Two videos my buddy Ben Cummings made of a bunch of classic climbs in Hampi.
Part 1
Part 2
Thursday, February 25, 2010
Monday, February 15, 2010
Badami Round II
As time began to run short for me in India my friend Otso suggested one more trip to Badami. I felt I had a very successful trip in Hampi, sending all but a few projects, so I agreed to go. Our crew was smaller this time comprised of Otso, Camilla, Kaare, Autumn, Dean, Tom and I. We said our goodbyes in Hampi and made our way to the local bus station to catch our bus, which we opted to take instead of the taxi. Tom, Dean and I were on top of the bus trying to secure our crash pads as the bus started to leave the station. The last thing I heard was Dean yell "This isn't safe!" as they bail off the top and climb aboard. Knowing the road conditions and the way these buses drive I knew our crash pads were as good as lost if I didn't tie them down, so i hunkered down and tried to speed up the process while yelling at the bus to stop. Not wanted to endure a couple hours on top of the roof, I quickly finished, jumped off and hopped aboard the moving bus. My knots lucky held and we arrive in Badami just as it got dark with all the crashpads still aboard. We celebrated our safe journey with delicious Indian Thali's, a common Indian meal with three different curries, rice, curd and roti bread with a dessert all for a little over a dollar, and of course Kingfisher beer.
Having spent more time in India since my last Badami trip I was able to relax and enjoy this trip more than the first one, despite the noise, filth and general chaotic vibe of India. I was also prepared for the kids, this trip. At the first sound of "school pen" I would turn and with wide eyes and a big goofy grin and go chasing after the kids yelling "school pen!" in my best witches voice. This usually did the trick either making them laugh or shocked them enough to not ask for anything else. The climbing was amazing, hopefully these pictures do this place justice.
Its funny, being in India I got to experience so many new things and my trip is full of little moments which I think back to and are so grateful to have been apart of. One of those moments happened during our last day in Badami. Otso and I had been climbing at an area bordering a small dirt path. We were told by the many kids that walked by with there cricket bats that it was a holiday and there was no school. Soon we found ourselves surrounded by close to twenty boys. I pulled the whole school pen routine chases them, tugging at there shirts, which they found very funny and the begging stopped. They watched us climb, helped spot and cheered when we sent. During our breaks they would climb atop the boulders and dare each other to jump off onto the crash pad. Otso showed them how it was done and soon the boys were taking turns jumping onto my pad as I took pictures. The heat was setting in so we started to pack up. The kids saw this and told us to come play cricket with them. We agreed and followed them to a flat sandy field where fifty some boys where playing a couple games of cricket. As I sat my pad down I was swarmed by kids all fighting over a place to sit on it. Otso and I would take turns bowling for the kids, all of which wanted a turn to hit a ball bowled from a westerner. Some of the older boys would stand next to me critiquing my bowling technique yelling, "wide, wide!" or "Good bowling!" when I managed to hit a wicket. I was soon offered a turn at bat and the kids took turns bowling for me, laughing when I missed and cheering when I made a good hit. The cricket soon turned to play fighting and typical boy shenanigans. I sat down and watched as the boys practiced there long jumping in the sand and laughed as one boy would drag his frightened friends up to me and tell me to wrestle or kick-box them. Rarely have I found anyone to be this friendly and open to strangers, but my time in India was filled with encounter like this, which I feel very fortunate to have experienced.
Otso on Badami Two Tap
Me on a unnamed 5.12ish climb. Photo Kaare Iverson
Camilla on an unnamed Classic
Otso on possibly the second ascent of Marble Rye.
More boys of Badami.
Official Asana pad testers. Apparently jumping down is more fun than climbing up.
The Badami round two crew enjoying a kingfisher.
Having spent more time in India since my last Badami trip I was able to relax and enjoy this trip more than the first one, despite the noise, filth and general chaotic vibe of India. I was also prepared for the kids, this trip. At the first sound of "school pen" I would turn and with wide eyes and a big goofy grin and go chasing after the kids yelling "school pen!" in my best witches voice. This usually did the trick either making them laugh or shocked them enough to not ask for anything else. The climbing was amazing, hopefully these pictures do this place justice.
