The fifth
edition of Girivihar’s Open International
Sport Climbing
& Bouldering Competition was held over January 25-27, 2008, at
CBD Belapur,
Navi Mumbai. Responding to our
request, the nodal development agency for the region, CIDCO, emerged a
major
supporter / sponsor of the event.
This
annual open competition was
originally started by the club in 2004. Anyone who enjoys climbing can
participate. It has since grown to be one of the biggest open
competitions in
the Indian climbing circuit with the additional hue of a get-together.
The
competition, which used to span bouldering and sport climbing, was this
year
restricted to bouldering bringing the event in line with the
sustainable
potential of Belapur’s crags. Bouldering on artificial climbing walls,
introduced
last, year was enhanced in scope to fill the entire second half of the
three-day event.
The 2008 competition was co-organized by Top Rock
Adventures, owned by
Jean Luc Jubert, who had assisted the event on the technical front, the
year
before.The Embassy of France in India was formally associated with the
competition, extending its logo for promotional exercises.
Venue
With
artificial bouldering
becoming a full fledged competition segment, the organizers were for
the first
time, challenged to find a suitable venue. Eventually we found the
perfect spot
– a combination of the art gallery of the
Gaurav
Mhatre Kala Kendra and the mini-complex of stage and lawns
just opposite
that building. The rationale behind this combination was that the lawns
could
host the artificial walls and the actual competition while the adjacent
gallery
could serve as isolation zone for competitors and host film shows,
discussions
during after hours. Officials of the
Navi
Mumbai Municipal Corporation (NMMC) were kind enough to hear
us out and
extend the said premises on hire for the required duration.
Top
class jury / technical team
The
club was privileged to have
veteran French climber and mountain guide, Jacques
Perrier (Pschit), as Chairman of the jury yet again. As ever,
Perrier, 60,
went about his task with dedication. Mumbai’s best known rock climber Vaibhav Mehta was chief route setter
for the outdoor half of the competition while former world champion, Alex Chabot, was chief route setter for
the artificial half. Well known climbing photographer Samuel
Bie covered the competition. S. B. Bhattacharjee,
formerly associated with the Indian Mountaineering Foundation (IMF) and
a
familiar face on the Indian competition climbing circuit, arrived as a
special
guest and was on hand for guidance over all three days of the
competition.
Foreign
technical assistance for
the event would have been much more had it not been for some last
minute
glitches that saw
Patrick Edlinger
put off his
India
visit.
Chloe’ Minoret and Cedric Lo
Picollo were also expected as per initial plans.
Record
participation
We
received record participation
this year, 83 climbers, almost all of them from
India.
Not only was the number of
domestic competitors high, it also represented the different climbing
regions
of the country – Bangalore, Pune, Davengere, Delhi, Darjeeling, North
East
India and of course, Mumbai. Further, the line up included the top
Indian
climbers - national team members from the senior and junior categories.
We
however missed the usual participation from
Bikaner
and the Indian Army’s
High Altitude Warfare School.
There
was only one foreign
competitor, Thomas Ducas from
France.
Inauguration
The
competition was inaugurated
by
G.S. Gill, Managing Director of CIDCO.
The development agency was not just the biggest sponsor for the 2008
competition. As it goes about growing and shaping the township’s
infrastructure,
it is imperative for us climbers that CIDCO stays aware of Belapur’s
importance
to climbing in Mumbai and support the small but dedicated climbing
community in
its efforts. We therefore remain grateful to CIDCO for the interest
they showed
in the 2008 competition.
Senior
CIDCO officials, D.P. Samant and Rima Dixit
attended the
opening ceremony. It was a pleasure seeing them and their colleagues at
the
climbing sites, as well.
Natural Bouldering
Bouldering entails the
ascent of difficult
routes on small to medium sized rocks. This year bouldering was held on
both
flanks of the hills at Artist Village,
at the new and
old nurseries. The new nursery hosted the single round junior category
competition and the finals for the seniors. The seniors’ semi-final was
held in
the old nursery. Thirty odd boulders, most of them with multiple
routes marked in
separate colors, were chosen
for the competition.
The difficulty of
routes ranged from B to V8, it depending on the overall texture of a
given
rock, its shape, nature of holds, limitation of available holds by
designating
specific ones for use in climbing,
assigned climbing sequence and
the posture to be adopted at the start of a climb – whether the climber has to sit down
or not.
