I haven't done much since my last post because I managed to catch a cold in India despite the warm weather. However, while resting and relaxing away my cold I did manage to made another trip across the river to explore some more of the ruins and temples. I visited a temple dedicated to Ganesha (the Hindu god with the elephant features) that had a huge granite statue of the god contained in its dark own chamber. As you enter the temple you step into a square room well lit through the large entryway. To your sides are two other chambers of the same size, but in front of you is a third bigger chamber. You expect this third room to be the same dimensions as the others so when you can't see the walls and instead the over twice your height figure of Ganesha is totally surrounded by shadow it's quite eery. The raised floor blocks separating the rooms mean even the ground around the statue is in shadow. Needless to say, I didn't join Ganesha and instead just stayed in the well lit entry chamber!
I feel better now though, so the last two days I've been climbing. The unique climbing here with such sharp rock and so many small holds has taken some getting used to, but I think after my rest at the beach I've come back stronger and finally adjusted to the climbing. I'll just run through a quick tick-list of what I've climbed in Hampi so far now that I've done some more hard climbs. This will be mostly be for the climbers reading.
7b (V8) flash, but it might be soft, perhaps hard 7a+. It depends what you're used to though, some people say 7b. Two large crimps to start with high but also good feet, followed by one hard left hand throw to another good crimp.
7b (V8) second try. The problem is called Double Arete, and you just slap your way up two opposing right angle aretes till you reach a high sidepull-crimp for your left hand as the arete ends. Finally you get a high insecure smear with your right foot and throw to the lip. Really fun mantle with a heel hook to top out. Almost got the flash.... fell on the last move.
7b (V8) third try. This one was definitely soft, 7a+ max, maybe even 7a. Still a cool problem though, side pull and crimp to start with a heel, then a sloper you have to match, followed my an undercling move to the top.
There's a 7c/7c+ (V9/V10) I've been working and have done the crux throws of. It's listed as a project in the guidebook but I'm sure it's been climbed. It took me two sessions to do the first move, so it's definitely hard. Even now I only get it a third of the time. I just need the beta for the top (it's quite high), and I'll get it. I also almost got a 7b+ (V8/9) next to Double Arete. It's a super crimpy quite short problem, and I'm just two moves away from the send. I couldn't flash V8 when I left Houston, and even if the 8 I flashed was soft, flashing that grade is definitely now within my limit. It's nice to know you've gotten better at something, and I'm psyched to go back to the US and try climbs I've attempted before and hopefully do better on them.
So my plans for the week couple of weeks are to keep climbing here and maybe attend a competition in Hyderabad on the 2nd of December. The comp entrance fee is cheap so hopefully we can get a group of climbers from Hampi to travel up together to compete. Comps are always good motivation, and there's usually a friendly atmosphere with climbers helping each other and swapping tips. Also some strong Indian climbers will be there and meeting them would be awesome. So bye till next time!
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