You can actually ‘shoot at sight’, build your own raft, go river crossing or even climb a wall,  all during a weekend and get back to  work on Monday. Gone are the days when adventure sports were confined to rock climbing, trekking and occasional river rafting. Today, the sports ranging from occasionally organised ‘bungi jumping’ to recent rage ‘paint ball’ (a sport of virtual combat) are steadily gaining popularity among the adventure lovers. The getaways and adventure packages are ‘in-things’ and ‘most happening’ among the youths.

“There are around 300 adventure clubs in Bangalore, who are associated with us,” said Mr Aejaz Ali A, Joint Director of Sports Authority of Karnataka, which provides adventure sports facilities through General Thimayya National Academy of Adventure (GHETHNAA).

But the private sector has not lagged behind. They have a very well packaged range of adventure sports for their customers. The sports include trekking, water sports, aero-sports, wall climbing and paintball. So far, bungi jumping has been organised more than five times in Bangalore with a huge success.

However, expensive sports like sky diving is missing from the Bangalore radar. The only popular aero-sports is parasailing. Though GHETHNAA offers microlite gliders, there are few takers for the sport. “Bangalore's landscape does not support these sports. Since they are expensive, very few people take them up,” says Mr Karthik of Nisarga, which offers parasailing facility near Hoskote.

“I feel that Bangalore is the best market for the adventure sports. The life is a mess here -- always caught in traffic jams, time constraint and stress. This is the best way for Bangaloreans to get rejuvenated and we are packaging it,” says Mr Praveen of Xtreme Zone, which organised bungi jumping twice.

Many professional adventure sports clubs take the services of GHETHNAA to organize camps, while corporate sector clients prefer private organisations. Most of the schools which encourage students to take up adventure sports also go with GHETHNAA. However, the up-market Corporate clients, who need perfect packaging does not mind shelling out extra bucks.

“Bangalore is a different market compared to Mumbai and Pune.  In Bangalore, it is group driven. A Bangalorean consults his/her friends and decides if the group can participate in the sport. Bangalore people are reluctant lot, when it comes to mixing up with strangers,” Mr Karthik said.

But this has not deterred Bangaloreans from taking up adventure sports. “When we organised bungi jumping, over 10,000 persons in the age group of 18-25 participated. We organise Getawayz in our camp near Manchanabele camp site or even in Hebbal, which is mainly taken up by the corporate crowd,” Mr Praveen noted.
Water sports lovers have to travel a bit. The nearest water rafting is available in Bheemeshwari, 90 km from the City.

 The best part of the sport is all about packaging it. “We have two permanent camps -- one near Manchanabele reservoir and another in Hebbal. If the group wants to get out of the City, we take them to Manchanabele. If they are short of time and want to experience some adventure sports, we offer a package in our Hebbal campus. We will ensure that the customers get the best food and at least four to five sports in the package,” says Mr Praveen.

GHETHNAA is not lagging behind private operators. “After our new Director-General Amar Kumar Pande took over, he is taking a lot of initiatives. We are upgrading our campus Ramanagaram and Badami to provide better services. We have 11 acres more near Hunsur, where we are planning to set up a camp for trekking, water sports and wildlife related activities,” Mr Aejaz said.

 But why do these activities lack visibility? “May be lack of media glare, but still they are popular,” says Mr Praveen.

“We run the business purely out of passion and we are forced to keep low tariff. Constant advertisement will further prick our pockets,” laughs Mr Praveen.

GHETHNAA spends over Rs 40 lakh every year.

WHAT IS PAINTBALL?
It is a team game gaining popularity and invading primetime across the world. It is a virtual combat or a modern version of hide and seek. The game is played between two teams, where specially attired participants have to shoot their opponent's team members with ‘paintballs’ till their frontier is conquered.

Xtreme zone offers the game both in Manchanabele camp and Hebbal cams. The Manchanabele camp paintball is call forest ball, as it is played in the open, amidst trees and rocks.

THE SPORTS THAT ARE AVAILABLE FOR BANGALOREANS