Cold Weather Apparel And Expedition Gear

 An author and native of Mussoorie, Uttarakhand, Stephen talks about a memoir about the mighty ranges. He explains the magic and charm of the mountains, the flora and fauna around it and why the range possibly has the greatest collection of them in a single area. As highlighted in the video, there are countless plants and animals, birds, and insects you possibly haven’t ever seen before.

 His memoir, Becoming a Mountain: Himalayan Journeys in Search of the Sacred and the Sublime received the Kekoo Naoroji Award for Himalayan Literature in 2015. His most recent work of fiction, In The Jungles of the Night: A Novel About Jim Corbett, was shortlisted for the DSC South Asian Literature Award in 2017. He was writer-in-residence at MIT for ten years, before which he directed the writing programme at the American University in Cairo. He is the founding director of the Mussoorie Mountain Festival.

 #Himalayas #LivingLandscape #Biodiversity #WildHimalaya #Nature #Mountains

 As much as the title of this clip puzzles, its content, as explained by Dr. Arun Nayak, should challenge every hiking junkie who fears the freezing conditions of this monster. It really is a challenge that shows that, even if one can’t manage to go to Everest, he/she can do a similar number of steps and cover the distance using ordinary staircase right at home. It is worth watching, especially with all the tips he employed to successfully complete the challenge.

 All through the competition we saw various creative routes but it went to another level when chief route setter Kory McAfee devised the final route for the “Mens bouldering finals”. It would have been a 7C difficulty grade - a true test of creativity & self-awareness. Crafty moves on punishing angles, intelligent leaps & falls kept everyone at the edge of their seats. A few athletes made the “Bonus” but none made the “Top”. “Rahul Patel” was the one athlete who came close to finishing this route but the “Top” remained out of reach.

 Pranav is a full-time apple farmer and mountaineer. He is gradually foraying into alpinism and ice climbing, trying to push the boundaries of the sport in the context of our country.

 Rawat comes from a family of farmers from Hatkoti Village in district Shimla, Himachal Pradesh. An engineering dropout, Pranav climbed mountains purely out of passion without any professional training. Subsequently, in 2012, he enrolled in and graduated from all the required mountaineering courses at Atal Bihari Vajpayee Institute of Mountaineering and Allied Sports (ABVIMAS) within one year. Today, in a little over 5 years, he has gained celebrity status within mountaineering circles and is highly looked upon by most professionals from the Indian circuit.

 He is currently working towards creating new avenues for people looking to explore the mountains, imparting the right set of skills and knowledge to such enthusiasts. He believes that before starting any journey in the mountains, people should learn to respect them and when faced with complications or crises, should know how to tackle them. Thus, the Mountain Self Sufficiency Course has been conceptualized by Rawat to promote independent trekking on a personal level. Rawat recently received sponsorship from Mountain Dew for an ice climbing project called “The Fall”, a path breaking documentary in the Indian alpine circuit that has won multiple awards at various movie screenings and has also been covered by renowned publications.

 Though an uplander at heart, he only started considering mountaineering as a profession in 2012, after giving up Aeronautical Engineering as a career option.

 As his pre-graduation journey took off, jaundice took a toll on him both physically and psychologically, thus leaving him disturbed and unfocused in life. Finally, in 2009, following a depressing six years of being victim to jaundice, he gave up formal education altogether, realizing his calling for the mountains instead.

 He weighed a total of 102 kg when he applied for the Basic Mountaineering Course at ABVIMAS in 2012. It was an uphill dare for him, bearing in mind the shape he was in back then, as compared to the rest of his batch mates. Having dealt with a lot of emotional and medical blows in life, he was low on confidence and had a cloud of negativity around him. Nevertheless, he went ahead with the course and completed it.

 After graduating from the Basic Mountaineering Course, he enrolled into the Advance Mountaineering Course, and subsequently into Method of Instruction (MOI) within the same year, where he was also titled Best Trainee of the Course from a batch of 57. He went on to assume the role of a visiting instructor at the Institute.

 In 2014, he was accepted into IMF’s Climbathon program, thus furthering his experience, skills and qualifications. This meant he could now lead semi-technical expeditions up to 6000 – 7000m peaks.

