To Wonder & Wander

March 6, 2010: The start to the journey of my second technical climb was without any events.

We boarded a Tavera on the evening of 6th march and soon, eleven of us were on our way to Telbaila village. The route would go via Lonavala that would also include a tea and chikki-choco-fudge stop 🙂 The car journey was beautiful. I enjoyed the journey as the car cruised the dark serpentine paths through the dense, quiet vegetation on both sides of the road. Suresh and Sagar sir were not so lucky though. They had to travel on a motorcyle and they were having a hard time due to the cold wind.

We arrived at the Tail Baila village at around 9.30pm. It sits at the base of two rock walls that rise to  an elevation of 2728 feet (832 meters) above sea level. These walls go by the same name as the village…. rather, the village goes by the same name as the mountain.

The very first thing that caught our eyes was the star-studded sky. It was hard to get our eyes off the blazing jewels and was quite an exercise for the neck!

The yellow lamps inside the few houses that populate this village made for some colorful photographs.

We were to stay in the house of a villager who was Suresh sir’s contact. The arrangements for dinner and lunch were also made in the village itself. Freshening up was followed by introduction sessions. We were again a motley group of people that had come together for climbing.

Our dinner consisted of a lot of rice (apart from Bhakri,dal and pavta vegetable), on insistence of our host mavshi who took great pride in the fact that there was no lack of rice in her household. She said that they grow the crop in the village itself, so we MUST eat a lot of rice!

Some time later, it was time to go to bed.

March 7: Had to start early so that climb would finish by noon.. woke up, had tea and started the short hike to the notch prominently visible between the two rock walls.

Although the path is narrow at times, it is an easy hike to the notch if you are a seasoned hiker. By 7 am, we had reached the notch/pass. There’s a small temple and a water cistern here. Our packed breakfasts were also brought up to this point. While Sagar, Suresh and Ravi sir immediately started taking out the climbing gear to get on with the task of setting up the ground belay station, the less capable among us, that is, the rest of us, finished our pohe and put on a climbing harness.

We would be climbing the inner route of the left-side wall, which is the traditional route. Right-side wall is relatively more difficult to climb.

As with previous climbs, Sagar sir would be the lead climber here as well. I would belay him from the ground and then climb as the second person. Around 7:40 am, Sagar sir touched the rocks. The entire climb is of around 260 feet long and bolted already i.e. the metal anchor points have been fixed into the rock permanently. This bolting work was done under the guidance of a French climber Nicholas, who had been to Pune some time ago and started an initiative to make all rock climbing routes in Maharashtra safer. The bolts are called chemical bolts and they are fixed into the rock using a drilling machine, making them extremely reliable.

At least in this trip, the climb was divided into 3 or 4 parts. There’s a vertical patch of 80 feet at the beginning. There’s deep exposure on the right side of this route. From the notch itself, one can see the Konkan valley on one side and two beastly shadows of the Tail Baila walls on the other side. So when one is standing in the notch, Maval is on one side and Konkan on the other.

Sagar sir climbed the  first vertical patch in no time and reached a ledge. He kept putting in runners  at various points in his climb. From the ledge, he climbed roughly in a horizontally diagonal direction to reach the caves.

Now it was my turn to climb. My task was to climb till the ledge, remove all the runners (quickdraws) on the way and stay at the ledge itself. I wouldn’t remove the quickdraw clipped at this point and help others changeover, when they reach that point. Technical terms apart, what I mean here is that, there is a climbing rope and there’s a belaying rope. The climbers here onwards would be clipped on to both the ropes via their harnesses and carabiners. Their belay would be handled by Sagar sir. Climbers would enjoy a smooth climb till they reach the ledge, where i would be standing. From here onwards, the direction of the rope changes, which is why the rope is anchored here. When a climber reaches this point, i would have to clip them into the part of the rope leading from the ledge to the caves while ensuring that each of them is self-anchored  at the ledge while I’m helping them with the changeover.

The task is extremely simple. Doesn’t take much to do it. The only reason for including so many details is because I want my non-climber friends to understand the process.

