Bouldering Amongst the Ruins

This entry may be more for you climbing addicts out there: During our 27-hour train ride from Mumbai to Chennai, we passed through a section of India's interior (somewhere in the eastern half of Andhra Pradesh) that had 300-1200 foot rock walls that seemingly strected for miles. These rock walls appeared to be sandstone, but were seen from a few miles away. At the base of the walls were random villages surrounded by tons of granite boulders and crags. There were occassional quarries, but it seemed like the best rock to climb was being left alone. The colors ranged from tan, largely porphyritic stone reminiscient of Buena Vista, to light and dark greys of what you see in Squamish - it was all so varied and plentiful. One stretch looked like 4 miles of the Buttermilks. Most boulders were free standing and were 12-25 feet tall. I wanted the train to break down so badly on this stretch.

I haven't been climbing much on this trip but for just a quick bouldering session amongst the rock carvings and temples of Mamallapuram, Tamil Nadu. The setting where the best rocks were found was in a beautifully kept garden area full of classic lines juxtaposed with Narasima Varman I and II (5th-7th century AD) carvings. I had to choose carefully, as some lines would contain carvings, or perhaps too close to something sacred to the locals. Truth be told, at 90+ degrees F, high humidity, intense sun, no chalk, limitations of personal ability ( a big player in the scenario!), and extremely polished rock - I wasn't going up too high on many boulders by choice or otherwise.

One indicator of the polished stone could be seen at the base of a famous, compelling boulder known as "Krishna's Butterball." This precariously situated stone was set on a slab, attracted attention like the Garden of the God's Balanced Rock, and had a contiunual stream of kids at the bottom end of of the boulder taking turns sliding down the slab on their rears - a natural slide. I must admit, much to the delight of the kids, and the chagrin of the elders - I tested this out myself and found it to be quite enjoyable. Anyway, the Butterball had many possible, beautiful boulder problems on its south face. The pictures, however, reveal my inability to break through the starting moves. The start was severely overhanging, with marginal and slippery feet, glommy fingertip crimps, which my perspiring hands could not seem to gain friction on. They felt like I had a layer of Cheetos grease on them - you know, when your tips are orange after munching for a while? I couldn't get a feel for the ratings, as the heat was just too much of a factor for me. I thought 5.12b (V4?) given the circumstance, but imagine I could manage pretty well with chalk and cooler temps. I could see Chad (friend in Colorado Springs) casually floating up various lines, but knew I didn't really have a prayer. One thing I could see - after the start - the face had fantastic incut flakes and great feet at a mild overhang to near vertical level, with many possible variations, all somewhere in the 5.11 range.

As I attempted to breach the start of some of these problems on the Butterball, I had a few people tell me not to do this. No one had any problems with people scrambling on the rocks, they were just afraid that I would hurt myself. It seemed as though they really thought I had not considered the danger of falling, and their warnings were all that was between me and certain doom. One guy was sure that even a slip from the start would send me careening down the slab like the kids on the granite slide, and would wince as I'd reach for higher holds.

After sizing up the Butterball, we did find a striking finger crack splitting a stone in a quite corner of the park. This was still very polished, but quite striking, and ranged from fingers to tips. The crux provided some great toe-camming and tips stacking. The toe was so secure, though, that the grade could have only been 5.9+ at the most. Again, hard to tell given the heat and sweat. Needless to say, I'm chompin' at the bit to get to Hampi. Once there, I'll be sure to plan things out better and devote a few mornings and late evenings to avoid the thuggish heat and humidity here. We are considering heading to a hill station called Ooty (Udhagamandalam), near the Nilgiri Hills where the map indicates 2600+ meter (about 8,500 foot) peaks. Though I've heard nothing of climbing in this region of tigers and elephants, I know cooler mountain areas are always a good bet to find rocks. I'll keep you posted as to what we discover as we shift from the

east to west coast of India.