Adventure sports: Thrills and fun as climbers soar towards the sky

The second intra-NUST wall climbing competition results in a new record.

As a thrilling start to the new year, a intra-university wall climbing competition was held at the Ibex Club in Lake View Park. This was stated by a press release issued by National University of Science and Technology (NUST) on Tuesday.

A new record was set by Mir Manzar Ilahi of School of Mechanical & Manufacturing Engineering (SMME), who scaled the wall in 31.84 seconds.

Over a 100 participants from the H-12 campus, Army Medical College (AMC), Military College Signals and College of Electrical & Mechanical Engineering took part in the event with different categories for boys and girls. There were five positions up for grabs in each category and the event was organised by the NUST Adventure Club (NAC).

The event started with enthusiastic cheers and applause from the crowd as climbers tried to reach the top to qualify the first round. There was nervousness in the air as participants geared up and gazed at the sky-high wall. The audience clapped, hooted in awe as the participants made technical, jaw-dropping moves -- sometimes losing their footholds and then regaining control during the arduous climb.

For many, the encouragement below was the greatest shot of adrenaline. “It almost felt like flying without a plane,” said one of the participants. The climb was both physically and mentally challenging, one that tested the climber’s strength, endurance, agility and balance along with mental control.

After the qualifying round, the participants were treated to singing performances by Osama Khan and Omer Abdur Rehman from SMME and Rabia Sakhi from NUST Business School. The crowd enjoyed the multi-lingual singing of M Raza from AMC and Ali Hamza’s moves to the groove.

Lunch was served and the atmosphere was all set and charged up for the final round. Students from different school bucked up their participants for their last ascension. There was a fierce competition in the final round with some intense and swift moves as all participants tried to reach the top as fast as possible.

Published in The Express Tribune, January 4^th, 2012.