[Climbing] Manori [7th March, 2015]

Date: 7th March, 2015

Beach at Manori

It was Rangapanchami (रंगपंचमी) on 7th March and in order to avoid the wild, drunken and boisterous celebrations around the city, I decided to join Amey and others on a climbing trip to Manori Beach near Gorai. I met Amey at Gorai Jetty at ~ 8.00 AM and we set off to our destination. Swapnil Jadhav, Shyam Thanawala, Ganesh Shinde and Varhad were waiting for us there. Later Rahul Patil, Neha More, young Kartik, PC and tai also joined us. This time we even managed to climb the overhang route. I climbed that on my second attempt. Swapnil left us transfixed with his jaw-dropping dyno. Everyone climbed till the heart was fully contented. We even celebrated (peaceful) Rangapanchami here. PC had purchased the colors while on his way here. Everyone's target was young Kartik Ayare. God knows how many times he entered the sea to wash the colors off his face.

Check out the short video trailer of our visit there. Enjoy -

Climbing at Manori -- Deovrat Phal from Deovrat Phal on Vimeo.

[Climbing] The 350 ft. Duke's Nose Pinnacle

Dukes Nose ((नागफणी) Upper 350 ft. Rock wall climbing
Pune (India)
Date: 14th and 15th February, 2015

Fakta Ladh Mhana from Deovrat Phal on Vimeo.

Dukes Nose pinnacle was my first rock-climbing in the Sahyadri range and thanks to Arun Sawant sir, I got a chance to be a part of the team who climbed the 350 ft. tall upper part of the pinnacle. I had been practicing on artificial wall at Goregaon, Shivaji Park and sometimes on boulders at Mumbra. But nothing could be compared with the huge 800 ft. cliff of Dukes nose aka (नागफणी) and upper 350 ft. climbing. The climb at Dukes has taught a lot of things. Its like, you have learnt so much, yet a lots need to be learnt. I know the theory of rock-climbing, I know how to tie knots, I know how to use a rope. But what Dukes nose taught me was more practical and cannot be learnt in  a classroom (artificial wall). The Dukes climb has given me an "experience" to savor.

Not to mention the lessons taught by Pramod Chavhan and Anjali Parab, both instructors at Arun Samant Climbing wall at Goregaon. The climbing would not have been possible without their motivation, at Goregaon wall as well as while climbing. Anjali tai was the lead climber and Neha belayed her. Suraj Malusare, another excellent climber, followed her. First day was spent to setup the rope and pre-arrangement for next days climb.

The fact worth noting was that five, 11 year old kids from Nandadeep Vidyalay from Goregaon also successfully climbed this pinnacle and gave a stunning message to the climbing community that even they shouldn't be left behind. Given proper training, guidance and motivation, even small kids can climb heights. Checkout the training video from our Rock-climbing practice at Manori. The only thing that annoyed me was that they had to share their PA shoes among themselves. They are currently taking the climbing lessons from Anjali Ma'am and Pramod Chavan sir. The kids are lucky to have the Arun Samant climbing wall in their school premises and the can use it without any membership fees.