Dubai students scale new heights in the Himalayas

Dubai students scale new heights in the Himalayas - Supplied photo

21 students and 2 teachers of JSS International School, Dubai, went for a 15 day ‘Special Adventure Course’ from 12th to 27th March 2015, at the Himalayan Mountaineering Institute (HMI), Darjeeling.

Located in Darjeeling – The queen of the Hills, Himalayan Mountaineering Institute was founded in 1954 with the intention of channelizing the energy of youth towards the constructive field of mountaineering.

The team was trained by three everesters – Mr. Ngodup Bhutia, the course Director who has many successful expeditions to his credit, including the 2012 Everest expedition; Mr. Kushang Sherpa, who has scaled the Everest five times and holds the world record for scaling the Everest from all the three faces; Mr. Pawel Sharma, the first Indian to climb Mt. Macalu, has his name registered in the Limca Book of World Records and was a member of the 2012 Everest expedition.

The students were divided into four patrols, each led by a leader and an instructor. During the first week of the course, a wide range of activities were scheduled for the students that included rock climbing and rappelling, indoor and outdoor artificial rock climbing, obstacle course etc.

The morning PT which comprised of a 4km jog and stretching exercises geared up everyone for the challenges ahead. There were also sessions on mountain manners, mountaineering equipment and rope knots among other things.

During the second week, the team trekked a distance of 105 km in 7 days. They started at HMI and trekked to Garibans and then to Sandakphu, which was at an altitude of 12000 feet above sea level. The night temperature was -7°C and there was snow. The sunrise was a beautiful sight.

“With the clouds beneath us, we felt like gods, we were literally on cloud nine,” said one of the students. The trek from Sandakphu to Rimbick was a difficult one. From Rimbick, they set off to Kainjaley and Goke. At Goke, the students had an extempore speech competition. 23rd March was another exciting day as the students looked forward to the trek to Singla. They camped in tents for two days.

They were involved in a series of activities at Singla that included a cooking competition, cross country race and watermanship training. They rappelled down the bridge across the river Chota Rangit, did downward traverse and kayaking.

The next day, they trekked uphill along scenic tea gardens back to HMI. Various competitions were scheduled for the next two days like debate competition on ‘Tourism should be encouraged in the Himalayas’, indoor rock climbing competition and obstacle race.

On the 27th March 2015, there was the graduation ceremony, where each of the members received their badges and certificates. The ceremony culminated with the clicking of the group photo.

That afternoon, the team visited Hayden Hall, Darjeeling to distribute the gifts that they carried for under privileged children. Hayden Hall is a centre that works on empowering women and provides support to children by conducting free after school classes.

Our students were overwhelmed by the happiness they saw in the eyes of the children as they received their gifts.

True to the words of Ben Carson, ‘Happiness doesn’t result from what we get, but from what we give’. The students said, “We are glad for being the reason behind their smile and those smiles will be etched in our minds forever”.

As someone rightly said, the trip has brought the team closer together, even as it took them away from home, away from their comfort zones into an area they had never explored. The encouragement and training provided at HMI kept them focused on the tasks and motivated them to go one step beyond what they thought was possible.

The course helped them discover themselves and their strengths and weaknesses. It gave them an opportunity to see life through an entirely different lens. In one word, the trip was life-changing.
“Besides the fun, we learnt discipline – how to plan and manage our day and time. And we learnt it the fun way” said Joshua, a student of 11A.

The mantra of the mountains is ‘leave nothing but footprints, take nothing but memories’ and each of them has great memories from the trip that will be treasured for a lifetime.

All in all, the trip was educative, entertaining and absolutely refreshing – to say the least.