“The idea behind the mission is to put Odisha on the adventure map of the country besides instilling the values of team spirit, discipline and leadership among youths.”
In a unique move, the State Government has joined hands with Indian Mountaineering Foundation (IMF) to launch an expedition of youths to a Himalayan peak above 6,000 meters post monsoon next year.
The Department of Sports and Youth Services has collaborated with the Eastern Zonal Chapter of IMF, the apex body of all land-based adventure in India, for the mission which will be the first ever mountaineering expedition by the State.
Prior to the mission, three preparatory camps will be conducted to train the participants in different mountain skills and techniques of survival in adverse weather conditions in higher altitudes. The peak, 6000 metres and above, will be shortlisted after the preparatory camps are completed.
The mission will be funded by the Sports and Youth Services Department while IMF will provide the technical support. In fact, any such expedition necessitates adherence to guidelines prepared by the Foundation which also issues necessary permission. In the first leg, a trek to Sandakphu, located in West Bengal and at a height of 12,000 feet in the Eastern Himalayas, will be taken out for about 50 youths, both boys and girls including students, during the second fortnight of November this year.
It will be be followed by a five-day rock climbing training camp at Panchalingeswar Hills in Balasore during the last week of January next year. The participants, who will pass through the trekking and rock climbing camps, would be selected for a gruelling ice craft training camp on the glacier of the Himalayas in Sikkim near 16,400 ft high Guicha-La for a fortnight under the auspices of Indian Himalayan Centre For Adventure and Eco Tourism (IHCAE) at Chemchey during February-March 2016.
Later, a 15-member expedition team will be shortlisted after evaluation of performance and skills in the preparatory training camps.
The team will be sent for further training to different mountaineering institutes like Himalayan Mountaineering Institute, Darjeeling, National Institute of Mountaineering at Uttarkashi and Jawahar Institute of Mountaineering and Winter Sports at Pahalgam in the summer of 2016.
“The idea behind the camps is to prepare a mission team which meets all the technical parameters laid down by the IMF for taking out an expedition,” member of the Eastern Zone chapter Mr.Susant Das said.
Prasanta Patnaik