Hurdles on the Way Up

More Hurdles

Virgin Peaks

Treacherous glaciers, vertical rock faces, steep ice walls and the sheer thrill of climbing...think mountain adventure and you think India? Unfortunately not. In fact, though India has the longest stretch of the Himalayas, we have lost out to neighbours Nepal, Pakistan and China when it comes to the eight-thousanders (8,000-ers) — or the world’s 14 tallest independent mountains.Only Kangchenjunga (8,586 m) is located in India. But that too cannot be climbed from here because it has been declared a sacred peak by the Sikkim government. But it’s not only the absence of the star 8,000-ers that is keeping the serious mountaineers and adventure tourists away from India.There are bureaucratic issues such as permits and the special X visas which are required for mountaineering expeditions to peaks which are not classified as open. In fact, excessive red tape is often a far bigger reason for keeping the global mountaineering community away from India rather than the absence of the challenging terrain.India has a wealth of unclimbed peaks in the 6,000-m range — Nanda Devi East, Kamet, Abi Gamin, Satopanth, Saser Kangri, Thalay Sagar and Shivling — with roads pushed further into the Himalayas than other countries, making them accessible to mountaineers on short breaks, says British mountaineer Mick Fowler, who plans an expedition here later this year. He and his teammates have started applying for permits, making 11 copies of bio-data forms, route plans and lists of all equipment that they will bring to India.“India still has the maximum number of unclimbed and technically challenging peaks in the world in east Karakoram and Garhwal regions. International climbers find these very exciting but often shy away because of the amount of paperwork,” says Yangdu Gombu, who runs Rimo Expeditions.The extra royalties that these states have levied have hit the number of mountaineering expeditions in a big way. According to figures from IMF, the number of expeditions to Uttarakhand dropped from 73 in 2002 to just 36 in 2011. In Sikkim, the drop has been nearly 50% over the past 10 years.Added to the administrative issues are the additional charges levied on foreign mountaineering expeditions by the state governments of Sikkim and Uttarakhand. These fees depend on the number of members in an expedition and have to be paid over and above the peak charges to the Indian Mountaineering Foundation (IMF), the apex body that supports expeditions for mountaineering, skiing, rock climbing and trekking at high altitudes in India.The good news is that the ministry of tourism, IMF and Adventure Tour Operators Association of India have come together to promote Brand Himalayas as part of the Incredible India campaign. “We have declared about 214 mountains as speed-track peaks for which clearances are given very quickly and X visas are not required. Besides, the Indian Himalayas also have at least 1,000 unrestricted peaks which have been identified as trekking peaks. Efforts are on to promote trekking as an adventure tourism activity in a big way,” says Amit Chowdhury, honorary secretary, IMF.The ministry has identified Himalayan tourism as the new focus area on the lines of yoga tourism and medical tourism. “Over the next few months the government is set to unveil brand campaigns for the Himalayas highlighting certain areas such as Ladakh. The best way forward is to allow expeditions to go as deep as possible into the Himalayas and explore new areas such as east Karakoram,” says Mandip Singh Soin, managing director of adventure tour operator Ibex Expeditions . Currently, the annual turnover from adventure tourism in the Himalayas is estimated at about Rs 700 crore, less than 10% of the total revenue generated from tourism in India.While the 8,000-ers are a big draw among the world’s top mountaineers, many of them are attracted to India too. “The potential for mountain recreation and tourism in India is tremendous and should be linked to sustainable development for rural communities in the mountain regions. An example is the Sikkim government’s introduction of a new category called alpine peaks,” says Roger Payne, an internationally known mountain guide and mountaineer, who along with his wife Julie-Ann Clyma, has done many tough and first ascents in the Sikkim Himalayas.