Its funny, being in India I got to experience so many new things and my trip is full of little moments which I think back to and are so grateful to have been apart of. One of those moments happened during our last day in Badami. Otso and I had been climbing at an area bordering a small dirt path. We were told by the many kids that walked by with there cricket bats that it was a holiday and there was no school. Soon we found ourselves surrounded by close to twenty boys. I pulled the whole school pen routine chases them, tugging at there shirts, which they found very funny and the begging stopped. They watched us climb, helped spot and cheered when we sent. During our breaks they would climb atop the boulders and dare each other to jump off onto the crash pad. Otso showed them how it was done and soon the boys were taking turns jumping onto my pad as I took pictures. The heat was setting in so we started to pack up. The kids saw this and told us to come play cricket with them. We agreed and followed them to a flat sandy field where fifty some boys where playing a couple games of cricket. As I sat my pad down I was swarmed by kids all fighting over a place to sit on it. Otso and I would take turns bowling for the kids, all of which wanted a turn to hit a ball bowled from a westerner. Some of the older boys would stand next to me critiquing my bowling technique yelling, "wide, wide!" or "Good bowling!" when I managed to hit a wicket. I was soon offered a turn at bat and the kids took turns bowling for me, laughing when I missed and cheering when I made a good hit. The cricket soon turned to play fighting and typical boy shenanigans. I sat down and watched as the boys practiced there long jumping in the sand and laughed as one boy would drag his frightened friends up to me and tell me to wrestle or kick-box them. Rarely have I found anyone to be this friendly and open to strangers, but my time in India was filled with encounter like this, which I feel very fortunate to have experienced.
Otso on Badami Two Tap
Me on a unnamed 5.12ish climb. Photo Kaare Iverson
Camilla on an unnamed Classic
Otso on possibly the second ascent of Marble Rye.
More boys of Badami.
Official Asana pad testers. Apparently jumping down is more fun than climbing up.
The Badami round two crew enjoying a kingfisher.Sunday, February 7, 2010
Badami round one
Well folks I am back in the states trying to get over a post India sickness. I will continue to post stories, pictures and hopefully a few videos of my India trip in the next few weeks. Enjoy.
I first heard of Badami while climbing in Hampi. I was told it was home to amazing sandstone cliffs and boulders, so when my friend Chris Welden, a Canadian squamite, told me he was planning a trip there I was very keen to join. Badami, the erstwhile capital of the Chalukya empire, located in northern part of the India state of Karnataka lies between 100 and 200 kilometers from hampi. One of our faithful taxi drivers named "Funky" told us it was a 3 to 4 hour drive. This 3 hour drive slowly turned into a 6 hour drive, which was expected because driving anywhere in India is an extremely time consuming task. The tiny pot hole ridden roads make travel slow, massive traffic jams common and reckless driving apparently necessary. We were a two taxi van convoy each pack to the brim with three Indian drivers and eight climbers. I was seated in one of the vans, back up against the drivers seat looking out the back window. I would judge the level of danger I was in by the looks on Oyvind, Eirik and Jakobs faces, who were unlucky enough to see the oncoming traffic. There faces would go from nervous to anxious to scared to terrified, they would than close there eyes and flinch just as the taxi would swerve out of the passing lane narrowly missing one of the many oncoming giant buses or trucks, with there unbelievable loud horns. Each town we would go through the drivers would yell something and as our taxis would inevitably stop at a traffic jam curious Indian onlookers would swarm the van yelling "Your country!?" "Your name!?" "Schoolpen!?" "Rupee!?" "Biscuit!?". As the taxi would finally start driving again the children would chase after it yelling and screaming.
As dusk encroached we were welcomed to the site of sandstone cliffs and the dirty, noisy city of Badami. Just as the idea of dinner, beer and bed started to creep into my mind our chief negotiator Chico, a fluent Hindi speaker, Chris and Kevin or Beefcake came back from their hotel search and told us there were no rooms due to a Holiday. Since bed was no longer viable we opted for the dinner and beer. Over a cold kingfisher our luck changed. Chris had gone back to one hotel with a single empty room to see if it would be possible to fit all 16 of us into it for a night. While at the hotel the manager offered up their vacant group hall, used for weddings and parties, and the one empty room. We took it.
Kids of Badami with Beefcake
Chris on an unnamed ungraded roof problem
The Monkeys showing us how it was done.
Otso on an unnamed ungraded roof problem
Colorful schoolgirls at the caves of Badami. Amazing temples carved out of the cliff face.
