A sneak peak into the world of Climbing and Mountains ---- My Mountaineering & Climbing Journal

Indian Mountaineering Foundation - A place that offers wall climbing. But if you ever visit it, you will discover that this place is like a binocular that offers a view to the vast world of mountaineering. I visited it a few months back for the first time and found it pretty interesting. Everything here looked like it held a different world. The world of mountains, their stories, a world I didn’t know yet but I wanted to!

Today a speed climbing and pull ups contest was being organised here. So I had an added incentive to visit today!

I came here all by myself, like a solo traveler, mostly because none of my family and friends are interested in climbing. But I did, and today I also wanted to see the speed climbing contest. I wanted to see for myself what these people said was actually true!

That humans could climb the speed wall in under 6 seconds. Note- According to the legend here, humans could climb a slippery wall almost as faster than they could walk on ground! They literally held races on a wall!

But today, as destiny would have it, I was here to witness it! When I reached the race grounds, I saw considerably many more people than I had seen on my previous two trips. So, this was a big event!

And then, as was my favourite pastime at a new and cool place, I started observing everyone around, hoping I would become invisible.

The most visibly outstanding thing was - many people who looked very similar. All of them had a similar styled moustache, a sturdy physique, and a loud and brotherly camaraderie. Many of them were already having the harness around them, implying that they were participating in the speed climbing contest. There was a lot of hustle and bustle and chatter going on amongst them. Like the kind of environment one sees in the changing rooms before a tournament or an event. People coming in and going out, loud chatter going on in small groups, bets being placed on who will win, conversations about the participants, crowd favourites and are the underdogs..

None of them had it written over their face or were wearing nameplates. But everything about them shouted- We are the army guys! They were a happy bunch, not just amongst themselves! Their contagious energy brought a smile on the faces of even silent observers like me!

One of them was telling the other about the guy who was the fastest climber in India. He said he wouldn’t participate. I looked in the direction he was pointing. Okay, so, now, I knew who was the best climber in India now, at least by face. It seemed logical if he was not participating though I hoped he would! Knowing that he was the best, I obviously wanted to see him climb!

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A lady standing near me, walked up to me. She had a baby on her shoulder. She asked me if I was participating. I told her I was not and had come just for climbing and watching the speed climbing contest. She had come for climbing too. We exchanged notes about each other. She had also come all the way from Rohini like me. This place was near her mother’s place. So, she knew about the place and was a frequent visitor. Her first kid was 6 and the other 14 months. She had come here with her brother who seemed to be the other freelance video maker here today apart from me. Just a better one. He had a video stand and looked like a professional. Me with just a smartphone in my pocket.

This lady, with a baby on her shoulder and one trotting around her heels, had come for climbing. That made me feel very happy.

And what added to the happy feeling was the baby. He had a tiny ponytail and an extra charming (aww waali cute) smile. He was the only other person looking happier than me for no reason. I asked her if I could hold him. And to add another small blessing to my day, the baby obliged!

(From my experience with babies till now, I am good with them. They mostly approve of me and don’t cry when I hold them.)

But this one was extra welcoming. He didn’t even go back to his mother when she offered. We seemed to strike a chord. :D. I was happy enough to hold him for as long as we both wished or the speed climbing competition did not start! But his elder brother didn’t trust us. After a while, he forcefully snatched his brother from me!

I thought the baby would revolt and cry, and ask to come back to me, but he didn’t. He let his brother take him off. And so our brief date ended.

I watched him go off longingly with his mother and brother. And then brought my attention to my surroundings.

Let's call them,

The lady and her baby

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Another lady, a few meters away from me, was talking to a guy. The guy looked perfectly normal and definitely unknown to me. She was standing with him from quite some time and talking to him with a fervour a fan talks to his idol. She had two kids whom she was introducing to this person. She had dressed them up in exactly the same clothes. They were not twins but they were twinning. Their dad was also standing with them.

I was not focussing on the conversation. But it was well within earshot. And why she was talking to this guy like a devotee piqued my interest.

She mentioned some resort he owned where he welcomed celebrities. (Okay, that doesn’t make him a celebrity).

Then she mentioned some comment she had left on one of his posts on Instagram and was explaining why she had written what she had written.

She told her daughter that this guy had climbed Everest when he was just a little over 16 years old. (Okay, so he had climbed Everest, I guess that was less common, even for the Indian Mountaineering Foundation. And 16 was quite young, but I knew he wasn't the youngest. I had watched the movie- Poorna and she was 13 when she scaled Everest)

She then opened an autograph book and asked for his autograph for her children. And I lost my analytical train of thought trying to guess why she was giving him this celebrity treatment! The autograph book was fancy. He signed it for both the children in a very calligraphic handwriting.

I couldn't catch the name he signed from the distance.

One thing was there. Celebrity or not, this guy was very nice, decent and polite.

So, let's call them-

The fan and her idol (the celebrity -:D)

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Then another guy came. He came on an off roading bicycle. He had long grey black hair and an even longer grey-black beard. Both his hair and beard were tied off in a rubber band. (His beard was just like Dumbledore’s in Harry Potter, so was his attitude and style).

