Trekking the hard way

Challenging Terrain

Many youngsters in the City pursue it passionately and travel in groups to
conquer mountains that give them a high.

There are quite a few trekking clubs in the City, which give trekking enthusiasts a sweet deal on maneuvering a tough terrain.

These groups are also the conglomeration of like-minded people and a great way of making new friends. Metrolife spoke to some trekking enthusiasts about the best way to trek.

Neeraj Malve, the creator of ‘Bangalore Mountaineering Club’ says, “The genesis of ‘Bangalore Mountaineering Club’ seven years ago was due to my inability to find people who were as interested as me to trek. Plans were made every time but on the appointed day, people backed out. Frustrated, I started a yahoo group, within 15 days of starting the group, we were a good enough number and headed for our first trek.

Pictures of the trek were posted all over the Internet and got more people interested. The interest generated then never stopped. We have over 12,000 members now and organise multiple treks all over Karnataka every weekend!”

In spite of the huge popularity of BMC, Neeraj still holds an IT job and says that BMC is purely for recreation purposes. The popularity of BMC can be attributed to the fact that they take people to one of the most reasonably priced treks.

The Youth Hostel Association of India is also quite popular when it comes to trekking. Vineet Vashistha, a regular at the youth hostel treks, says that they are probably one of the most well-organised treks he has ever attended. “For Rs 3000, they take you to 10-day-long treks which are inclusive of all camping gear like sleeping bags, tents and rucksacks. The people who come on these treks are of all age groups.”

While some prefer going in groups there are some others like Dhillan Chandramowli who prefer trekking alone. “A group implies a lot of restrictions. I am also a photographer and like taking some time on my treks to soak in the scenery. Most people go on treks with a weird competitive fervour; it is nice to push yourself physically but not at the cost of one’s health. I know people who have fallen sick on high altitude treks as they refused to acclimatise enough,” he added.

Many IT companies in the City also have trekking groups where employees get together on weekends for a trek to Kodachadri or Kumara Parvatha. There also exist many groups on Facebook and Orkut where people get together purely based on the love for trekking. Technology truly has made connecting with like-minded people easier!