Mountaineering Course, India (NIM)

The course officially began the next day, so this one was mostly arrival, registration, payment and initial instructions. NIM takes foreign students on the BMC, but most of the teaching runs in Hindi and the instructors' English varies a great deal. Only once I reached the campus did I understand how much that was going to shape the coming four weeks. I had built a large part of my trip around this course, so there was a slightly strange moment when it finally started. It became clear quickly that the real schedule starts early too: on training days wake-up was 05:30, and by 06:20 the morning routine was already under way. Music, lights, students who had come from all over the country — and within a few minutes it was obvious this was not going to be a holiday camp. In the official schedule: reception and course briefing.

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After a 05:30 wake-up, at 06:20 we started with warm-ups, stretching and physical training — a routine that would repeat almost every day. Then we were split into "ropes": fixed groups of about seven students with an instructor. At NIM the rope is not just a study group; these are the people you train with, eat with, climb with, and later live alongside in the mountain camp. In the afternoon we had a medical check and were issued our equipment. Every item was recorded and signed for separately: rucksack, clothing, rock gear, snow and ice gear, and ice axes. Before the issue we were also taught how to pack a rucksack properly — where to put the weight, what has to stay reachable, and how to make a heavy pack sit correctly on the body across a full day. We closed the day with a lesson on conduct in the mountains: safety, treatment of the environment, behaviour in camp, and respect for people and place. NIM's disciplined character was noticeable from the first day — the days are long, dense, and planned almost to the minute. In the official schedule: warm-up and stretching · physical training · division into rope teams · administrative talk and introduction of the instructors · tour of the campus and museum · introduction to equipment and rucksack packing · medical check and equipment issue · mountain manners and customs.

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For the first time we went out with the equipment we had been issued. The walk uphill was both training and a genuine kit check: seeing that the boots and pack sat well, starting to get used to the weight, and feeling how the body responds to the load. Then we entered the world of ropes: rope types, coiling and carrying, basic knots, and how to tie in correctly as part of a rope team. There was also a lecture on the Himalaya — its structure and its different regions — and a first-aid lesson focused on the situations you actually meet in the mountains. By this stage it was already clear to me that the course is far more than "learning to climb". NIM is trying to build a complete base: movement, ropes, camp craft, medicine, navigation, and an understanding of the environment you are working in. In the official schedule: uphill walk · introduction to ropes and rope coiling · knots and tying in · lecture on the Himalaya · first aid · pitching tents · shopping briefing and trip to the market.

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We walked out to Tekhla, NIM's rock training area. The walk there was about 10 km, and it was as much part of the training as the climbing itself. Every day we returned to Tekhla we gradually added more equipment and weight to the packs, to accustom the body to carrying a bigger load and prepare us for the weight we would have to carry in the mountain phase. Only after the walk in, with the gear on our backs, did we reach the crag and start the climbing day. On the rock we started from the basics: holds, footwork, bouldering and chimney climbing — moving inside a wide cleft in the rock, the body working against both sides to create pressure and friction. We also began working on anchors and on belaying, meaning control of the rope in a way that lets you hold a climber's fall. The knots, which until now had mostly been lecture material, started becoming something you have to do without thinking too much. Later in the course you are tested on them, and the aim is not only to recognise a knot but to tie it correctly, quickly, and in the situation where you actually need it. In the official schedule: trek to Tekhla · principles of rock climbing, holds and chimney climbing · bouldering and rock climbing · anchors and belaying · rappelling · weather.

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Having learned the knots, we started using them inside real systems. We practised anchors — strong points to which the rope system is attached — belaying a climber, and rappelling, meaning a controlled descent along a rope using friction. Alongside that, the medical side of working in the cold began. We had a lecture on hypothermia and later on cold injuries. This is not side material: before moving to a high camp and onto ice, you need to know how to recognise when the body is starting to get into trouble, and how to stop it before a small problem becomes a serious one. In the official schedule: crossing to the riverbank · lecture on hypothermia · anchors, belaying and rappelling in the Tekhla area · knots · cold injuries.