A
sit-start for instance, can be
terribly strenuous. In this open competition, competitors are given
personal
score sheets, in which the points awarded for each route and the grade
of
difficulty of that route are shown in advance. With this in hand, the
competitor designs a personal climbing itinerary, climbing as many
routes of
his choice and ability through the day. At each boulder, judges and
observers
note on the score sheet whether a given route was completed or not and
if
completed, then in how many attempts it happened. Maximum points are
awarded to
a `flash’ or completion of route at the very first attempt.
Artificial bouldering
This
discipline, introduced last
year, graduated to a full blown competition segment this year. Climbing
in this
case,
is
done on specially created
walls fitted with
artificial holds. Tracking the nature of bouldering, the wall’s design
is
partial to difficult, gymnastic moves.
Typically,
artificial climbing
walls are expensive and have to be imported. However, even abroad cost
effective alternatives are present. In their quest for home climbing
walls,
senior Girivihar members had successfully fabricated such walls and
acquainted
themselves with related best practices. The required plywood walls for
the
indoor competition were
once
again put together at the house
of Girivihar’s competition-in-charge, Abhijit Burman (Bong) and then
transported to the venue. Installation was done using bamboo
structures,
slotted angles and ropes with no civil work undertaken at site. After
use, the
walls were dismantled and taken back.
Edmund
Hillary / Mrs Shefali Okha
Ahead
of the competition’s inaugural ceremony, two minute-silence was
observed to
mark the passing away of Sir Edmund Hillary, who along with Tenzing
Norgay had
been the first persons to summit Mt Everest. Also remembered on the
occasion
was Mrs. Shefali Okha, a senior Girivihar member who passed away
recently.
Solid
support
The
competition would have been
impossible without the help we got from our sponsors. The club brings
energy
and ability to the table. But it is the sponsors and donors who help
pay the
bill, which this time neared Rs 4.5 lakhs. Some of the sponsors
provided
financial backing, others donated in kind as in the case of prizes for
winners.
While climbers who topped their categories earned cash awards they also
got
climbing boots, crash mats, harnesses, chalk bags, boulder bags and day
packs.
Our main sponsors included
CIDCO, AVI
Industries, Kangchenjunga Mountaineering Foundation, Adventure 18,
Wildcraft,
Gypsy Tents, Countryside, Rocksport, S.B.I. Life Insurance Co., High
Places
Management Pvt. Ltd., Coatwel enterprises, Wander Struck, Hills
& Trails,
Innovative Systems & Solutions, Unicat Chemicals, Olympic
Express Air
Services Pvt. Ltd., Samarth Erectors & Developers, OWN Pvt.
Ltd. & NOET
In addition to this, we received donations from supportive individuals.
Thank you all for your continuing support.
A
couple of requests
- It
is in the nature of climbing to have a small, dedicated following that
attempts big things. This competition has entered the big league. We
need more volunteers to take care of both the climbing and non-climbing
aspects of this event. Particularly the latter because any climber
would give an arm and a leg to be in the vicinity of experts overseeing
the technical side of climbing; you find very few volunteering to
shoulder the less glamorous, non-technical responsibilities. This year
we managed to stretch and address most of the non-technical details but
were found wanting on the first day of the competition, through a
shortfall of personnel to be observers at various boulders. This
delayed the commencement of competition. Let us try not to let this
happen again. We would be most grateful if any of you out
there reading this report, volunteers to help with this competition.
- In
this context, we would like to express our gratitude to Ryan Havner
from Washington DC, USA, who was on holiday
in India
after a season spent working with Outward Bound. He phoned in and
offered to assist in whatever manner he could. Which, Ryan did. Also of
great help was Meilie, daughter of Jacques Perrier. A climber herself,
she did much ground work for the competition in France
and later worked shoulder to shoulder with the organizing / technical
team at Belapur.
- It
is difficult to find good, affordable accommodation for so many
competitors in Belapur. This task becomes even more difficult if
confirmation of participation is available only close to the
competition dates. So, please ensure that you inform us of your arrival
well in advance so that that an inventory of rooms can be identified
and blocked.
Feedback
In
a competition of this scale,
things go wrong. There would certainly have been instances when we fell
short
of expectations. Please mail in your feedback, any feedback you have
about the
competition, to info@girivihar.org
We
will try and improve.
SEE YOU ALL
NEXT YEAR. HAPPY CLIMBING!