The rock felt EXCELLENT as I climbed this first vertical patch. Friction holds, cracks, pressure holds. I was getting an awesome grip barefooted. But the exposure on one side did take my adrenaline ticking a bit. At one point, my leg was shaking, not due to  real fatigue, but i guess it was a premature fatigue owing to psychological factors. In any case, the climb was thrilling but easy and I had an advantage in the fact that I was getting a top belay from Sagar sir. He is such a master climber that i trust him blindly and when my belay is in his hands, I can rest assured that i will NEVER fall.

I reached the ledge, got self anchored, took stalk of the position I would be in for next 3 hours and somehow, settled in the narrow space. I couldn’t properly be in a sitting position for next 3 hours. There was not enough space to do that. What I could do was to keep changing positions and rest each leg alternately.

Suresh sir climbed after me and he took charge of the top belay while Sagar sir moved on further. He then stationed himself below the cave.

Next 3 hours were the best. I was there, literary on the cliff. Valley on one side. Bamboo trees were spread across the plain before the valley. This part of the wall was in the shadow, so the sun wasn’t a problem at all. It was fun guiding every successive climber at the last few  holds before the ledge, getting them self-anchored and guiding them on the way onward. Everyone managed to climb this patch with their courage and help of the top belay by Suresh sir. Some of them were complete novices and their performance was commendable.

Everyone had reached the caves and now it was my turn to go there. I removed every piece of equipment attached to the bolt and reached the cave in 5-6 steps that seemed very simple.

By reaching the caves, we had completed one-third of the climb. We enjoyed chikki bites in the cave and moved on to next cave. The route from cave 1 to cave 2 is a traverse walk on a very narrow trail along the wall.

While we rested and chatted away in the breaks between these cave stops, Sagar sir was already on the top of the next rock patch. The second cave is quite spacious. There’s a water cistern here and above this cistern is the rock patch that has to be climbed. Tt’s a hard problem to tackle.

Thankfully, there’s a permanent bolt drilled a the base of the second patch. Sir put in a quickdraw through that bolt. We would use this bolt and quickdraw as a hold, stretch our legs across the patch and try to hold another bolt that is drilled someway to the side and up the patch. Three of the people decided to stay back at this point since the patch was difficult.

Rest of us managed it. Tackling it involved a lot of powerful moves, maneuvers, and most importantly, verbal guidance and instructions from below (and in little Pranav’s case, a tug from the belayer too! :))

There we were now – on the top of the second rock patch, at the first of the high and narrowly cut steps. The steps are quite broken and not so easy to tread upon. After the stairs, there’s a last scree like patch after which you arrive at the top of the left Tail Baila wall.

By 1 0′ clock(i think), six of us were at the top. Sagar and Suresh sir, Anand, Girish sir, Pranav and myself. I was exhilarated. The 360degrees view was mind-blowing. I could see Sudhagad on one side. The plain around the Telbail walls descended into Konkan valleys. I hope Girish sir later showed his picture at the summit  to his daughter(proud dad that he was :))

My bare feet had started burning by now and after spending about 10 minutes on the top, we started the descent. Rappeling down, we were back at the notch by 2 pm.

Concluding Remarks:

1. Unlike lingana where one has to climb more through scree than rock, Tail Baila is all about rock climbing. It’s well known as a destination for beginners in the art. Precisely because the rock is so good for gripping and holding. At the same time, there is a certain thrill factor involved because of the vertical nature of the climb. I had an excellent time climbing the inner route of the left wall.
2. I was better prepared and didn’t commit mistakes  the way I had at Lingana. Of course, what I had to do here was relatively simpler…but still, my confidence level regarding the climbing techniques and roping mechanisms has increased a lot due to this climb.
3. I am always amazed to see my mentors: Suresh, Sagar, Sachin and Ravi sir bringing along complete novices on climbs as these. Not only do they encourage newbies on such adventures, they  also make them learn and at the same time ensure their safety to the utmost. Many thanks and kudos to these leaders for taking us along such wonderful journeys.
4. My respect for the Sahyadri mountains and what these ranges offer to us climbers has increased many folds over these last two climbs.

Wish me luck on my next climb 🙂