Indian sport climbers ready to scale new heights

ByPress Release, SportsCafe Editor

04/22/2017

The addition of sport climbing to the 2020 Olympics roster is not only a big shot in the arm to the youngest and one of the fastest growing sports in the world but more importantly, to the Indian sport climbing athletes, who will now have a shot at representing India at the highest level of sports.

While India has enjoyed some success on the continental level with 4 medals won in the 2015 Asian Youth Mountaineering Championships, the gap in quality between Indian climbers and the best in the world is wide. Despite the talent and the desire to excel, climbers in India rue the fact that the sport’s impoverished ecosystem is an impediment to its growth.

To ensure that India is competitive at the global stage and with an objective of representation at Tokyo 2020, Girivihar, one of India’s oldest mountaineering clubs (a not-for profit trust), based out of Mumbai, along with Meraki Sport & Entertainment Pvt. Ltd. have put together a sport development plan #Vision2020.

As a part of #Vision2020 for sport climbing, eight athletes will undergo a comprehensive training camp in Europe, beginning the 25th April 2017. The 21-day program curated by Mr. Abhijit Burman, Chairman of the World Cup Organizing Committee along with IFSC’s (International Federation forSport Climbing) sport development team, will include both training and competing at promotional events in Italy and Slovenia.

Girivihar, will be bringing the Climbing World Cup (Bouldering) to India in June 2017 for the second year in succession. India hosted the World Cup for the first time in May 2016 and was in fact considered as the best world cup of the 2016 circuit.

While the (IMF) Indian Mountaineering Foundation, the apex body for regulation of Mountaineering in India and the host federation for the IFSC World Cup of Climbing have hand-picked the contingent for the training program, the entire expense for the camp is being funded by Girivihar, courtesy the grant received from TATA Trusts.

Shri Vijay Goel, MOS (I/C) for Ministry of Youth Affairs & Sports, Government of India, met with the Indian contingent at his residence and wished them luck ahead of their training camp. The Hon. Minister unveiled #Vision2020 and also welcomed the initiative to hold the IFSC World Cup of Climbing in June 2017.

Speaking at the occasion Shri. Goel said, “The camp will provide an ideal opportunity for our athletes to be exposed to the best training facilities and the promotional cup in Italy will be perfect warm-up going in to the World Cup in India. We are committed to making India a sporting nation and will continue to strive to create avenues for our elite athletes to perform better.”

With over 25 million people climbing regularly worldwide, the sport draws a diverse demographic of people from both rural/mountain areas as well as urban hubs. In recent years, IFSC has registered a 50% increase in the number of climbing gymnasiums across the globe, a trend mirrored in India with several international schools introducing climbing as a part of their curriculum.

President of Girivihar, Mr. Dilip Lagu reaffirmed the club’s commitment to the sport’s growth and said “Girivihar has been organizing promotional cups for over a decade now and have witnessed first-hand the tremendous increase in popularity of the sport, over the last 5 years. Support from entities like TATA Trusts & CIDCO (City and Industrial Development Corporation of Maharashtra Ltd) ensured that India hosted the first ever world cup of sport climbing in May 2016. We hope to have their continued support this year too and are confident that the 2017 edition will be bigger and better.”

Col HS Chauhan, President IMF, lauded the efforts of Girivihar & Meraki and thanked the Ministry of Youth Affairs & Sports for their continued support. “India has no shortage of talent and we see our role as a facilitator, giving our athletes an opportunity to rub shoulders with the world’s best by hosting the IFSC World Cup in India and through national & international training camps. Training with the best will prepare our athletes to become strong contenders across the IFSC circuit”, he said.

Having worked with Girivihar as the marketing partner to the IFSC World Cup of Climbing in 2016, Meraki Sport & Entertainment realized the sport’s potential and drafted a sport development keeping the Asian Games, Jakarta 2018 & Tokyo 2020 as key milestones. Elaborating on Meraki’s involvement, Mr. Kiran Khalap, Independent Director, Meraki Sport & Entertainment, said “Until now climbing was the only natural movement not represented at the Olympics. However, the sport’s inclusion at Tokyo 2020 has vindicated our belief in its potential as the sport of the future with a strong youth appeal. India has a very passionate, young, fitness conscious and emotionally connected climbing community. It is home to over 1500 climbing spots and a cumulative online community of 5, 00,000+ climbers. Its unique disposition of being an amateur sport with the ability to captivate audiences, makes it a compelling proposition for brands looking to engage with the youth via new experiences”

At the back of the launch on Friday, 21st April, Girivihar launched a crowd funding campaign to help fund the training of the athletes and the world cup. Mr. Dilip Lagu, President Girivihar said, “crowd funding is not only about securing funds but is also an effective way to reach out to the community at large. We are partnering with a credible platform like Bit Giving for the crowd funding campaign & we humbly request for everyone’s support to #HelpIndiaClimb.”

Indian sport climbers ready to scale new heights

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