Last weekend we had a pleasant surprise regarding the exciting adventure sports that are possible in the sleepy town of Ramanagaram, (Bangalore). Twenty five of us from IISc registered for an adventure sports stint at General Thimayya National academy for adventure(http://gethnaa.org). It was a two and half day introductory course to adventure sports costing us 250Rs including food and accommodation.(thanks to Govt. of Karnataka)
Not knowing what to expect, we started early on Saturday morning carrying minimal stuff like couple of blankets, shoes, shorts and light snacks. We were greeted by an enthusiastic coach who straight away took us on a jog. After a hearty breakfast, we started on a trek up the ram-giri betta. Unusual rains put paid to our plans of bouldering and we simply trekked up the hill. The climb was enjoyable and slightly steep towards the end. In between we were asked to wriggle through a tiny cave in the mountain. This became hilarious when some of us(fat ones like me) got stuck half way through the cave. The view from top of the mountain was very nice indeed. While trekking down, we chose the route through the forest. The climb down was steep and exciting.
Not knowing what to expect, we started early on Saturday morning carrying minimal stuff like couple of blankets, shoes, shorts and light snacks. We were greeted by an enthusiastic coach who straight away took us on a jog. After a hearty breakfast, we started on a trek up the ram-giri betta. Unusual rains put paid to our plans of bouldering and we simply trekked up the hill. The climb was enjoyable and slightly steep towards the end. In between we were asked to wriggle through a tiny cave in the mountain. This became hilarious when some of us(fat ones like me) got stuck half way through the cave. The view from top of the mountain was very nice indeed. While trekking down, we chose the route through the forest. The climb down was steep and exciting.
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| Climb up Ramagiri betta |
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| Wriggling through a cave |
After the lunch, we had a session in Rock climbing. This was followed by rock bouldering session. Most of the people got through this fairly easily. The task was to cover three boulders, using simply your hands, legs and cracks in the boulder. Once you get you start trusting your legs(and well shoes) this was a pretty easy(the boulders were thankfully not very big). The chimney climb was far more harder. This requires deft hands and feet and also physical power to lift yourself 25ft up. Luckily we were roped up and managed to come down safely.
After a night in tents, we left early again next morning to Rappelling. This was certainly the most exciting part of the trip. The sight of a 120ft vertical rock left me dazed. Luckily, I found out that it was not a climb up but a climb down. One by one, we trekked up to meet our destiny. The coach who roped us up had good fun making the Mickey out of us. It was not as dangerous as I thought it would be. After the initial nerves we had an enjoyable climb down. After this we finished the trip Zummerring. This involved us getting roped up and climbing up a tree. This was also pretty challenging.
After a night in tents, we left early again next morning to Rappelling. This was certainly the most exciting part of the trip. The sight of a 120ft vertical rock left me dazed. Luckily, I found out that it was not a climb up but a climb down. One by one, we trekked up to meet our destiny. The coach who roped us up had good fun making the Mickey out of us. It was not as dangerous as I thought it would be. After the initial nerves we had an enjoyable climb down. After this we finished the trip Zummerring. This involved us getting roped up and climbing up a tree. This was also pretty challenging.
The guides we had with us were very encouraging and the cook was brilliant as well. Getnaa, a must visit if you are around.
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