Risky weekend at the vertical wall of Gunung Parang

Text and photos by Tantyo Bangun

PURWAKARTA, West Java (JP): "It's okay. To die here, or on the street, it's all the same to me," said Rama, removing his safety rope and walking along the edge of a Gunung Parang terrace in Purwakarta, West Java.

Less than half a meter away the edge of the mountain drops 200 meters.

We stretch our arms and legs on the terrace having strained them using the jummar (an ascender) to get to where we are.

Here, we are away from the strains and stresses of Jakarta, ready to tackle a natural high kind of a tension between the andesite fissures of Gunung Parang.

Rock climbing is not for everyone.

This kind of sport only suits the brave, and those ready to risk death.

Here, at Citatah rock wall, Sandy Febrianto -- one of Indonesia's best climbers -- died as he and his partner Jati Pranoto were opening the first free-climbing route at Gunung Parang several years ago.

Gunung Parang is one of the birthplaces of rock climbing in Indonesia.

Youthful spirits looking for a challenge will find Gunung Parang, the marble cliff area of Citatah in Padalarang, and the limestone cliff of Ciampea in Bogor, good places to meet a challenge.

Harry Sulisztiarto and his Bandung-based group, Skygers, have made Gunung Parang a well-known and popular place for Indonesian climbers to prove their toughness.

The popular cliff is a witness to carelessness, indifference and bad luck.

It can tell many stories of broken arms, broken fingers, and even of loss of life.

But these awful stories don't daunt climbers. They are ready to risk all to conquer the mountain.

If they fail, they face the worst. If they succeed, they won't get any applause.

No. There is no audience. There is only us, nature and God.