Vertical Limit

“We are planning to start from the first week of August. Every month,we will conduct one activity,which could be either for a day or two days,all in and around Pune,” says Bhushan Harshe,a Giripremi volunteer who was part of the Everest expedition. “Of the 12 activities planned,three or four will be overnight stays.”

During these short expeditions,the participants — who will be divided in two batches,one for the 8-14 age group and the other for the 15-21 age group — will get hands-on training in a number of aspects of mountaineering.

“Mountaineering is a big domain. So they will be indulging in various activities such as rappelling,rock climbing and river crossing,” says Harshe. “Apart from that,we will also introduce them to the natural heritage of all the places we visit,and show them videos of international mountaineering expeditions. The idea is to give them exposure to mountaineering sports. Out of everyone who comes on our treks,if 10 per cent take up mountaineering seriously,it will be a big achievement for us.” Giripremi’s successful Everest ascent,Harshe says,should help them attract a large number of trekking afficionados.

“We had been conducting this for the last 5-6 years,but we couldn’t do it last year because of the Everest expedition. We’re back now,and we think it will be an extra attraction for people to enroll,since they will be training under someone who has climbed Everest,” he says.

“Generally,we have 50-60 who register,out of which 40 turn up for each activity. But this time,we hope that at least 100 turn up. And the whole package is priced nominally. Our registration fee is Rs 100,and then they will have to pay some amount for each trek — Rs 1,000 for any one activity.”

Those that complete the year-long course stands to gain extra brownie points for their efforts.

“At the end of the course,apart from the certificates we give them,we’ll also look to recommend them for one-month adventure courses at either the Nehru Institute of Mountaineering in Uttarkashi,the Himalayan Mountaineering Institute in Darjeeling or the Atal Behari Vajpayee Mountaineering Institute in Manali,” says Harshe.

“There,they’ll get to train for expeditions in snow and ice. And if we find someone who is extraordinarily brilliant at mountaineering,we could include him or her in our next Giripremi expedition.” But beyond these added incentives,Harshe says that the participants will discover mountaineering’s many personality-building aspects. “It boosts your self confidence and helps you gain leadership qualities and improve your decision making ability. You deal with challenges better and become more patient,” he says.

“You learn to help each other. This emerges when you are in the outdoors,and there is a difficult patch you have to cross,and you need the assistance of others,or you need to provide assistance to someone else so that the entire team gets there,” he added.