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Q& A
‘We have kept alive the flame of private mountaineering’
The Himalayan Club has turned 80. What are the highlights of the journey so far? Little of the Himalayas was known in 1928. The biggest impact of the club was opening the greater Himalayan ranges to climbs and mountaineering expeditions, a lot of climbs being done by its members. There was almost no or little logistics on the ground during the early years and the Himalayan Club was responsible for establishing them. This is the only international club that has members across five continents and is headquartered in India. It has kept alive the flame of private mountaineering. It’s one thing for government institutions to fund expeditions but the club has been in the forefront of private expeditions encouraging its members to explore remote regions. Geoffrey Corbett, Jack Gibson, Edmund Hillary, M S Kohli, Noel Odell, Eric Shipton, Frank Smythe, H W Tilman and Sir Francis Younghusband — an illustrious list of members. How have they shaped the club? In any era of mountain exploration and climbing, some of the leading European and American mountaineers have been our members, right from the 1920s all the way to the modern era, not to mention leading Indian climbers. A lot of those who do good climbing are Indian climbers. We are not a rich institution but we encourage people and the interchange between them keeps the club going. What are the immediate challenges facing the Himalayas? Mountaineers are constantly finding new ways of doing old things and finding new routes. The lower mountains, of which there are tens and thousands, provide hard and challenging climbing. Climbing these heights is more enjoyable. Conflict between the interests of the man and the needs of nature has forced us to minimise the human impact on a fragile environment. Mass pilgrimages too will have to be minimised. We should encourage sustainable development to mountain communities so that they can be in harmony with the surroundings, encourage horticulture and discourage over-pasturing, prevent destruction of roads and above all create jobs and skills so that the communities can sustain their living. And find a via media between human needs and mountain needs for preservation and conservation. How do you plan to celebrate? We are a small club — 1,100 members. We had a small function in Mumbai, a big celebration in Delhi with talk shows and film shows and token treks in Uttarkashi. Other sections will conduct their own celebrations, healthy exploration, and do environmentally responsible mountaineering and encourage younger people to go into the mountains. |
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