And his entry was something that gave me goals. He had worn the exact same color clothes as me. Black T-shirt and green lower! Even the same shade! We were twinning too :d

I could see myself on an off roading bicycle zooming around IMF in my head. His name is Naval. I had seen him on my last visit to IMF too. I knew he was a good climber. He stopped near some people he knew- and said “Aaj to bade log aaye hain!” Then those bade log introduced him to the unknown celebrity guy in the last section.

Now, not knowing any of these folks made me feel they were out of place, because obviously I was not. -:p

I'll refer to this guy as

Dumbledore!

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The competition had not yet started. Just then, a person behind me, some army guy, offered me a chair and asked me to sit down. Maybe he felt I was alone or had been standing for sometime. Which I was! But I could see empty chairs and could sit down if I wanted to! Why would a random person have to ask me to take a chair when there were so many there! I thanked him for his gesture, but I didn't feel like sitting! Wasn’t tired and more than that didn’t understand the uncommonly kind gesture. I felt like I wanted to watch all the ongoing events till the competition started from a distance. So, I just walked off to the nearest green patch with the hanging bars and sat upon them.

This section-

The army- have a chair? dude

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After killing some time walking the bars with my injured hand, lazing around and walking around the place, finally the speed climbing competition started.

Around 15-20 people climbed the wall in the first round.

The speed climbing wall had identical holds on both the sides, so 2 people could climb together at a time. They raced but their time was noted individually. And for the next round the 8 people with the least time were shortlisted.

They made it seem so effortless! Like Hrithik Roshan makes dancing effortless! Like acrobats make all sorts of those complicated movements effortless, like Sonu Nigam makes singing all kinds of songs seem effortless.. They made climbing walls like monkeys seem effortless!

Once mortals start using logic or try doing those things, they know it might be possible to achieve that skill someday given adequate time, effort and will!

It is one thing to learn or do something, it is another to be so proficient at it that it seems effortless for you and for the viewers! And reaching that level in anything is actual happiness and accomplishment!

And I could feel that happiness and excitement and pride in these participants!

It is always fun to watch races. Even the air of such a place is exciting! People were cheering for their friends, sighing when their candidates lost and hooted when their candidates won. Some were placing bets. Some like me were recording videos of the races while trying to absorb everything happening around!

I had to go behind the viewers seats to get the whole speed wall in frame for videos. The guy who had asked me before to sit, was sitting in the last row. offered me a chair again. I found that a little weird, because I had left my chair in front and walked up behind intentionally to take videos. And he for sure saw that! Why would I leave my chair in front to go standing at the back anyway! I just told him I couldn't sit and take videos.

I didn't explain that I wasn't getting the climbing wall in frame while sitting! Maybe I should have, because, in hindsight I might have looked rude.

Back to the contest, the climbers wowed everyone! The more I used my mind and thought about how they were doing it, the more amazed I was. To me it was a super slippery wall with holds too far apart and more than that impossible to climb with my current skill set.

I didn't know whom to support so I just watched them.

In one of the races, I saw the guy who I knew by face as the fastest climber climbing. He won the race. So, now I had someone to support even if I didn't know him.

He was like everyone else, just faster.

He was there in every successive round. And in every race he participated, I found myself closing my eyes and just saying- May the best person win. Well knowing for a fact I recently found out who was the best, hoping I won’t jinx it.

I watched the other contestants too, trying to figure out who were the fastest ones. But it was hard to follow, mainly because I was focussing on making videos of the races. And also, because all of them looked so similar (army guys huhh). Yes, they had different faces and names but it was still hard to follow who was who. I could tell apart the two guys who were non-army.

In the final round there were 4 people. The fastest guy and 3 others. One non-army and two were from the army.

I went back to the back to record.

Once again, the same guy had an empty seat next to him and he asked me to sit down. Now I was annoyed and freaked out. Why was he being so generous? Being as self confident as I am, I have seen myself in the mirror. Not the face someone would hit on by looking at her!

People might want to be friend’s with me after they know me but never had someone been so welcoming :p. Thankfully, some of his friends came and one of them sat on the chair and saved me from saying “No” again. But he asked his friend to let me sit. I considered the possibility of a complete stranger running a prank on me. Didn't look like one! I just told him “I don't want to sit!” Maybe so softly and quickly this time, he didn't even hear me saying that. And I for sure looked more rude than earlier!

Before I could say anything more, the final round started and I got engrossed in seeing and recording the finals.

The fastest climber won. The second and third position went to the two army guys. One’s name was Ganesh and the other's Shiva -:p. And the winner’s name was Shravan Chauhan. Okay, so now I know this guy by name and face.

They were given prizes by the unknown celebrity guy.

So, this section has -

The Speed Climbing Contest, Shravan Chauhan, Ganesh and Shiva

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Next was the pull ups contest. I walked around a bit till it started. Here there were again 15-20 contestants. 90% of them army folks again. I had never seen anyone doing more than 5 pull ups at a time, even in my martial arts class. I myself cannot do even one properly.