Otso on another unnamed ungraded gem
Beefcake enjoying the cramped six hour taxi ride back to Hampi.
I first heard of Badami while climbing in Hampi. I was told it was home to amazing sandstone cliffs and boulders, so when my friend Chris Welden, a Canadian squamite, told me he was planning a trip there I was very keen to join. Badami, the erstwhile capital of the Chalukya empire, located in northern part of the India state of Karnataka lies between 100 and 200 kilometers from hampi. One of our faithful taxi drivers named "Funky" told us it was a 3 to 4 hour drive. This 3 hour drive slowly turned into a 6 hour drive, which was expected because driving anywhere in India is an extremely time consuming task. The tiny pot hole ridden roads make travel slow, massive traffic jams common and reckless driving apparently necessary. We were a two taxi van convoy each pack to the brim with three Indian drivers and eight climbers. I was seated in one of the vans, back up against the drivers seat looking out the back window. I would judge the level of danger I was in by the looks on Oyvind, Eirik and Jakobs faces, who were unlucky enough to see the oncoming traffic. There faces would go from nervous to anxious to scared to terrified, they would than close there eyes and flinch just as the taxi would swerve out of the passing lane narrowly missing one of the many oncoming giant buses or trucks, with there unbelievable loud horns. Each town we would go through the drivers would yell something and as our taxis would inevitably stop at a traffic jam curious Indian onlookers would swarm the van yelling "Your country!?" "Your name!?" "Schoolpen!?" "Rupee!?" "Biscuit!?". As the taxi would finally start driving again the children would chase after it yelling and screaming.
As dusk encroached we were welcomed to the site of sandstone cliffs and the dirty, noisy city of Badami. Just as the idea of dinner, beer and bed started to creep into my mind our chief negotiator Chico, a fluent Hindi speaker, Chris and Kevin or Beefcake came back from their hotel search and told us there were no rooms due to a Holiday. Since bed was no longer viable we opted for the dinner and beer. Over a cold kingfisher our luck changed. Chris had gone back to one hotel with a single empty room to see if it would be possible to fit all 16 of us into it for a night. While at the hotel the manager offered up their vacant group hall, used for weddings and parties, and the one empty room. We took it.
After a morning of chai and Masala Dosa, a potato and curry filled crape, we headed for the rocks. The rock in Badami is not as extensive as hampi, nothing is, but it is sandstone and it produces amazing, steep, thuggy climbs. The beautiful red swirled, marble rye breadsque rock, was a welcomed change from hampi and we spent the first day wondering the sandstone corridors and cliffs searching for boulders and the climbing gems of the area.
I quickly began to realize what an oasis Hampi and Goan's Corner was. Badami was much more like the real India I had heard of. Every day we would walk through slums and pass wild pig infested open sewers, trash piles and the occasional drunk passed out Indian man face down in the dirt on the side of the road. The biggest challenge was the kids. One morning on the way to the rocks we past through a Muslim slum. We were swarmed upon by 20 to 30 kids at first asking us our name and country. Then they started tugging at my hands asking for school pens, rupees, chocolate and biscuits; this was quite the experience. As we reached the edge of the town and started to walk up into the hills a few of the kids, obviously angry that they did not get anything from us, began throwing rocks. Before we could do much a parent appeared and the kids scattered. This was not the last of our experiences with the badami kids. Every day at least a few of them would find us hiding in the rocks and spend a few hours with us watching our every move. They started off begging, which worked at first. Hoping they would stop someone in our group would eventually give them a biscuit or empty water bottle or a bit of climbing tape. It quickly became apparent that this made the begging worse. Although this was frustrating I couldn't help but be sympathetic to them, for if I was in there situation I would do the same thing. After the kids realized they had gotten all they could out of us they began to act like kids. It was fun to watch them roughhouse with each other on our crashpads or try their hand at climbing with our over sized climbing shoes and chalk. We spent three nights in badami and then took the taxis back to Hampi where we spent new years, but I would return right before I left India. Badami round two soon to come.
Kids of Badami with Beefcake
Chris on an unnamed ungraded roof problem
The Monkeys showing us how it was done.
Otso on an unnamed ungraded roof problem
Colorful schoolgirls at the caves of Badami. Amazing temples carved out of the cliff face.
Otso on another unnamed ungraded gem
Beefcake enjoying the cramped six hour taxi ride back to Hampi.
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