For those daredevil wannabe trekkers, who fear climbing a hill, here is an easy way. City based adventure specialist has come out with a novel technique to train school children and young kids in rock climbing to inculcate a passion in them for adventure sports.
An automobile engineer, Satish Babu, who runs his four-wheeler workshop in Visveswaranagar here has designed and developed a mobile wall for sports climbing. The wall is built on a Tata Mobile vehicle. The 6 ft width wall can be dismantled and assembled at a height of 20 ft or upto 30 ft. Babu can install the wall anywhere - in schools and open grounds and train children in trekking, rock climbing and teach the art of adventure sports. According to the designer, children can climb this wall in three faces.
There are holds fixed on the wall which helps students to go for lead climbing (to trek with support of holds). It also has facility to drop rope from the top to practice for speed climbing. The wall can be dismantled at every five ft. Hence, the moving wall can also be used for bouldering, he says.
“Though, we have static walls like one installed in Chamundivihar stadium, nowhere in India a a dynamic or mobile wall is designed. I invested about Rs two lakh. My objective is to promote adventure sports among the children,” adds Satish, who has worked as a rock climbing and parasailing instructor at General Thimmaiah National Adventure Academy in Bangalore.
And, what prompted him to take this project is the fear among the children and also parents to go for rock climbing on hills. Normally, the schools also fear taking large groups of children to such destinations. A practice on a wall like this will improve children's’ confidence. It also helps improve concentration of child and make them physically strong, he says. Interestingly, his wife Rani Thrayambike is also an adventure and karate instructor.
“It has been a year I developed this model and there has been a good response. Children in four schools have scaled the mobile wall,” he said adding that some more modifications will be done in the wall in the coming days to make it more adventurous.
Satish who also teaches swimming and parasailing says he would like to give the experience of rock climbing for all school children, including that of Government schools in city and rural areas if there are any sponsorers for it. He has actively partnered with Youth Hostel Association of India and the Rotary club for the promotion of adventure sports so far.