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This was the day I had been waiting for: a day of sport climbing on campus. We worked in the Pine Bowl — NIM's open climbing area, where the artificial climbing wall is — and also in the covered climbing area. We did bouldering and lead climbing. On lead the climber goes up first and clips the rope into the protection points along the route, so you have to manage both the climbing and the rope while moving. Then we moved to map reading and navigation. For me this was more familiar material, but it was interesting to see how the same principles are taught here in a mountain context and in NIM's own language. At the end of the day we started getting seriously organised for the mountain phase: fitting crampons to boots, checking equipment and making final exchanges. Crampons are metal frames with spikes that attach to the boot and give grip on hard snow and ice. At this stage every small detail matters — once you go up to the remote camp, there is nowhere to swap gear if something does not sit properly. In the official schedule: physical training · sport climbing in the Pine Bowl · practical climbing indoors and outdoors · equipment exchange and crampon fitting · map reading.

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We went down to the riverbank to practise crossing a mountain stream. We learned several ways to get a person or a group through moving water, using correct body position, working together, and a rope where needed. It is not the first thing you think of when someone says "mountaineering", but on the way to remote camps and routes a river can become a serious obstacle too. In the afternoon we returned to technical material: rock terminology, more equipment fitting, and a lecture on acclimatization. Acclimatization is the body's gradual adaptation to altitude and to less available oxygen. Later this would stop being a lecture concept — it would decide in practice how fast we could go up and how we would feel in camp. In the official schedule: preparation for mountain stream crossing · practical crossing at the riverbank · rock terminology · equipment exchange and crampon fitting · acclimatization · instructional film.

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We went back to Tekhla for another climbing day, including a long route, and then moved to one of the skills most associated with high-altitude mountaineering: movement on fixed rope. A fixed rope is a rope anchored in advance along a section of rock, snow or ice, so that you can move along it safely on steep or dangerous ground. We learned to ascend it with a Jumar — a mechanical ascender that locks on the rope when loaded and slides when pushed upward. You see this system again and again on high routes across the Himalaya, and for me this was the moment the crag training started genuinely connecting to the world of high-altitude climbing. After that we moved to camp hygiene and sanitation, and to the history of Indian mountaineering. When dozens of people live for weeks in a remote camp, water, waste, toilets and cleanliness are not a matter of comfort — they are part of everyone's safety. In the official schedule: trek to Tekhla · rock climbing, anchors, belaying, rappelling and a long route · fixed rope · history of Indian mountaineering · camp hygiene and sanitation.

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Another day in the Tekhla area. This time we also practised body rappelling — a descent where the rope passes around the body itself to create the friction, without a modern descending device. It is not the way I would choose with a full rack available, but it makes you understand very quickly what friction does and how control of the rope actually works. We carried on practising ascending with the Jumar, and then rain cut the training short and sent us back to base. The afternoon went to mountain terminology — ridges, spurs, cols, glaciers and other landforms — and to a lesson on search and rescue. In the official schedule: trek to Tekhla · fixed rope practice · mountain terminology · rescue and relief operations and NIM's role.

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We finished the rock phase by going back over anchors, belaying, climbing and rappelling, including body rappelling. After several consecutive days in the same area, things had started to feel like one system rather than a collection of separate exercises. We got back relatively early, and spent the rest of the day organising for the mountains: final equipment exchanges, depositing money and valuables, and a departure briefing. The next day we left the campus for about two weeks of living in the field and training on snow and ice — the part I had been looking forward to most. In the official schedule: trek to Tekhla · revision of rock techniques · briefing for the mountain phase · equipment exchange · depositing money and valuables · preparation for departure.

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We loaded the equipment onto the buses, stopped at NIM's temple, and drove to Bukki, the starting point of the trek. From here began three days of gradual ascent towards the training area, around 3,500 m. The first day ended at Tela Camp, at roughly 2,500 m, after about 800 m of ascent and around five hours of walking. The pace was deliberately slow. Nobody was trying to beat the trail — the point was that the whole course would go up together and give the body time to start adapting to altitude. In the official schedule: preparation for the mountain · loading packs and visiting the NIM temple · drive to Bukki · trek to Tela Camp · making camp · acclimatization walk.

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This was already a longer walking day — about seven hours — ending in the area of Gujjar Hut, around 3,200 m. The landscape shifted gradually from river and jungle to more open ground, and at the end of the day we made camp in snow. The altitude was starting to be noticeable, even if not yet dramatically. That same day I also lost the drone, which got stuck high in a tree and could not be retrieved. It frustrated me more than I expected, but on a course like this there is not much time to dwell on it — the next morning you get up and keep climbing. In the official schedule: move to Gujjar Hut · making camp · acclimatization walk.

