New Delhi, Aug 18:
To provide a new dimension to mountaineering in the country, Indian Mountaineering Foundation has embarked on a unique project — Climbathan 2014 — in and around Bara Shigree glacier in Himachal Pradesh.
Col. H S Chauhan (Retd.), President of IMF and a veteran mountaineers himself, today said 50 upcoming climbers from different parts of India and from the neighbouring countries are now participating in its flagship Mountain Leadership Programme that aims to enhance the skill of a climber like their counterparts abroad, specially in Europe and America.
Chauhan said that these climbers would be there for three weeks, during which they would be fine tuning their critical skills needed to climb challenging mountains and mountain routes.
“Mountaineering as a sport is directionally moving towards climbers attempting technical routes and operating in small teams, which is also referred as alpine style climbing,” said Chauhan.
“To achieve success through this format as well as operate safely mountaineers need to be highly skilled to move in various type of terrain which includes rock, snow and ice. This is precisely the objective of Climbathan, which is intended to give participants the skills to operate comfortably and safely in complex mountain terrain. This would also go a long way to expand the sport of mountaineering in the country,” he explained.
Participants for this event are from 14 different states in India and several countries around the world.
The instructors, who are facilitating Climbathan 2014, are from various mountaineering schools in India including the Nehru Institute of Mountaineering at Uttarkashi, Himalayan Mountaineering Institute at Darjeeling, Sonam Gyatso Institute of Mountaineering at Gangtok, Atal Behari Vajpayee Institute of Mountaineering and Sports (ABVIMAS) in Manali.
The finale of the programme will see participants planning and leading a climb in small groups to one of the peaks in the Bara Shigri glacier. (PTI)
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