Tree Top House in Bangalore

What do these logs of wood suggest?



Having a personal Tree Top House was never so easy. Mars has just finished building a Tree Top House in Koramangala, Bangalore.

The Tree Top House is made up of Casuarinas wood. The construction of the house was split in two parts, first creating the frame at the Mars Campsite and then assembling and erecting it, at the final place.

Ground work for the Tree Top House, at the campsite.





The Tree Top House has been erected in the spacious backyard of the house. The frame being assembled.



If you are interested in dimensions, then you would be amazed to read that the floor area measures 12ft x 14ft, that is more than enough for a Double bed, Sofa set and other luxuries. But, don’t turn the Tree Top House into a bedroom, let it be the place where you feel being part of nature.

It has a never-before-seen flooring. The flooring work in progress.



Well, the Tree Top House is built on four wooden pillars at the height of 8 feet from the ground. There is a jack fruit tree in the backyard as well, but it is still very young, not very strong. Jack Fruit tree has its own share of contribution to the Tree Top House, the tree goes right through the floor and through the roof of the Tree Top House.

Ladder work in progress.



The roof of the Tree Top House is rain proof, now you where to sip hot tea and eat spicy pakoras, isn’t it?


The Tree Top house can easily take load of up to 8 adults.

Now, Behold for the finished version of Tree Top House!!!





The interiors work is still in progress. Kamesh has some marvelous ideas for the interiors as well. Well, I can the see place being used in immense number of ways in future. Few being, a hangout place for kids, casual party place and place to do lots and lots of chit-chat for the ladies!!!!!!!!!

South Zone Climbing Competition 2009

15th South Zone Climbing Competition, held in Ooty between 27th and 29th Nov 2009 was superb, especially with amazing performances from Sub-Junior/Junior Boys and Girls.

It was a pure pleasure to watch these superstars climb.

First of all, the wall at Ooty.



MRC(Madras Regiment Centre) Artificial Climbing Wall at Wellington.



The wall has 2 faces for difficulty climbing and one face each for speed and ice climbing. Ice climbing face is the white one, don’t be confused be the real ice on the wall, it is a synthetic material which simulates ice behaviour.



Let’s start with the youngest climber at the Competition, Isha, aged 7. She is by far the best climber with not-to-give-up attitude.




Crossing the roof for sub-Juniors was indeed tricky.



Her elder sister, Anya.



Anya, at the roof.



Anil, in the Men’s category along with the Isha and Anya make a full climbing family.



Our Sub-Junior Rock Star, Nishanth. There is no route which is not possible for him. He secured first place in Sub-Junior boy’s category, sharing the prize with Bharath, another prodigal climber.



Nishanth at the roof.



A stunning morning at MRC.



The weather was perfect for the event, with clear sky and the bright sun, a very inviting prospect for the climbers. But some of the events held in the late evening were just ridiculous, when climbers had to climb on wet holds and dripping mist. This is not the way to test a climber’s potential.


I guess, this was the first time in India that a movable hold was used in Climbing competition. Ladies and Gentlemen, welcome the Bell Hold!!!!!!!!



It was placed right at centre of the roof, there was no way to cross the roof without using the bell hold. Only very few climbers could get the best of the hold. The bell handling more or less decided the Men’s difficulty category results.




Nishanth: First place in Lead Sub-Junior Boy’s category.



Utkarsh: First in Lead, second in speed and bouldering in Junior Boy’s category. Giraff climber.



Divya: First in Speed and Bouldering in Junior Girl’s category. Very inspiring climber.



Sachin: Third in Lead, Speed and Bouldering in Junior Boy’s category.



Purush: Second in Lead Men’s category, our deft Bell hold handler.



Kala: Second in Lead, Second in Speed and Third in Bouldering in Women’s category.



Speedster from MRC, no one even came close to Arunbaby on Men’s speed. All three places in Men’s speed were well deservedly secured by MRC folks. There are some really amazing climbers from MRC. With only 4 months of training, MRC secured 3 speed places and 1 bouldering place, that is very remarkable as compared to other Men's category participants which have been climbing for many years now. Hats off to MRC.



Mars Team at MRC, some of the members are missing as they had left early. All in all, a very good performance by Martians. Now they are all geared up for the National Climbing Competition to be held in Gwalior in last week of Jan 2010.



Nishant and Swaroop having fun time at Mysore.

Rappelling Performance at IWAS World Games 2009

Bangalore has the pleasure of organizing the International WheelChair and Amputee Sports World Games 2009 and Mars Adventures has the pleasure of delivering a thrilling rappelling performance at the Opening ceremony of the games on 24th Nov 2009(Tuesday).

Kanteerava Stadium is the host of the games.



Mars Adventures is performing a rappelling event at the opening ceremony which involves a rappel from the roof of the stadium to the chief guest dais and handing over the bouquet to the chief guests, Mr. B.S. Yeddyurappa and Mr H.D. Deve Gowda.

Nishanth and Divya are the brave performers.






The event is scheduled between 6 PM to 6:30PM Indian time. The opening ceremony will be telecasted live on DD1 and will be telecasted in 19 more countries as well.

Nishanth and Divya practicing for the event.






Catch the Martian Performance at the Kanteerava Stadium or live at DD1 between 6PM to 6:30PM on 24th Nov 2009(Tuesday).


Updated on 25th Nov 2009….

IWAS opening ceremony on 24th was indeed very colorful.



Nishanth and Divya ready for the event at a height of almost 80feets.



Finally, after a waiting period of 1 hour they got their chance to come down…

Divya



Nishanth



Both of them in synchronization



And concluding the performance by handing over the bouquet to the chief guest.



Well Done…

Outdoor Rustic Furniture at Mars Campsite

Man’s creation has no limits.



This is what you get when you want to stay close to nature and be creative at the same time!!!



Classic outdoor furniture made of Casuarinas wood. The strong casuarinas wood has given the furniture an extraordinary degree of strength and sturdiness. The furniture is ideal for an outdoor place/lawn and is maintenance free.



Well, it can act as a standalone table as well.



A furniture to sit on and enjoy the sun & the gentle breeze.....(only if rain god permits!!!)

Bouldering at Turahalli, Bangalore

Well, this ought to be the best kept secret in Bangalore. Turahalli is a place which is hardly 20 kms from the city centre.



The place is awesome for Bouldering, may be the best Bouldering site in India.



There are boulders all around and every boulder has all kinds of routes on it. Every grade is available here.



We started off with warmup on the easy routes.



Thankfully, we had reached the place at around 10AM, rocks were still not very hot and still dry enough to climb.



The first boulder itself, had so many routes on it that we ended up spending almost an hour there.



Boulders with lot of overhang section are the most difficult ones. And here they are in plenty.



Nagu, trying out.





Purush also gave it a shot.



Even the smallest boulder are full of fantastic moves.



The top of this boulder is not a flat surface but it has upwards slope. The slope can not be seen from this angle. :D





Turahalli is truly a Boulderer’s paradise. It is at a kissing distance away from Bangalore, rather it is should be correct to say that, it is within the city limits.

Just make sure that you don’t come here on a hot and sunny afternoon, which rarely happens :D

Keep Climbing...
By Neeraj Kumar