Duke’s Nose
I was under this presumption that mountaineering is all about reaching
the summits of mighty Himalayas, Alps and Patagonia etc. Until one day I came
to Pune and became part of Giripremi family.
Giripremi is Pune's mountaineering club which has been promoting mountaineering sport since 1982. Notable ascents of not only Indian Himalaya but also Sahyadri rock climbing were successfully summited by Giripremi members. 2012's Mt. Everest expedition was the landmark event for the club and since then Giripremians have been scaling giant 8000ers one after the other. I have been with Giripremi family for past two years now. When I came
here, I had already Basic & Advance mountaineering courses under my belt.
Both ‘A’ grades. Enough to get a high of being a ‘qualified’ mountaineer. But just
a couple of courses make you a capable mountaineer? In retrospect, I could hear
clear ‘NO’. And here I was, having left a potentially money minting job, in
pursuit of scaling snow clad mountains and dreaming of setting up an outdoor
education platform in India.
I had either underestimated or totally neglected the art of rock
climbing which, in retrospect should be a concrete foundation for any sort of
mountaineering endeavors. During these days, I met many young climbers,
veterans, whose deep wisdom and inexorable climbing passion cast a profound
impression on me. I needed to change my apparent philosophy about
mountaineering. But it was very difficult to implement. As it meant shedding
away all your glitzy badges and be humble and learner again. But I was lucky to
be able to adapt to this change very quickly. And since then rock climbing became
an obsession for me.
It was probably mid Feb’ 2015, during which Giripremi team climbed the famous 300 ft. high Duke’s Nose cliff. We had had an overnight stay at village Kurvande. Early morning we had left for the
base platue of Duke’s nose from where the entire climb could be seen. A gentle
30-40 min trek through the thickets brings you to this beautiful meadow from
where you can see at far distance, the busy Mumbai –Pune Expressway on right
side and a giant cliff of Duke’s Nose on left side. Unlike almost all the
climbing events, this is perhaps the only destination where you can enjoy the
show right in front of your eyes. Just as you see a cricket match in stadium.
And trust me, sights of climbing moves from this platue are as mesmerizing as
watching a cricketer exemplifying his classical cover drive. I had gone there for the first time. No. Not as a climber. As a support member. I felt really bad to sit on bench, arrange waters and foods and watch others climb. But thanks to Bhushan’s persistence, that later I got a chance to climb till the first station. In that very
moment, I had decided to come back again
when I`d be thoroughly prepared.
One year later.
Sanket and I had been training immensely for this exclusive project
for almost a month now. The bottleneck was the overhang. 20 ft long with
practically no firm holds, at a height 700 ft from the ground. We decided to train exclusively for
this part. Either early in the morning or after the office hours in the
evening. We hopped onto natural rock quarry at Ferguson Collage or artificial
overhanging walls in the city. Sometimes together.. Sometimes just solo. But we
made it a point to follow the schedule religiously.
Day by day confidence kept boosting and eventually, on 24th
Apr 2016, we decided to climb. Jayant came along with us. After a couple of
hours drive from Pune, we reached Kurvande village. We decided to move directly
to the meadow at night so as to start climbing as early as the sun hits the
horizon. At midnight, devouring on paratha’s made by Sanket’s mother, three of
us squeezed inside a two men tent and fell asleep.
5:30 am. 24th Apr
16.
Jayant woke up and glanced outside the tent only to find the cliff
being swallowed by dense mist. We decided to check weather after an hour again.
But even then there was no change. In fact, everywhere we could see nothing but
mist. Uncertainty was looming across our faces. The only way out was to pack up
and retreat. This was the last chance I had as I was leaving for Everest Base
Camp the following week. I really didn’t want to go back unachieved. Nobody
wanted that. But the nature holds the last authority. She has the trump card
and she would let us climb only in her benign moods. This brutal yet sensible
rule can make a difference of life and death. We decided to turn around with
heavy hearts. But no sooner did we hit the trail, everything just changed as if
somebody moved a magic wand and made the whole mist disappear into thin air
leaving the cliff intact just for us to climb!
foggy mornings. We could do nothing but just watch the mist passing across the cliff
Without making any delay, Sanket and I geared up while Jaynat set up
the walkie talkies. No water, no food, no floaters. We decided to climb only
with what was utterly necessary. Only one Melody chocolate for a summit moment that
we kept with us and in next 10 minutes, reached the starting point.
We started our climb at 7:35 am. The rock seemed very solid with very
firm holds. But the anchoring points were a bit far apart as compared to
Tailbaila routes. To my surprise, I wasn’t afraid of the heights from the
beginning of the climb. It gave me some confidence and both of us reached the
first station in merely 35 min.
at Station 1.