After trying for a week, I could do something like 4-5 semi- chin ups with blisters on my hands but that was the best I have done.

In this contest there were clear rules of how high you needed to go above the bar, touch your forehead on the bar above (both the bars had around 2 ft gap) and come down below the bar. (Too precise and hard!)

So, this was an event I could use to set some expectations for myself! :p

The competition started and I walked up to a spot where I could get a clear shot of the subject and a good enough frame.

This army chair guy was sitting a few feet away from me with his friends. I tried not to look at him, lest he would ask me to sit again! I didn’t mind sitting, only I wouldn’t get a recording from that angle.

I made a mental note of talking to him if I got a chance, lest I would look rude.

But he took off in the middle of the pull ups contest, leaving me with an uncalled for regret for some reason for not talking to him while I had the chance and making myself look rude.

In the pull ups contest, most of them clocked 20-30.

The maximum were 46, the second and third got 36.

Pull ups didn’t look as voyeuristic as speed climbing. Only someone who had tried doing pull ups and knew how hard they were could have appreciated that.

This section-

Pull ups Contest

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It was already 6 by the time the pull ups contest ended. And IMF closed at 7! So, there was only 1 hour leftI didn't wait for the prize distribution as I had climbing left to do. One hour of climbing was enough if one could continuously go climbing ! But climbing needed breaks in between because the muscles got pumped up after every attempt and needed to relax before the next attempt one. I quickly went off to climb. Did a few rounds. Even with my blistered and bandaged hand, climbing seemed manageable after the high adrenaline stuff I had watched. I learnt a new trick of climbing on a single line.

The Dumbledore guy passed by and said hello to me! I said- ‘same pinch’ in return! He looked at me and said- Yes- Black T shirt. I said- Yep and green lower too. He looked at me again and exclaimed yes! I didn't notice. Then he gave me a Dumbledore-like wink and went off.

I unintentionally looked in the direction where he went off, to the 4th wall. There I saw 2 kids, hardly 10 years of age and 3ft in height attempting the 4th wall (advanced one). And I used to give myself excuses of height and reach. Someone told me they had been practicing for quite some years. They had come there with their father who seemed to know just about everybody there. And there I was, in my mind palace again, thinking, why did my parents not know about climbing when I was their age.

(Well, If my mom knew she would have brought me here, and that thought comforted me! She had pushed me to every activity she knew about-dance, music, debates, arts, every single sport our school offered, even academics.. everything there was! I had come here now and one of the reasons for it is the way she had brought me up! She had made me want to explore and try everything I wanted!)

And in all this, it was already 7. I attempted the beginner wall one more time, though my arms had given up. My already injured hand was throbbing now! I knew it would give me a hard time for the next few days! But it would be at least one more week till I came back here again! So, 1 more attempt was okay!

As everyone started packing up, I booked my cab home, watched people cool down! Absorbing the vibe of the place! Till the next time I came!

Let us call this section-

Climbing at last

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On my way back, I saw the videos I had recorded, and forwarded some to my friends! Then my phone died and I went back to my mind palace. I thought about my encounter with the army chair guy. Maybe he wasn’t trying to weird me out or wasn't even pulling a prank. Maybe he just wanted to talk like I want to - to so many people! If everything was not happening so fast, and I had more time to process everything, I would have talked to him. I like having conversations. And he belonged to the species I was anyways eternally interested in - army folks. Even if he did weird me out a bit by just offering me a chair thrice. In the pace of the day, I missed the chance to talk to this guy and learn more about the army, their way of life, how they trained, how they became interested in climbing and if he could teach me to climb the speed wall! Woww, so many missed opportunities just because my processor is slow. -:/ And on top of it, I made myself look rude.

After I came back home, I googled, youngest 16 year Everest climber. And he was there. Name- Arjun Vajpayi. He was the youngest Everest Climber when he had climbed- in 2010.

I checked his profile on Instagram. It seemed he had made it before even Instagram was started. I scrolled and scrolled it just didn’t come to an end, (If you are feeling this article is not ending -:p, visit his profile for reference!). And to top it up, every single post was meaningful. Now that is rare! No wonder, he has around 2.5 L followers on Instagram. Even 2 of my friends followed him! Opening some of his posts, I came to know he runs some side business in Noida! His parents own a homestay in Uttarakhand where they have welcomed many celebrities as well. He has a chapter to himself in Hindi textbooks of Class 9 about his Everest expedition. And children write poems about him after reading that! And I didnt know him!

What impressed me the most was his posts with his mother. He was skydiving with her in one and dedicated his crazy and adventurous streak to her. So, for all the celebrity stuff, he is a nice person! And now, I know for a fact that his fame is justified.

PS- He also has a documentary film to his credit.

If I ever meet him again, I have some questions for him. That I will write about if I meet him and get answers. Maybe I will ask for his autograph tooI Till then, signing off in relief! With all feelings recorded of this eventful day!

The slow processor,

The silent observer,

twwg