The changing face of mountaineering

The Himalayan Club, the umbrella organisation for mountaineering in India, is holding its annual seminar this weekend, with illustrious mountaineers giving talks about the different aspects of the sport. They hope to help initiate many novices and experts alike to new dimensions that are being explored, and not limit themselves to the attraction of Mount Everest.

We talked to some of their speakers, and got the lowdown on the seminar.

Divyesh Muni, a chartered accountant and the club's secretary, has scaled 30 Himalayan peaks. He said that the speakers will discuss the ecological toll that the sport has on the environment. Muni added: "I've been mountaineering from my school and college days, and each year, the difference in the landscape becomes alarmingly apparent. For instance, during an expedition on the Chong Kumdan in 2007, we had to deviate from the given course because it led through a glacier that had by then gotten dangerously thin, signally a direct effect of global warming."

Muni is well known for his exploratory climbs and was awarded the 'Excellence in Mountaineering Award' by the Indian Mountaineering Foundation. "We are trying to provide mountaineers in India with a place to explore and gain new perspectives, but we're also using it as a platform to create awareness about the environmental consciousness that needs to accompany the passion for the sport," he added.

To provide this perspective, they have two of the biggest names in the mountaineering, Lindsey Griffin and Tony Smythe.

Griffin, who has completed more than 60 ascents of remote peaks, is considered a revered authority on the sport, and was also one of the first to take to lightweight style, carrying only essentials instead of a bulky load.

He said that the sport is a changing ethic, adding: "Earlier, it was very rare for people to climb with a rucksack, but now people prefer to carry less. It's a great thing really because in many climbs, the faster you cover or cross a certain area the better it is, so you only carry the essentials."

Smythe will be talking about the conceptualisation of his book, "My Father, Frank." He has climbed over 50 mountains and made numerous climbs and expeditions on British rock and in the Alps, Eastern Europe and Russia, Canada and Alaska, South America and the Himalaya.

Speaking for the lot of commercial climbers is Dr Murad Lala, a practicing oncologist at Hinduja Hospital, who summited Mt Everest in 2013. Dr Lala, who has been involved in various sports like bungee jumping, sky-diving and para-sailing, said: "Many believe that only those who have been participating in these activities can climb Mt Everest, but I came in without any experience and only a few months of training."

The seminar is ongoing at Matunga, and will end this evening.