Mountaineering Courses- a metanoia

A traveller or tourist?
A student or working professional ?
A homemaker or business pro?
A trekking enthusiast or an athelete ?
Someone in your 20 or 30 ?

If you are any of the above or even beyond it and have ever stepped out of your home and left your comfort zones to reach out the magical world out there in the outdoors to put out the restless fire in you and now wondering where should your itchy feet step on ?
Then this is for you...
Or whether your friends call you a shiftless couchpotato or a lackadaisical 😉
Still its for you...

Why you should go for a mountaineering course ?
As much as you think that you can't trek or as much as you think you can.....you can't 😆. Because outdoors have never ending learnings and you can only end up learning new things every single day so....gear up !! NOW!!
Ahh..wait ..dont you wanna know how you can perform best when you go there? Then keep reading.

This course makes you stay out of your home and in the wilderness for around a month where you are always in touch with nature while going through a lot of physical ,mental ,emotional arduous heart breaking struggle on every step (Nope ..not true🤷🏼‍♂️ because you are happy that you're away from your everyday boring life and people and enjoying it with new amazing people😄 ).but yeah still you will go through a lot and that is what will make you a new being altogether, you will see the landscapes untouched, will get to know the importance of your life and health,  how grateful you should be for everything you have and take for granted like food, clothes , shelter,fresh air,sunlight and everything else and besides all this you get to face new challenges everyday like the weather , training, leeches (they are fun to be with😁).

Lets get to know what are mountaineering courses ?

Mountaineering courses teaches you basic technical skills which adds  on to your already near to perfect (not sure 😜) trekking skill. These courses have levels just like any other course you do , you start with Basic Mountaineering Course and if you manage to get an 'A' which is alpha grade then only you can apply for the next course which is Advance mountaineering course ,search and rescue and method of instruction.Basic courses are generally of 28 days (time to start buttering your bosses🤓)in every institute in india whereas advance courses vary from 27-32 days depending on which institute you choose to go for.the training is conducted by hardcore mountaineers and people from army backgrounds so they want to make sure you better be a good if not the best mountaineer when you get out of there

What "you" are going to learn there ?

Trekking:-you learn the basics of trekking how to ascend and descend on mountain surfaces and different kind of terrains.crossing rivers and streams are also taught with campsite selection and how to pitch a tent.

Artificial wall climbing-also called sports climbing where you learn to climb using different types of holds and learn which type of hold technique you need to use with your hands.

Rock craft-climbing on rock patches usimg various equipments and on various slopes with different types of techniques for e.g pitch climbing and fixed rope climbing.

Ice and snow craft-learning how to climb the icy patches on mountains using equipments like ice axe, ropes, ice pitons etc. And also how to ascend and descend on snow.

Rappelling-once you have learnt how to climb up now is the time to come down a slope using the technique which is called rappelling.we set an anchor first then we rapppel down using descenders and carabiners. Rappelling can also be done without descender using only body parts , you will know how once you get there.

Theory-apart from practical some theoretical sessions are also there like knowing about mountain features, weather, mountain terminology.

First Aid-some basics of first aid and treatment and prevention from high altitude sickness is provided.  Prevention of Cold injuries is something you wanna learn to survive in cold extreme conditions.

Navigation- a very important skill in outdoors to navigate through wilderness.you will get to learn the basics about how to read a contour map and find your way using the map and compass.

Weather- reading clouds and basic pattern of weather to make the most important decisions in outdoors.

Survival- basicsurviving and cooking skills in wilderness to go through worse conditions when in need with minimum items.

What you should do before you go ?

Its not like you knock on their door and they will welcome you with garlands and tikka. You need to book in advance ( 2 years at some institutes and some have less waiting period) before you go . This will give you enough time to prepare in advance which is the key to your perfection.you can research about various institutions which provide courses so that you can book according to time of the year suitable for you and distance you can reach. These institutes provide courses only pre-monsoon and post-monsoon seasons which is march-may and September-november.
First week of the course is spent in and around institute area and everyday we start our mornings with physical exercises so you better be prepared before you go.

Now lets talk the real thing...

If you really want to enjoy your time there and dont want to be involved in an affair only with the sleeping bag, its very important that you work hard on yourself before you go because then only its a heaven for you otherwise everything feels like hell (for real)👹👹.

1. You can start with some running and gradually increase your stamina or endurance.

2. Join a rock/sports climbing club like IMF,Climb central,boulder box etc. There are lot in almost every city to practice your climbing skills on a climbing wall.

3.look for some cardio and strength building exercises which will help improve your endurance.

4. You can also do light weight lifting so that its easy for you to carry and run with your rucksack.

Institutes where you can apply:-

1.Nehru Institute of Mountaineering,UTTARKASHI

2.Himalayan mountaineering institute,Darjeeling

3.National Institute of mountaineering and allied sports, Dirang, Arunachal pradesh

4.ABVIMAS,Manali

5.Jawahar institute of Mountaineering, pahalgam

6.IHCAE, Sikkim

Above all what matters is your attitude towards your learning there ,the instructors may not judge you on how you are performing but they will surely see how much effort you are making to do a task given to you. Your patience , discipline ,punctuality and your positive attitude these will make you climb any mountain of adversities in your life.

True dedication and sheer hardwork always have something to return to you ,i can bet that when you come out of there you wont be the same and everything else that you do in your day to day life you will look at it differently and will be able to do it with much more ease. Outdoors turns you into a leader it fills you with leadership qualities which you wont get anywhere else so you get to know what it means to be a leader.

So dont think too much...just do it because life is calling and you must follow the voice...