 He has now developed The Mountain Self Sufficiency Course to promote independent trekking on a personal level.

 Pranav is a very personal and intimate relationship with the mountains, believing the mountains heal him. In his own words, “If you remove the Himalayas from me, I’ll be lifeless.” According to him, every uphill hike brings him back a better human being than before. True to these words, the mountains are now Pranav’s second home. If found nowhere in the plains, he can be seen on the mountains discovering the inner-self and exploring new trails.

 He believes the mountains heal him. They teach him lessons of life that are not to be found in the everyday life of the plains. When he was having a bad time with his academics, it was the mountains which relieved him and showed him the way of life. Moreover, he is quite environmentally conscious mountaineer. He believes that the Himalayas should be kept clean to preserve their serenity. This has been the paramount inspiration behind the Mountain Self Sufficiency Course, where he educates hikers to leave nothing more than footprints on mountain trails. He openly professes that he chose this path not to prove himself or to make a name, but solely to grow as a person and experience life through the eyes of a mountaineer.

 Western Himalayan Traverse (Sep 2017) - 700km long journey of a solo mountaineer traversing through snow clad mountains, glaciers, high mountain passes, cold deserts and frozen lakes. A little traversed route, one which is varied in texture, topography and climate will be undertaken. Starting from the barren and beautiful land of Ladakh, across seven mountain passes, touching almost 19,000 ft and finally into the lush and verdant lesser Himalayas, the journey will close at Joshimath in Uttrakhand. The sojourn would ideally last 45 days, at an optimistic rate of 15km a day. Due to various uncertainties the plan was postponed to 2018.

 Eventually they started in August 2018, traversing from Ladakh to Nepal crossing 27 high altitude passes and covering a staggering 1022 kms in 47 days!

 “Not all those who wander are lost.” - J.R.R. Tolkien, The Fellowship of the Ring

IAS Officers

 “Wara Kharkongor, an educator in one of Meghalaya’s best schools–Pine Mount School has found her second home in Ladakh, Jammu and Kashmir. The teacher with a wonderfully animated personality has spent almost all her vacation days in the Northern state of India. Since 2009, Mrs. Kharkongor has been travelling to Ladakh annually with adventures that would fill any soul. Ever since she was a little girl, she had always had a fascination for mountains and dreamt of the mountains of Kazakhstan and the beautiful horses. Talking to TNT-The Northeast Today, she reminisces how immediately on getting up in the morning she would climb on top of the roof of her family home in Risa Colony. She felt at ease in open spaces and longed for them whenever indoors. She would climb tree tops in the nearby jungle and study there when she was just a young girl. She always felt at home in the midst of nature which is why her multiple journeys to Ladakh seem to naturally fit with her outdoorsy personality.” – The North East Today, 01 Sep 2017.

 Wara answered her calling back in 2009 and started backpacking & travelling in the North East region of India. She’s a teacher from Shillong, Meghalaya who broke free of her curriculum to chase the mountain energy. Embarking on easy destinations in the beginning she realised that her love for the mountains beckoned her to continue exploring. She continued to travel in the Himalayas & finally found Ladakh in 2015. She instantly knew that this is where she belonged & has since been traveling to the roof of India every year.

 She has now visited numerous remote villages in the high altitude cold desert thereby meeting the endangered Red Aryan race, the shepherdess of the glacier & had the opportunity to see the ice flowers (one very rare phenomenon).

 She stayed with the shepherdess Tsering in her village of Gya to experience her life of solitude in the high mountains. This experience showed her the extent of human endeavour to survive in the harsh & punishing environment. She came back with a new found respect towards life & people.

 Shepherdess of the glacier: A documentary by Stanzin Dorjai

 On a rock-strewn mountain, 5,000 meters high in the Himalayan region of Ladakh, lives shepherdess Tsering with her flock of 250 sheep and pashmina goats. The documentary follows Tsering’s solitary movements over a year, from her home village to the high plateaus where she acts as midwife to her goats, warms batteries on a cooking pot and occasionally sings to herself and the surrounding landscape. Her only access to events in the outside world is via a small transistor radio and she daily faces the troubling presence of wolves and a snow leopard. Having turned 40, Tsering now finds the pastoral life physically challenging, whilst climate change is endangering her livestock. Packed with stunning images of the Gya-Miru Valley, The Shepherdess of the Glaciers reveals the ancestral wisdom of those Ladakhi shepherds whose environment and livelihoods are under severe threat.

