Introducing Rappelling in Hyderabad

About 35 People showed up at the Maulali Rock Climbing Trek. We climbed the usual 450 steps and after a good warmup went down and up the steep hills few times till the legs burned with the pain which was followed by stretching to remove the lactic acid build.  Then we went around the dome rock trying to find some good surface to do bouldering and Deepam  was busy setting up the rope for rappelling across a 30 feet vertical drop.

Deepam was the first to do rappelling and few other brave hearts tried their luck and inspired the remaining to try rappelling. About 20 members did rappelling and come out confident.

Rappelling or abseiling brings a powerful sense of accomplishment and is a vital resource in bringing about the realization that not every perceived risk is insurmountable. It was my turn to do rappelling and being the organiser people look up to you and you have to lead by example. There is no excuse or escape

 I had done rappelling few times before at the Dandeli  Trek with the full equipment and a safety rope in the instructor's hand.  but Rappelling at  Maulali  looked rather daunting to stand on the edge of a cliff and looking down and knowing that we will soon be going down with only a rope for safety.  But the technique was rather easy to learn and the real difficulty was only in convincing the mind. It felt natural after the first couple of steps and then the feeling of suspension over the expanse below was thrilling.

I stopped at the edge locking the rope with the right hand grip and leaning back against the wall and posed for some photos and yes I felt powerful to stand against the gravity and walk on a vertical wall. 

 Immediately after the descent followed a tremendous sense of achievement and a boosted confidence. It brought the realization that not every seemingly difficult objective is actually so. This was the first ever time that we did rappelling at Maulali with just a Rope and Hand gloves using the classic rappelling technique as taught by Deepam who has done such feats earlier in the shayadri range.

 

Classic Rapelling Technique

Most of the first timers tried rappelling and came out more confident then before - read the comments at http://meetup.ghac.in/calendar/12663666/

 

GHAC now plans to purchase full  Rock Climbing and Rapelling Equipment along with Safety Gear to enable more members to try this exciting sport within the Hyderabad city.

GHAC thanks all the following members who donated cash towards purchase of Equipment at Maulali Trek on 07 March 2010. All the money GHAC receives from members will be accounted for and utilized for purchase of Equipment for the benefit of members only.

If you want to donate towards purchase of equipment or sponsor some equipment please get in touch with the  organizers.

Regards

Diyanat

www.ghac.in

Night Camp - Vikarabad

Twenty One people, headed to ananthgiri hills for a night camp. What followed was a good time and a good time which was dominated by singers!

Ananthgiri hills is around 80 kms from hyderabad and offers a good place for camping. We found one such place for setting up our camp. From here, a good view of vikarabad could be had. The twilight brought out some good views of the place but we were late, as usual and we had to get to work!

6 cars with 21 people reached the place around 6 in the evening. People got out of the car and got down to work, realizing that the fading sun would offer light only for sometime. So, the girls took care of the cooking department while the guys took care of setting up the tents and collecting firewoods. Few knew how to set a tent and i was not one of them, sad. but the better part? i learnt something about it! There was no light, how could we continue our work? The cars came to the rescue.

What's cooking?
The girls were quick in getting everything ready, that was required for their cooking. Few got down to cut/peel the vegetables while others were sorting ingredients out. Few guys volunteered to hold the torch and throw light! With all the hard work, finally there was rice, dal and a curry, waiting to be served.
One person was busy piercing chicken into the sticks. The chicken-pierced-sticks were handed out to guys and were asked to roast it over the fire, which was created.

After the meal was prepared, a quick round of introduction was done around the campfire. Then, it was time to eat. There was light shower, accompanied by a gushing wind, when we commenced our food. Few of us had to rush to save the tents, which were not grounded. The water drops were for a little time. Post dinner, it was singing all the way. 3 teams were formed and a good number of songs played. Well into the night, the singing carried on and at some point it was decided that the group will go out for a night walk. A good walk and the singing began....again! We found a place downhill which offered a beautiful view of the lit city far away with the starry sky. The moon with its beautiful crescent was a watch. We sat down and people sang few good numbers. One of them suggested complete silence and enjoy the view. I liked this part. A sense, which is hard to describe, set in. Imagine in a surrounding - A cool breeze hitting your face, on a place which had a picturesque view, under the star-filled-sky. So, that was it! It was time and we decided to return. The singing went on! and when we reached back it was time to play cards. A good time with cards. I learnt something, for i knew nothing about playing cards.

What's with the toothpaste?
The maha-idea of one/two of the members, to apply toothpaste on the face of sleeping humans. I'm sure they had a lot of fun doing so and in the process being 'called' by a person on whose face they tried to apply. The best part was the explanation of what 'actually' people thought that paste was [LOL as i think of it!]

The next day, we had a short walk to catch the first rays of sunlight but unfortunately we couldn't see as the clouds has blocked the view. So, had to return, slightly disappointed. We reached our base, packed stuff and left the place with a pretty long ride back home, with of course, fun memories placed in the brain!

Thank you Ranjitha, for all the cooking and Anitha, Shraddha for supporting the cooking department. Thank you monty, srikanth, prasanna and nataraj for holding the torchlight for sooo long and assisting the chefs!
Thank you, shwetha, for the wonderful chicken [i think the left over marination paste was applied on someone's face! oh no. he thought so!!!]
Thank you everyone for the humor and fun.

Save Our Tigers.

According to the recent survey of India it is noted that the population of tigers in India have reduced to  1,411 from 40,000 (last century). Tigers are facing major population loss and extinction and are killed for sport, skins & body parts. There are only about 3,500 tigers left around the world out of which 1,411 are from India.

The main cause of the decline of Tigers is  poaching for tigers fur, bones and other tiger products and loss of their natural habitat due to changing climate and human activities like logging, farming and encroachment of forests area's.

To know more about how to save the Tiger please visit http://www.wwfindia.org/about_wwf/what_we_do/tiger_wildlife/how_save_tiger/

You can assist in "Save Our Tigers" by speaking up about it to your family, friends, colleagues, posting Online and blogging about it.

You can also donate money to NGOs working for the cause, like WWF-India at http://www.wwfindia.org/help/donate/.

If we fail to act today the  future generation may read about Tigers and know about them as extinguished animals.

Take the step now and show your concern  - join the  ROAR -

http://www.saveourtigers.com/JoinTheRoar.php