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We packed up camp and moved up to NIM Base Camp, at roughly 3,500 m. This was our home for the next ten days — and the place we set out from for the snow and ice training and the exercises around the Dokriani Glacier. The day stayed relatively short to give the body time to acclimatize. In the afternoon we checked crampons, boots and gaiters again — covers that keep snow out of the boot — and in the evening we watched a NIM instructional film on ice work. This was where I felt the course genuinely moving from rock into its alpine phase. The mountain phase: days 13–23. From here the weather began running our schedule. The plan held glacier training, crevasse crossing, rescue, map reading and a height gain, but heavy snow and storms changed almost every day. So in this part I write first what we actually did, and only then what appeared in the plan. In the official schedule: closing the previous camp · move to NIM Base Camp · making camp · fitting crampons, boots and gaiters · instructional film on ice work.

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We started working on snow in earnest. We practised ascending and descending slopes, moving alone and as a group, and using the ice axe for balance and for safety. Before climbing steep ice, you first have to know how to walk well on snow — without slipping and without wasting energy. After that we learned about glaciers — how they form, how they move, and what dangers they create — and started working on snow anchors and mutual belaying. If the weather allowed, the next day we were supposed to go up to the Dokriani Glacier, about two hours' walk from camp. In the official schedule: move to the training area · work on snow · ascending and descending slopes with an ice axe · medical check · lecture on glaciers.

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This was meant to be our first full day on the glacier. In practice the storm lasted almost the whole day, and all the practical training was cancelled. One of the clearest lessons of the course arrived without leaving camp at all: in the mountains, the plan is always subordinate to conditions. Instead of going up to the Dokriani Glacier we had lectures on Himalayan flora and fauna and on the theoretical principles of ice climbing. Not the day I had hoped for, but at least we kept building the knowledge we would need the moment a weather window opened. In the official schedule: planned and not carried out: move to the Dokriani Glacier · ascending and descending on ice with axe and crampons · ice anchors, belaying and rappelling · medical check.

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Half a day of good weather was enough to get up to the Dokriani Glacier. We climbed for about two and a half hours and around 300 m of height, and there we finally started practising building anchors in ice, belaying and climbing. An ice anchor is a point from which you can belay a climber or build a rope system. You use dedicated gear driven into the ice, but the gear alone is not enough — the quality of the ice and the placement of the anchor are what decide whether it is genuinely good. After several days of lectures and demonstrations, it was satisfying to finally work on the thing itself. The night before had been hard. Snow built up on the tents, and we got up every few hours to shake it off before the weight became too much. At altitude even small things cost more energy, and acclimatization was still noticeable in every action. In the evening we had a lecture on avalanches. In the official schedule: originally planned were glacier crevasse crossing, crevasse rescue, revision of fixed rope and a lecture on avalanches. In practice the day went mainly to anchors and climbing on ice; the avalanche lecture did take place.

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This was the coldest night of the course so far. Almost everything froze — including the boots. During the day we were given a demonstration of crossing crevasses — deep clefts in the glacier, sometimes open and sometimes hidden under a snow bridge. At the same time a helicopter search-and-rescue exercise was taking place, and we watched it from the area. The weather stayed unstable: a few hours of sun and then snow again. By this stage we had learned that every good window on the glacier has to be used immediately. In the official schedule: ice work was planned for some of the rope teams, crevasse crossing and rescue for others, along with a lecture on mountain hazards.

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A good weather window opened in the morning and we went up to the Dokriani Glacier again. We practised moving in crampons and using the ice axe properly — where to place your feet, how to keep your centre of gravity, and how to use the axe for support and security. After several days in which much of the material had come through demonstrations, this time we were given the time to work on it ourselves. I finally felt we were genuinely training on ice rather than just waiting on the weather. By midday the sky closed in again and we returned to camp. In the official schedule: ice work, crevasse crossing and rescue were planned, along with an introduction to medical equipment and oxygen at altitude.

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Very heavy snow fell overnight. Again we got up in the dark to shake and clear snow off the tents, and through the day we carried on digging and opening paths around the camp. Most of the day simply went on keeping the camp working. The training planned on the Dokriani Glacier was cancelled. We managed a little navigation and map reading, and in the evening watched a film about the climber Marc-André Leclerc. It was not a particularly technical day, but it illustrated well that living in a high camp involves a great deal of work that never makes it into the beautiful photographs from the mountain. In the official schedule: revision of ice work, anchors, belaying, rappelling and fixed rope was planned · revision of crevasse crossing and rescue · map reading practice. The glacier work was cancelled because of the snow; the map reading did take place.

