ARMY LAND ACTIVITIES

LAND ACTIVITIES

Mountaineering   The lure of mountains beckons the weather-beaten adventurers time and again. Mountaineering is the most popular adventure activity in the Army. After the first successful ascent of Mt Everest (8848m) in 2001 under the leadership of Brig K Kumar, AVSM, the Indian Army mountaineers have blazed a trail of kaleidoscopic achievements in this field. Our mountaineers summitted Annapurna-I (8091m) in 2002, both Everest & Lhotse (8516m) in 2003, Kanchenjunga (8586m) in 2004,an exclusive Army Women Expedition to Everest in 2005, Mt Cho Oyu in 2006, Dhaulagiri in 2009, Manaslu in 2010 and several other peaks in India. The Basic & Advanced mountaineering courses are conducted at Army Mountaineering Institute at the Siachen Base Camp. The Nehru Institute of Mountaineering (NIM) Uttarkashi and the Himalayan Mountaineering Institute (HMI) Darjeeling are two institutes which function directly under the aegis of MoD and offer vacancies to the Army in the Basic and Advanced Courses conducted by them every year. Trekking (including High Altitude Trek)   Curiosity - thy name is mankind. Exploring nooks and corners, fathoming the unfathomable, going deep in the caves, ravines and dense undergrowth, nearly always conjures up something challenging further endeavors. Besides providing thrills of exploring unknown areas, these activities also help in gaining valuable information on terrain. An hither-to-fore restricted place like siachen glacier has been opened for all citizens to explore in the form of annual civilian siachen trek. This trek is organized in the month of September every year since 2007. Motor Sports Cycles, motorcycles, four wheelers; name the vehicle and you will find rallyists from the Army in the forefront. A number of endurance feats mark their achievements. After being a regular participant in Himalayan Car Rallies, Army team had stopped taking part in car rallies. However, with Raid-de-Himalaya 2004, Indian Army has made a notable comeback in the field of Motorsports by winning overall trophy in both categories of four wheelers, many times over. Mountain Terrain Biking   MTB is a sport which translates the normal activity of cycling into the realms of adventure and takes the individual into the far reaches of the mountains. This sport involves extreme levels of alertness and expertise in handling of the bicycle, which in this case is a ruggedized model of the simple bicycle that we see on the streets. MTB Node at Raiwala is co-located with WWR Node where Army MTB Team is trained for various competition. Each Command HQ holds MTBs for enabling units under their jurisdiction to undertake this adventure activity. Currently, the Army teams hold the unique distinction of having won both Himachal and Kanchenjunga MTB championships, the two most prestigious events of repute. Land Yachting   Land Yachting is a fast evolving popular sport the world over. It involves the use of sails put on a 3 - wheeled craft to maneuver over flat stretches of ground. As a Pioneering step forward to introduce this sport in India the Army Adventure Wing has set up a Land Yachting node at Bhuj, Gujrat. Sport Climbing   The art of climbing natural rock faces has always attracted the enthusiastic trekker and the mountaineer. Over the years, to satiate the urge of climbers, artificial Rock climbing walls have been designed. These are specialized structures which offer varying levels of difficulty for the climbing sport. Distinct from rock climbing, this adventure sport is called ‘Sport Climbing’. Army Adventure Wing has a nodal centre for Sport Climbing at Wellington, being managed by the Madras Regimental Centre which conducts the Basic and Advanced courses.