A Solo Day at Namaste

On December 4th, 2023, I pursued a project that involved Lead-Rope Soloing of Namaste, a 5.9 route at Jal Siddeshwara Betta, off Mysore Road, then hopped over to the left of that route, and then realized a 110-meter 5.10ish rap-bolted route.  All in a day’s work.  This was one of my periodic endurance events to …

Another Solo adventure on Broomberg

The route, Broomberg is on Achalu Betta, in Ramanagara. Four-pitches long, on average about 5.9ish, 130 meters odd long, with about 3 km of round hike.  Figured I will take a moment to document this experience.  For, it turned out to be a bit on the edge for me, from the stretch it put me …

Hills & Mountains of Karnataka – A Toponymic study

What is the difference between Gudda, Betta, Parvatha?  Someone posed this question in our climbing groups.  When appended to the place names around Karnataka, and in Kannada. This was not Yali’s question, but then it got me to do some quick research.  And interestingly there is enough out there, largely based on the 1998 work …

Early Badami Climbing Blog

This is NOT MY BLOG, but one I had stumbled up on and evidently saved, while I was moving back to India. This documents some of the earliest climbing at Badami from the year 2000! I just stumbled across it in one of my old folders, and went online to to check on it, and …

On Knives and Cutting Tools for Climbing related activities

Trying to replace a couple of lost knives this season, I spent inordinately long amount of time in the research. So, figured might as well blog the hell out of it. I am a rock climber who lives and primary climbs in India. Otherwise, I also spend time in the outdoors hiking and camping. The …

Raogodlu: Suggested Ethics and Etiquette for Climbing

This is from the section of the Suggested Ethcis and Etiquette from the trad climbing specific Guidebook I am writing for Raogodlu located about 40 km to the south of Bangalore. Raogodlu is an old climbing location with a legacy that stretches back to 1980s with its relationship to climbing. ***The objective of this blog …

Junoon: An obsessive pursuit of a ground-up long route

Through the dark, lit up by the perpetually low-on-battery headlamp, over the shock of grass, and past the cacti, and eventually over the easing angle of the slab, I neared the anchor station, fixed the rope for Amrit to follow, continued past Nikhil, with a gait of a pregnant goat brought on by the hours …

Climbing with Inexperienced or New Belayers

Climbing with a new or a weak Belayer, and not confident of their belay.  What options does one have to be able to climb securely, while being belayed by such a belayer? On occasion, I find myself climbing with new partners, or my kids, or absolute newbie friends.  How do you navigate a day such …

MONSOON CLIMBING – Part 2: Climbing and Abseiling with climbing gear in Wet Conditions on the Rock

Any insights being offered here are limited to Bangalore, India. I have very limited experience climbing in wet weather outside of this area. Much of the content here assumes that you are already an experienced climber. If you are a beginner, please AVOID CLIMBING during the wet conditions. For part one, click here. "There is …

MONSOON CLIMBING – Part 1: CHASING THE WATERFALLS OF BANGALORE

To skip to part II, about the technical aspects of climbing in wet weather, on the rock, click here. BM Betta, mid June, 2020. Image courtesy, Subbu KL There is a certain joy to climbing in the rain, akin to playing in the rain and puddles as kids.  You do not plan to get stuck …