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Today we practised crevasse rescue — one of the most important subjects in glacier travel. If a climber falls into a crevasse, the first thing is not to pull them out; first the rope team has to arrest the fall, build a stable anchor, and transfer the load onto it safely. From there you move to the rescue itself. We practised working as a rope team and using systems that create mechanical advantage to get a person out of the crevasse. What stayed with me from the exercise is that the rescue begins long before anyone pulls on a rope — it depends on moving correctly as a group, on the tension in the rope, and on the immediate reaction the moment someone falls. Later in the day the snow picked up again and sent us back early to the tents. In the official schedule: ice work and fixed rope were planned for some rope teams, crevasse crossing and rescue for others, along with CPR practice.

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We went out to the Dokriani Glacier for the last time. The day brought together much of what we had learned so far: climbing with ice axes, ascending a rope with the Jumar, rappelling, and leading on ice. This time we were no longer working each skill on its own. We used them one after another, as in a real climbing section — go up, belay, move along the rope, and descend under control. It felt much closer to mountaineering and much less like a course exercise. In the official schedule: the plan listed anchors, belaying, self arrest and team arrest, and glissading. In practice the day went mainly to work on ice.

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We finished the practical snow material: crevasse rescue, crossing snow bridges, and moving in roped groups. On a glacier the rope between climbers is genuinely a safety system — if one falls into a crevasse, the others have to hold them and create the base from which a rescue can begin. This was one of the days I enjoyed most on the course, because in one go movement, rope, anchors, fall arrest and rescue came together into a single clear scenario. In the official schedule: move to the training area · revision of all snow work · preparation for the height gain.

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We climbed to an area of about 4,600 m as part of the height training. There was no summit objective here; the intent was for us to feel, in a controlled way, what happens to your pace, your breathing and your effort as you go higher — and then return to camp. After coming down we started the tests. In the map reading test we were given a position and had to find the corresponding grid reference. After weeks of practice in the field, it was good that the test itself stayed practical rather than turning into another sheet of questions. In the official schedule: height gain · presentation of the ascent area · knot practice · preparation for the written test.

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The day was given over to the final tests: a group navigation exercise, a knots test, and a theory test on the material we had covered through the course. After almost a month, the tests felt less like a separate event and more like a summary of everything we had been through: ropes, maps, snow, ice, safety, medicine and terminology. The things that had looked scattered in the first week had already come together into one picture. In the official schedule: written test and feedback · navigation exercise and equipment maintenance · knots test · selection of the outstanding rope team and student.

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We cleaned the camp, broke down the equipment and started descending. What had taken us three days to climb we now did in two, and the difference in pace was immediately noticeable. After nearly two weeks of snow, ice and tents, you could already feel the end of the course in the air. In the official schedule: cleaning and closing the camp · trek to Tela Camp · camp evening.

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We descended to Bukki and from there took the bus back to the NIM campus. Suddenly there was phone signal again, a shower, a town, and food that had not come from the camp kitchen. After days in which the daily order was set by snow, ice and weather, returning to the ordinary world felt slightly strange. In the official schedule: trek to Bukki · bus to NIM · trip to the market.

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The day already felt like a closing: summary talks, interviews, a debrief and feedback on what had worked and what could be improved in future courses. We dealt with the equipment, returned everything, and had a final medical check. After a month in which almost every item had been with us day in and day out, handing it back was a fairly clear sign that the course was over. In the official schedule: volleyball game · interviews and debrief · equipment maintenance and return · medical check · CPR practice · camp evening.

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In the morning we did a general revision and photographs, received NIM shirts, and then came the closing ceremony — tea with the guest of honour and a group photograph. Twenty-eight days earlier I had been standing at a reception desk in the town of Uttarkashi. Since then we had gone from rock and ropes through camps and navigation, to snow, ice, glacier crevasses and a climb to about 4,600 m. For me the most meaningful thing the course gave me is not a single technique, but a framework: understanding how movement, rope, weather, medicine, equipment and teamwork connect together into mountaineering. In the official schedule: general revision and photographs · CPR practice and sport climbing · issue of NIM shirts · closing ceremony · tea with the guest of honour · group photograph.

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