Experiences_At_NIM

Experiences at NIM (Nehru Institute of Mountaineering)

ಮಹೇಶನ ಅಹಲಧಕರ ಹಿಮಾಲಯ ಪ್ರವಾಸ ಕಥೆ.

History of NIM:

The Nehru Institute of Mountaineering was established at Uttarkashi on 14 Nov 1965 to honor the great desire of Pt. Jawahar Lal Nehru, the first Prime Minister of India, who was an ardent mountain lover. The proposal to have Mountaineering Institute at Uttarkashi was mooted by the Ministry of Defense, Govt. of India and Govt. of U.P. in 1964.

Introduction on NIM:

NIM has completed 40 years of existence. Training Mountaineers has always been raised deter of this Institute. Over the years, thousands of Indians and hundreds of Foreigners have passed through the portals of this great Institution. The aim of the Institute is to introduce and initiate young men, women and school children to the mountains and nature through its various Mountaineering and Adventure training courses. Special emphasis is laid on instilling the concept of Adventure sports, without causing environmental degradation.

Experience:

We were asked to prepare for the physical training a month before we reach the institute. However on commencement of the course on 20th October, we all realized that nothing would have prepared us for what we were to face in the coming 28 days. Wake-up at 4 in the morning, assemble for physical training at 5 am and a hectic schedule for the entire day filled with lecture sessions, artificial wall climbing training, tent pitching training, long treks, et’ all!

The physical and emotional stress and fatigue I experienced at this juncture was the most, since the typical army routine, sleeping on a bunk bed, living a army disciplined lifestyle was very new to me, It was only later on I found that even the army guys were feeling the same as we civilians.

So we began with the first phase of the training: Rock Craft, for which we walked the entire stretch of 11 km from the NIM campus to Tekhla, the rock climbing zone carrying around a weight of 15Kgs. The most adventurous aspect of this phase was climbing up 40m high rocks and then rappelling down the same.

This was followed by most memorable trek of 18days into the mountains carrying the 25Kg rucksack filled with all equipments hardly left any space for a pair of clothing. Trek starting from 4000ft and covering up to 18,000ft – Droupadi ka Dhanda Peak.

It sounds like a great achievement now, but at that moment we were all humbled by the beauty of the places we passed by, with beautiful rhododendrons, buttercups, marshmarygolds and other colorful flowers inviting us to their humble abode. Walking through valleys of flowers, with snow carpeted mountains, crossing crystal clear streams and hearing the gurgling waters, was such a pleasure, it compensated for the tough journey and heavy luggage, giving us all a sense of calm and contentment.

In the mountains second phase of Ice craft in the Dokriani Bamak glacier.

More importantly, many of our instructors gave us detailed stories of their experiences on mountains like Nanda Devi and Everest. For all the Army Expeditions NIM instructors have been the rescue team…saving lots of people putting their life in risk…Head’s off. Mr. Neel Chand that once on the Everest, due to lack of anchors for pitching a tent, someone had used a dead body as an anchor for their tent, and he actually saw that! It just shows that even though the mountains can be very beautiful, they can also be very ruthless!

From Base camp we proceeded to Advance Base Camp, at a height of 13,400 feet and also to the third and last phase of our course: Snow Craft. We were taught basics of Map reading and navigation using compass in the mountains. We stood second in the treasure hunt using these maps in the mountains hard to compete the army guys who stood first. As all serious courses this one also had a written test in the last…Ahh here civilians stood way top to army guys…also looks pity.

The day arrived when we were to return back to the NIM campus hiked back from base camp to road head the euphoria on everyone’s faces on seeing the buses, a sign of civilization after 17 days of living like nomads, was worth seeing!

The entire course, though very tough, was unique and sometimes funny too. From living in tents for 17 days, laughing and crying with team mates at the same time, to attending to nature calls amidst nature! It all makes me think that to experience adventure and beauty; one has to scale the heights of experience to experience extremes. Got to experience "Wall climbing" on the International standard type walls for Asian Games.

~MachoNirvana