PUNE: A lot many people in the city are reaching dizzying heights, quite literally. They are scaling peaks and aiming for the sky. Spurred on by success, many youngsters are competing in several Asian championships.In fact, the top two-ranked climbers in the country in the junior category — Sahil Khan and Ameya Lambat — are from Pune. The Asian Championships for children, in Bangkok, has eight representatives from India. Of them, five are from Pune.Senior mountaineer Umesh Zirpe attributed the rise in popularity of the sport in the city to awareness, availability of practice facilities and initiatives undertaken by schools in the city. “Even with the current infrastructure, which is not yet the best, children are doing very well at the international level. If we can provide top class facilities, then climbers from Pune will be on the world map. The community is growing at a very fast pace and what is worth appreciating is that parents are not hesitating to encourage children take up the niche sport,” said Zirpe.The Guardian Giripremi Institute of Mountaineering has been involved in providing infrastructure to various institutes in Pune and Pimpri Chinchwad. It has set up climbing walls in three schools.In fact, the city boasts of six professional climbing facilities, probably more than anywhere else in the country. Experts contend that the community of climbers is likely to grow bigger in Pune as we approach the 2020 Olympics. Climbing has been included as a sport in the 2020 Tokyo Olympics.

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