white churches standing out against the startling red soil and green jungle clad hills.
With
some of India's finest beaches, it's a great place for us to relax for a couple
of days before the mass of climbing that will follow in the next two weeks.
It’s a good place to wander around local markets and handicraft stalls
to pick up presents or just chill out on the beach and sip cocktails. There
is the opportunity to do some scuba diving, sailing or cycling for the more
motivated.
After Goa, it’s a day’s drive inland to Badami. The ancient capital of the mighty Chahkyar Empire, nowadays Badami is most famous for its huge range of sandstone sport-climbing crags. A world heritage site, we’ll be climbing for once alongside local climbers, some of whom can seriously crank.
 |
 |
 |
Our next destination is the mystical temple complex of Hampi which is surrounded by a massive boulder field. With hundreds of sports routes and fantastic bouldering the area has attracted a steady trickle of climbers from all over the world and the new route book in the bakery next to the hotel in which we shall stay, reads like a ‘who's who’ of the climbing world. We will base ourselves in the Shanti lodge situated next to a colossal Virupashka temple. From there we can explore the ruins and hillside boulders are just a few minutes walk away, and every way you look boulders up to 50m high stretch to the horizon.
 |
 |
 |
We
will spend several days here playing and working on the countless problems,
and hopefully pushing our grade in preparation for some longer routes a little
further South, in Bangalore.
In Bangalore 'the city of rocks' we’ll meet up with some local climbers and visit the many huge granite domes that surround the town. The town itself is one of the most cosmopolitan and relaxed in India and it is well worth discovering.
Surrounding Bangalore within a 60km radius is probably the biggest 
concentration
of excellent trad and sport granite climbing in the country. We’ll find
boulder fields 2km long and 300m-high rock domes. An old OTE article likens
the domes to the slab climbs of Yosemite – steep slabs with sparse protection.
There are many more 50-100m towers with perfect finger to off-width cracks.
One of the main domes is Savandurga with the famous route 'Bangalore Bill'
with a 90m protectionless crux (British 5a: 5.9). Any takers?
There
are many other sports climbs ranging from 4 pitch VDs to short E3's. The 'Elephants
Head Rock' remains unclimbed past the initial line of eight bolts so we'll
have to have a look at that, keeping an eye out for the wild bears that live
in the area. Kabbaldurga dome has a couple of classic E4s (5.12) and two great
VS (5.7) routes 'Mercy' and 'Innocence' as well as an unrepeated West Face.
The local boulder field of Turalli is the favourite with local climbers, and
a day on the hillside plastered with 5m-15m high boulders will be best finished
with an ice cold Kingfisher beer in the local pub.
Simon Yates described the area as "a magical undiscovered climbing paradise. A place where you can climb on perfect granite and explore some of the most interesting ruins in India. A tropical Joshua Tree with temples and palaces."
On
Kurt Albert’s trip with Johnny Dawes and Jerry Moffat, they said it
was "a labyrinth of boulders reminiscent of Alice’s trip to wonderland.
We were swept away with the possibilities and the desire to check out everything
at once." On Leo Houlding’s trip they said that "you could
do new problems for the rest of your life here!”
After our exertions on the Badami, Hampi and Bangalore cliffs, we will stock up the expedition vehicle’s bar. It is usually the job of somebody on the expedition to run a bar on board the truck at a small profit that we throw into a huge last night meal and party. It's a long drive north towards the Nepal border, but this gives us an excellent chance to take an Indian train journey.
No trip to India would be complete without experiencing the vagaries and excitement of a packed sleeper train trundling through the Indian countryside as the truck drives north where it will once again meet everybody at a predetermined place, either near the climbing area at Pachmahri or the sacred town of Varanasi on the banks of the Ganges.
At Varanasi we'll observe the bathing rituals and ceremonial burning of the
dead on the river. We'll see seeing the erotic stone carvings on the
temples
(where 'pinching the Jug' takes on a whole different meaning). We then drive
to the mountain kingdom of Nepal, leaving behind the colourful kaleidoscope
of India. Many people fall in love with India and return time and time again
to experience the rich cultural heritage and riot of activity that always
leaves lasting memories.
