MANGALURU: It was fun and frolic as professional and amateur climbers tested their skills at India's first ever Deep Water Soloing (DWS) event at Varanashi Organic Farm near Vitla – 49 kms from Mangaluru - on Saturday. The two days event named 'Psicobloc India' commenced with a day long workshop on Dive Workshop followed by the deep water soloing where the climbers climbed a 28 feet wall erected near the pond.
The climbers' community namely the climbing gyms Fitrock Arena from Chennai and 'Let's Play Climbing' from Bengaluru have organised the event. Gaurav J from Lets Play Climbing said that this is the first an event of this sort is held while it is a common climbing method across European countries. In this method of Deep Water Soloing, the climbers don't use rope and take a free fall if they fail and after scaling up the height, he said.
Harsha Tej from Green Garage, another organizer, said that it is an adrenalin sport where the body and mind stay focused. Since it is first of its kind, the wall is kept simpler at 28 feet and the climbers are judged based on their speed in climbing as well as the duration to which they are holding on to the wall. The event is divided as a professional category for men and women and amateur category for men and women, he said.
According to organizers, they wanted to host the event in a place with lot of greenery and stress-free environment, hence chose Varanashi Organic Farms at Vitla in Dakshina Kannada district. Further, Gauri Varanashi, the professional climber from the family owning the farmhouse was also instrumental in bringing the event to Dakshina Kannada, they said.
Diving Coach, Partha Varanashi said that the event is open for public viewing on Sunday. “In fact, we want as many as local people to witness this event and get interested in climbing. The deep water soloing finals will be held from 3 pm to 6 pm on Sunday and interested people can watch it”, he added.