'Raw and honest': India climbers face obstacles in race to the top
Blink and you might miss Indian speed climber Deepu Mallesh scaling a wall five buses high in five seconds.Mallesh didn't win at the world championship in China this month, but at 5.39 seconds he set a national record in men's speed climbing.
A climber scaling a rock wall in the Indian state of Karnataka (Sajjad HUSSAIN) Blink and you might miss Indian speed climber Deepu Mallesh scaling a wall five buses high in five seconds. India, a country obsessed with cricket, has seen a surge in popularity in climbing but those who want to compete internationally have had to crowdfund and there is little government recognition or help. Some have had to quit the sport they love.
"What I like most about climbing is how raw and honest it is," said 28-year-old Mallesh, who has climbed for his country and dreams of being the first Indian climber to qualify for the Olympics. "It's just you, the wall and the clock. " Mallesh works part-time as a climbing instructor while pursuing his goal of reaching the 2028 Los Angeles Games.
"I have to somehow make some money. That is the only way for me to survive in this sport," he said. The Indian Mountaineering Foundation (IMF) estimates there are tens of thousands of people who sport-climb regularly, with more than a dozen climbing gyms opening in the last decade.
But the rise in those picking it up as a professional career is slow -- high costs and scarce sponsorship deals hold back many. There are about 3,500 climbers who compete across various levels in the country and among them, about 60 participate internationally annually. Mallesh didn't win at the world championship in China this month, but at 5.