The beauty of hiking and rock climbing

I don’t know if you consider it a sport. The dictionary does categorize it as an adventure sport, but there are no teams, no players, no awards and no notice given to something that is so simple, basic and by far more beautiful than any sport in the world, football included.

The Wikipedia page describes rock climbing and mountaineering as adventure sport, and those are the two things I really love and look forward to. I am not blessed with the resources to take photographs but I try to with what I have: A basic mediocre digital camera.

Dukes Nose, from a different angle.

So my article is aimed at trying to convince you to take up such activities, and enjoy nature. Don’t be turned off by danger. Yes, there is a considerable risk and I myself have come within inches of a cliff about 100 meters deep at least; but that never deterred me and I try to go for activities. And I encourage everyone to do so. Here, I will outline some simple pleasures to be gained by these activities. I include trekking, hiking, climbing, rappelling, valley crossing and mountaineering all in one.

Such activities – and I still don’t think they are really ‘Sports’ in the true sense – bring one closer to nature. There is no shortage of beautiful places in India, and being from Maharashtra, I trek in the Sahyadris, with a group called Explorers, based in Pune. I have completed several forts with friends as well, and chief among them is Vasota. I have done the Dukes Nose, which is actually really really easy. These don’t require much daring or fancy footwork. They require lots of stamina; you are marching for hours with heavy packs.

I will now proceed to explain some things I have learned from hiking.

1. Nothing is impossible, you can achieve great heights if you simply muster up the courage and do what you should. Climbing high peaks in the pouring rain makes you feel so much more alive and you can appreciate life more.
2. India’s beauty is at your disposal; far from the cities full of dirt and litter on the roads, you are in the midst of true beauty. You see why we call our country Incredible India.
3. You learn much about the flora and fauna. I handled cobras and kraits and grass snakes, in addition to coming within 10 feet of a wild panther one night. Such things only happen if you trek.
4. If you like history, that too is done in such treks. You learn so much about history. You appreciate the skill, strength and power those ancient people had, and your respect for them grows.
5. You feel alive, exhilarated and euphoric after a successful climb. It gives you a sense of completion, happiness. Also, chocolate is a very good power food, so this gives you a good excuse to gorge on chocolate!

But that is for amateurs. The end result is doing not basic treks, but serious mountaineering. This is merely the training. There are forts and pinnacles in the state, like Alang Madan Kulang, which require a tremendous amount of courage and bravery. These are serious climbs, with equally serious climbing and danger involved; people have died on such treks. My father, an avid mountaineer himself, says AMK is the toughest climb outside the Himalayas. So far though, I haven’t been lucky enough to scale it.

The end and pinnacle of success is of course, the Himalayas. One of my father’s friends has successfully come to within meters of Mt. Everest, but bad weather led to them abandoning the climb. This is again the reason you should take it up; the unpredictability. India has no shortage of adventure – white water rafting in Manali-Shimla side, rock climbing in the western Ghats, mountaineering in the Himalayas, para-sailing, paragliding, everything. But to do all these, you need to trek first. You need to go to the simpler hills and easier treks. For people who have never done it, I would recommend the following. The locations are in Maharashtra.

1. Dukes Nose
   

   Dukes Nose pinnacle

2. Vasota

They are simple, but demanding treks, then you can go on to forts (Without steps), gradually to rock climbing, and achieve the dream of the Himalayas. Find yourself a local hiking club, and go out and enjoy the real beauty of India.