Below and following posts shall depict my experiences while doing Basic Mountaineering Course at ABVIMAS, Manali
Introduction
I was working as data
analytics professional with Naukri.com before quitting and taking a
break. You may see a bit about my life at this link ( TRAVEL CV).
On
25th April, a facebook post brought to my attention that there is a
seat available for May 1 - May 26 BMC course. Apparently a girl in small town in Maharashtra had registered for the course, couldn't go. They had asked the institute if someone could replace her seat and institute had obliged, hence I went as her replacement. On 29th April night I
took bus for Manali with the authority letter from this girl stating she is granting me her seat.
Day Zero
I walked to the institute from the bus stand, with my big rucksack and small day pack, it did seem a long walk, was only 3 km. The first thing one notices about the institute is greenery and how peaceful it is inside, far away from maddening crowds of Manali town.
I went straight into office, but there was no one to receive me at reception, so I barged into first room on the left. I explained to Radha Devi, who looks after admission process, that I am the replacement of that girl, but she asked me to go to hostel first and come to office after lunch.
First person I met was Rohan, slim boy from Kolkatta with white complexion. We got the same dorm room, it had 9 beds, since we were first, Rohan got the best one, I got second best. Rohan took bath and went to sleep, I tried to sleep, but couldn't.
Lunch was pretty ordinary, typical hostel food, reminded me of IIT and IIM hostel life. By this time lots of trainees or you may say future mountaineers had arrived and there was long queue outside office. After long wait, Radha Devi told me there are few beaurocratic hassles and come back tomorrow, this was a bit discouraging, I wasn't even sure if I'll be able to register for this course or not.
More roommates had arrived, Girish from Bangalore with army pants, Amit ji from Patiala. Rohan, Amit ji and I went out in the evening to roam around the town. Roaming around Manali's market area, brought back last year's memory of my cycling trip from Manali to Leh.
Post dinner, few guys suggested we should all gather and introduce ourselves. As it turns out, there are trainees from Andaman to Kashmir, aged from 16 to 45, non-english speakers to non-hindi speakers, short to tall, underweight to overweight, quite a concortation or you may say Khichdi. One of the instructor asked us to be ready early morning, we will go for a short walk.
Day One
Toilets in the dormitory were above average, western style with nozzle. Bathrooms were plenty but only few had geysors. We assembled in the main area and instructors took us for a short walk next to institute. We had to walk in a line, I found it quite boring. Post breakfast registration started for rest of the trainees, many trainees were seen arriving late.
Radha Devi asked me to meet the accountant who further explained some complicated procedure to be followed, I was distraught. We all sat outside killing our time, trainees had started collecting their gear from the store. The gear included big rucksack, sleeping bag, crampons, inner wear, tiffin and a lot more totaling to 15 items. By this time I had found Arjun, who was in the same boat. Arjun was nominated by NCC, but they sent check with wrong amount, Arjun and I were the only guys who had not registered yet.
Evening was interesting, Mr. Nanak Soni, who was our course instructor introduced us to rest of the instructors. We were asked to form a line based on the state we belonged. Maharashtra formed the largest line, IIT Bombay formed a single line as well. We were divided into group of 7 or 8 trainees, called Rope, ensuring we all belonged to different states and background. Obviously no one knew each other in the rope beforehand, we were asked to nominate a rope leader. I, god-knows-why got nominated as rope leader, which I obliged. Our rope number was 7, which I consider a lucky number for me. Later we were taught how to pack rucksack, light and fluffy things like sleeping bag should be at bottom, light and medium weight stuff on the top.
Radha Devi asked me to meet the accountant who further explained some complicated procedure to be followed, I was distraught. We all sat outside killing our time, trainees had started collecting their gear from the store. The gear included big rucksack, sleeping bag, crampons, inner wear, tiffin and a lot more totaling to 15 items. By this time I had found Arjun, who was in the same boat. Arjun was nominated by NCC, but they sent check with wrong amount, Arjun and I were the only guys who had not registered yet.
Evening was interesting, Mr. Nanak Soni, who was our course instructor introduced us to rest of the instructors. We were asked to form a line based on the state we belonged. Maharashtra formed the largest line, IIT Bombay formed a single line as well. We were divided into group of 7 or 8 trainees, called Rope, ensuring we all belonged to different states and background. Obviously no one knew each other in the rope beforehand, we were asked to nominate a rope leader. I, god-knows-why got nominated as rope leader, which I obliged. Our rope number was 7, which I consider a lucky number for me. Later we were taught how to pack rucksack, light and fluffy things like sleeping bag should be at bottom, light and medium weight stuff on the top.
