There are times when people walk into your life as an indication or motivation to do something which you had never imagined of doing before. I am blessed with such people who always connect me with new things to try and push my limits further.
That's how the idea of joining a Basic Mountaineering Course came into my mind. Next was finding a place to get enrolled, which ended up being Jawahar Institute of Mountaineering & winter sports at Sonmarg, Kashmir.
Even though I mostly do not plan travels, this one was thought of before the Solo cycling tour I did from Jaipur to Kanyakumari, as seats go booked months before the batches start with the limited number of seats offered.
It all started with people coming from different walks of their lives meeting sharing the bond with the rope.
I landed in Kashmir with Abhishek and met others at the Srinagar airport that was when we came to know about the on going curfew in Jammu & Kashmir. The curfew was the result of riots and threats of stone pelting accompanied it. Even then, with our hearts strong, somehow we left for the institute arranging a ride uphill and got dropped under the stars where the JIM & WS base camp was - "a million star base camp".
Turned out, I was destined to share the tent with the same group of people I traveled with, our bond being named "Tent - 3".
Tent - 3
All the crazy, shot heads, knowledge sharing, caring people came together.
Physical training included Running, Bent position( Push-ups ), Mithe kadam ( slow running ).
We learnt Rock climbing at H.A.W.S training ground which was indeed a great experience. Unfortunately we couldn't enjoy it more because of time constraints but, seeing HAWS was more than enough. But I guess I succeeded climbing the mountains within myself, which is more important than climbing a rock face.
Next was Snow craft in which we learnt glacier march and cleaning snow patches with the use of ice axe.
I loved the endurance part the most and felt fortunate to be part of Tent -3.
On the result day I got the "Best student award" which was quite surprising for me.
when your focus is on hard work and not just the fruit, it surely comes bigger.
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