Move over cricket and football, children and adults of Springfield apartments on Sarjapur Road have a new sport to try their hands on. The apartment conclave has recently installed indoor rock climbing wall in the premises.

The 30 feet wall has holds arranged asymmetrically which climbers use to grip and climb. Rajat Bhargava, who is in charge of outdoor activities at Springfield says, "I wanted to introduce some unique out door activity and sport climbing seemed to be a good choice as it is an adventure sport."

Outback India, which promotes adventure sports, set up the wall and have assigned Senjam Debala Devi, Asian champion in sport climbing to be the trainer. The company plans to install such walls in the other apartment complexes as well. They participants are charged Rs 1250/- per month.

The wall was inaugurated on 26th January and it has been a hit with children flocking to take up the adventure sport. Mahanya Sreedhar of Outback India says that there are four batches for kids with a maximum intake of eight kids in each batch. "The response has been good and we have 32 kids and our intake is full now. We also have two batches for adults with six currently enrolled in it."

Sport climbing is an adventure sport and comes with a certain level of risk. Climbers are tied to a harness connected to a rope on one end and trainers are tied similarly on the other end so that they can support the climbers if they lose their grips. For the more advanced level, climbers use carabiners, metal loops, to hook themselves to holds on the wall thus not requiring someone to support them.

A young enthusiast learning the ropes of indoor rock climbing. Pic: Yograj Mudalgi

Rajat, whose eight year old daughter Avni is also one of the climbers, says, "Initially there was some concern by parents about safety but Outdoor India has assured that the equipment is of the same standards as used by the armed forces in their training. Also, having one of the best climbers in Asia as a trainer helped in allaying some of the fears."

Manisha, parent of eight year old Yash says they were not at all apprehensive as they were assured of the safety measures taken. "It’s nice to have a different sport for a change for the kids to play Yash is enjoying the sport so we are only happy to encourage him", added Manisha.

Rochana Dubey Mitra, whose six year old daughter, Naqsh, has been climbing since the age of four, says, "Naqsh is training competitively and before the wall was erected, she would train every week at Kanteerava Indoor Stadium. Now it is easier for her to train here as she can do it thrice a week.

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