Jayant was closely monitoring our moves and speed from the base. He
mentioned that we moved a bit slowly till the first pitch. (In fact we did. But the problem here was that it was a bit difficult
to locate the next anchor. So we had to look for here and there) From
station one we decided to skip station two and reached below the overhang
directly. It was a bit longer pitch and wasn’t in a straight line either. Which
created a lot of drag leading to a strenuous movement. But honestly speaking
until this point it was like classic rock climbing spells one after the other,
where one can confidently rely on holds even if they are crimpy and can make moves
as fluently as possible.
Sanket maneuvering above station 2.
But let me put a word of caution here! A lot of people come here
without having prior experience of even trekking; let alone rock climbing.
Bhushan had once narrated the incidence when an overenthusiastic trekker,
without having sufficient safety measures tried to reach to the starting point and
lost his life while walking across a narrow traverse. One should know the
difference between adventure and stupidity. Unfortunately most of the people
don’t. That’s where thorough training, technical guidance and flawless
preparations come handy. And on top of that maturity, ability to anticipate
dangers and being prepared to tackle them, play instrumental roles in deciding
success or disaster. Throughout the earlier
night, that incidence had engulfed my thinking and I was concerned particularly
while crawling along that notorious path.
Secondly, it wasn’t like we tried our hands on couple of rock climbing
routes or attended a basic rock climbing workshop and hoped on to this climb
the following weekend. It involved a gradual, serious and dedicated training.
Almost for a year. Attempts on smaller and easier routes for numerous times.
Most of the times unsuccessful; be it Sinhagad, Tailbaila, Plus valley, CBD.. There
were a couple of times when incompletion, injuries or falls hampered our
confidence; but we didn’t quit. Thanks to FC quarry which always placated our frustrations
and restored the lost confidence. This entire uphill-downhill we journeyed and prepared
patiently for this singular goal.
Plus valley climb
Tail baila simul climbing
Tailbaila again. less success and more failures.
Dry tooling in alps
Artificial wall climbing
And what followed eventually was not just a mere success but an absolute
satisfaction of doing something far more gracefully and meaningfully.
Overhang. Standing at this station somewhere 700 ft above the valley,
where there is only one anchor for self-protection and belay, you really don’t
want to glance down to see what your partner is doing. Just keep taking a slack
and hope that he doesn’t make a fall and you are left with nothing but to pull
him all the way up. From this point, Jayant was as small as a tiny dot and
Sanket would seldom reveal himself and hide again as he would make further
moves. Soon he reached the station and began setting up the belay. I looked up
at daunting overhang in search of my initial moves. It seemed easy at first
place but as soon as I began, I realized that I was in a bit awkward position
to clip the Quick draw. On top of that, as I moved up, I was completely
subjugated by the rock face and the 700 ft drop behind began sapping away every
bit of confidence in me.
With some brute force, I managed to clip it. Next was a metal rod with
an eyehole, couple of feet above. Now here was a game of strength as well as
perseverance. Jamming the left hand fingers in a crack (already occupied by an
unpleasant lizard), pulling a big pinch hold with right hand, I pressed onto
the wall on my right with right leg. Thus, securing the three points of contact,
I had to move my left feet slightly above a slopper from where, I could shift
my left hand to hold a crimp directly above my head. And it worked! I could
confidently make a move in the first attempt itself. But while clipping the
Quick draw with a right hand, I fell. Sanket’s belay was so efficient that I
neither felt the fall too much not did I felt the jerk on my waist. I rested
hanging on the previous anchor. Sanket reminded me to put on some chalk on
fingers. And Jayant cheered us from walkie talkies. I tried again. Same
outcome. Only this time the sharp rock edges of the crimp gave me a bruise as a
token of ‘better luck next time’.
I revisualized the route. I understood that I needed to go statically
rather than hastily trying to grab the crimp. It was only after this
realization that I could place my feet relatively more steadily and clip the
quick draw. Having clipped this major
challenge after a struggle of half an hour, I reached for the crack and
subsequently moved above in a lie back position. It was a moment of relief and
great pride to have completed the route way speedily than I had imagined. I was
completely enervated after the move but that enervation seemed all worth it. After
me, even Sanket finished the route very quickly and we both were in jubilant
mood. Last station, after the overhang was like a walk in a park. 15 min, and
we were celebrating the summit with our melody chocolate. We clocked this route
in all, 2 hrs 25 min, which seemed an impressive start for the first timers.
Duke’s Nose climb was just a tip of an ice berg. There are innumerable
challenges awaiting us. And we are prepared to take them all on. But only with
patience, preparation and perseverance.
While heading back home I realized that, to excel in your dreams, it
doesn’t matter how physically strong athlete you are.. Or how glorified
your resume credentials are.. What really matters at first place is how willful
and self-confident person you are.
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