It took 29th May, 1953, when Tenzing Norgay and Sir Edmund Hillary scaled Mt Everest, to propel mountaineering as a formal discipline in India. And like many other visionary initiatives in India, this one too, came from Jawahar Lal Nehru, the first Prime Minister of India and a great mountain lover. HMI was established on 4th November, 1954 at Darjeeling, the hub of all mountaineering activity in India. Major Jayal was the first Principal of the institute and Tenzing Norgay the first Director of Field Training. Today the Principal is Colonel H S Chauhan and the Director Field Training is Padmabhushan Nawang Gombu, the first man in the world to have scaled Mt Everest twice. The Deputy Director Field Training is the highly respected Dorje Lahtoo, another Everester and also a recipient of the prestigious Tenzing Norgay award for his contribution to mountaineering. Today, HMI boasts four instructors, who have scaled Mt Everest.
HMI started at what was called the Roy Villa on Lebong Cart Road and moved to its present location at 6,800 feet above sea level in 1959. With its commanding views of the Kangchenjunga massif and its quiet and somewhat regal isolation, it became a tourist attraction as well. It remains the most notable landmark on a spur of Birch Hill, called Jawahar Parbat.
HMI is an autonomous institution, governed by an executive council headed by the Defence Minister as President of the council. The Chief Minister of West Bengal, is the Vice President. Other members include eminent mountaineers and representatives of the governments of Nepal and Bhutan.
The institute has three wings. A training wing including a medical officer as well. The museum wing with two museums - the mountaineering museum and the Everest museum, which often screen films on mountaineering. The administrative wing responsible for administration, hostel, records and accounts.
TRAINING COURSES
The courses are all conducted in the Kangchenjunga region. (a) Basic Mountaineering Course - 28 days - Rathong Glacier. This involves five days at Darjeeling with rock climbing practice and short treks with easy climbs with loads and map reading etc., six days of trekking to the HMI Base camp at Chaurikhang (altitude 14,600 feet) in Sikkim (a 60 km trek) with 20 kgs load; field training at Base camp, with rock climbing, snow, glacier, ice craft and crevasse rescue and a climb to 18,000 feet.
| Here's the follow-up discussion on this article: | View all related messages |
For a complete listing of article comments, questions, and other discussions related to Ashish Kaul's Himalayas topic, please visit the Discussions page.