Introduction to Climbing

Over the past couple of years, India has seen a shift in the climbing scene. For a country that was once completely 'off the radar' where climbing activities were concerned is today slowly changing into a destination that not only has some great climbing destinations and walls; but also where several climbers like Manikandan Kumar, Tuhin Satarkar and Sandeep Maity Kumar are making their mark in the international climbing scene.

In its very essence, climbing is a creative sport that is ever changing, it is a sport that needs practice and training; the sport is about balance, you need to understand your body well and how to reposition it in space. While it is commonly believed that climbing is about upper body strength that takes in all the grunt force, many climbers know that even the legs and feet play a rather vital role in enabling the upward motion of the body on a rock face.
Climbing in all is about challenging one's limits and overcoming fears, while it is about physical strength climbing even harnesses and betters your mental mettle. There are several styles of climbing like aid climbing, solo climbing, free solo, traditional rock climbing, indoor climbing, ice climbing, ice climbing, bouldering and alpine climbing. It is a sport that can be done both individualistically and in a group. Many even believe that climbing is a great way to build bonds and strong relationships.

Once the basic climbing moves are learnt, you will never forget it, like when you learn to ride a bike or to swim... nevertheless, climbing takes years to perfect. However, each climbing style is different from the other and requires different levels of technicalities. In bouldering, climbers climb rocks that are short possibly no more than 20 feet. Bouldering helps several climbers with their problematic moves, at a safe distance from the ground. This form of climbing generally helps increase dexterity and strength in the fingers and overall stamina. Bouldering is a rather technical sport, and over the recent few years, the interest in bouldering has grown.

Indoor climbing is yet another form of climbing that is slowly evolving in the country, while there are a limited number of climbing gyms in the country, there nevertheless are several climbers heading out to these gyms to try their hand in the sport. These gyms are the perfect training ground for those who would like to learn their basic moves on the rock or learn rope handling techniques. However, many experienced climbers believe that there is nothing like climbing a natural rock face.

Free climbing is yet another form of climbing that is fast gaining popularity. Here the climber climbs the rock face without the use of any gear or equipment. Essentially this type of climbing focuses on the use of legs and arms and the gear that the climber uses is generally for protection. One of forms of climbing that is used by advanced climbers is traditional climbing. In traditional climbing or trad climbing the climber uses his or her gear for protection instead of the pre-drilled bolts. These are generally made in shapes that will help the climber use the existing cracks and holes without causing much damage to the natural rock face, it is also known as clean climbing.

In Aid climbing, the rules of traditional climbing cannot be used and hence it is not called clean climbing as well, this is because the difficulty of the climb makes any other form very difficult. In this type of climb, most climbers are generally staying at the rock face for days on and use large amounts of gear.

Free Solo climbing or free soloing is possibly amongst those types of climbs where the climber needs to have the maximum amount of knowledge of the technical skills required and routes. Here the climber climbs the rock face without any sort of protection or aid. So falling simply doesn't become an option!

Ice climbing is done on icy terrains, where you need to have ice axes and crampons, which become an essential part of the gear used. Usually attempted on icefalls, rocks and cliffs with ice formations, ice climbing is another technical climbing form. Mountain climbing needs an advanced knowledge of the environment, combat accidents and sudden disasters... the inherent dangers of a natural environment are a factor that climbers generally consider in this type of climbing...