 Wara's been lucky to visit Siachen’s first battle ground (highest battleground in the world) & has done the Chadar Trek (one of the world’s top 10 treks). She recalls the time when on her Chadar trek the temperature had plummeted to -30 and she saw a few trekkers turn back because they were not geared up for the low temperature. This is where she realised the important of the right gear at the right time. Even when she was head to head with a melting waterfall, she remained fearless & reminisces on how warm the water was despite the freezing temperatures. She loves to travel alone & would be following her own quests into the high mountains of Ladakh in years to come.

 Wara's been lucky to visit Siachen’s first battle ground (highest battleground in the world) & has done the Chadar Trek (one of the world’s top 10 treks). She recalls the time when on her Chadar trek the temperature had plummeted to -30 and she saw a few trekkers turn back because they were not geared up for the low temperature. This is where she realised the important of the right gear at the right time. Even when she was head to head with a melting waterfall, she remained fearless & reminisces on how warm the water was despite the freezing temperatures. She loves to travel alone & would be following her own quests into the high mountains of Ladakh in years to come.

 Trek Kit had the opportunity to help her build her kit which would serve her well in her high altitude cold weather adventures. Wish her the best on all her upcoming adventures!!

 “One does not often realize the importance of right clothing when travelling. While warm and pleasant weather can be quite forgiving, cold and freezing weather can remind you of this fact quite harshly. This was proved apparent on my trip to Ladakh, in the month of January 2016, where temperatures were always sub-zero both day and dipping doubly at night.

 I was on the Chadar Trek when I saw a good number of trekkers turning back, unable to complete the trek. Reason being.... the unbearable cold in spite of their voluminous, thick, multi-layered clothing! Their clothing, it turned out, was not adequate enough for the extremely harsh & cold weather (-35 to -40 degree celsius on most nights) that this winter trek brought on. I was fortunate enough to be able to plod on in comparative comfort and not to turn back. Reason? Rab’s cold weather high altitude endurance clothing!

 On such trying occasions I realized, the right clothing - light but warm, absorbent yet insulating - is MANDATORY to make the trip not only doable but comfortable too. Leaving enough room to enjoy what nature has to offer in comfort & Confidence! I did not fear the nights. I did not fear the biting cold. I completed my trek! Thanks to RAB. I highly recommend it for anyone going on a cold climate travel.””

 Arjun is the third youngest Indian to climb Mt Everest and has achieved this feat at an age of 16 years, 11 months and 18 days. He broke the record set by Krushnaa Patil of Maharashtra who climbed the summit at the age of 19. Arjun Vajpai, Tshering Phinjo Sherpa and Nima Tshering Sherpa started from South Col (Camp IV 7950 m) at 10:24pm on 21 May and they reached the top of Mt. Everest at 06:33am (Kathmandu Time) on 22 May.

 On 20 May 2011, he became the youngest climber ever to summit Lhotse, aged 17 years, 11 months and 16 days. He also became the youngest to summit Manaslu on October 4, 2011 at 10 am.

 On October 14, 2015 Arjun Vajpai along with mountaineer Bhupesh Kumar created another history. They scaled an unexplored peak, 6,180 metres high, in Himachal's Spiti valley. They have named it Mt. Kalam in memory of late President of India APJ Abdul Kalam.

 In his fourth attempt he was able to scale Mt Makalu in 2016. Makalu is the fifth highest mountain in the world and the sixth most difficult to scale! He became the youngest Indian mountaineer to scale Mt Cho Oyu (8200 meters) accompanied with Pasang Norbu Sherpa and Lakpa Sherpa in the same year (2016).

 2017 was the first attempt at the mighty Kangchenjunga, India's highest and world's third highest Mountain. Kangchenjunga is also one of the most difficult 8000m peak. Unfortunately bad weather caught up with him and he had to turn back. He returned in 2018, determined to reach the summit and was successful! He became the youngest person in the world to summit six 8000+ meter mountains.