Adventure Camp

The 18th Annual Adventure Camp for children in the age group 8-13 years was successfully conducted from October 29, 2006 to November 2, 2006 at Mulshi Valley. This time GIRIVIHAR had teamed up with Ranphool (ROOTS) of Pune as joint camp organisers. The young enthusiasts numbered 40 and they had a real good time, complete with tented accommodation and different outdoor activities organised by the instructors. We thank Ranphool(ROOTS) for their valuable inputs at all stages of the camp. Cheers for the GIRIVIHAR team.

About Girivihar:
Girivihar, set up in 1964, is one of India’s most reputed mountaineering clubs. Long before anyone had heard of adventure sports, a group of students and professors formed the Bombay University Hikers’ Club in 1954. A decade later, to expand the activities of the Club beyond the campus, they formed Girivihar. Already a pioneering venture in its very formulation, the Club soon acquired an enviable reputation in the mountaineering field. Several top Indian mountaineers have been associated with the Club. Today Girivihar boasts an unmatched track record. Our members have been on innumerable first ascents in the Sahyadris, several treks in uncharted Himalayan territory and many major Himalayan expeditions, including Mt. Everest and Mt. Kanchenjunga, the third highest mountain in the world. But that is only half the story. The other side of the picture is Girivihar’s social commitment. We believe in ethical, minimum-impact mountaineering. Our effort has always been to put something back in the social kitty through the medium we know best – the mountains and adventure. So be it a water reservoir conservation project on a hill fort, or a peace mission on a mountain bike to Hiroshima, Girivihar has done it all. Our Annual Adventure Camp is one such venture.

GIRIVIHAR, has since its conception in 1964, been devoted to outdoor adventure activities like hiking, rock climbing and mountaineering.

RANPHOOL organisation for Outdor Training and studies (ROOTS) is committed to introducing outdoor education in India

Adventure activities inculcate courage, patience, determination, leadership, confidence, team spirit and cultivate a love for the environment and respect for nature.

For children, the time is ripe to learn these skills because in tomorrow’s competitive environment, these will prove to be skills rudimentary to survival. And slowly, but surely, this idea is gaining acceptance in our country. Many prestigious schools have an ‘Outdoor Education Programme’ as part of their regular curriculum.

It is with this in mind, GIRIVIHAR and ROOTS is jointly conducting the Annual Adventure Camp for children (age group 8 to13).

As a parent who leaves no stone unturned for your child’s development, we are sure you will find this camp an attractive proposition. Of course, a question most likely to occur to you will be, why you must choose this Camp for your kids....Here we try to answer

The Adventure Camp includes the following activities/sessions, conducted by experts:

General Introduction: The children are introduced to each other and to the instructors. Five to six groups are formed such that each group has a fair age and sex distribution. The children choose their own group leader who changes every day. The layout of the campsite and the rules (a few for safety and hygiene) are explained.

Rope craft and Equipment Introduction: Basic knots are demonstrated, taught and practiced. All equipment is shown and its functions and features are explained. This helps children use it confidently and often sparks their curiosity.

Rock Climbing:After an expert demonstration, the children get to try a hand at climbing a nearly vertical rock face using their hands, feet and wits. First rate equipment and a strong rope make sure it’s safe. Various grades of rock are available to challenge every child regardless of innate ability.

Rappelling: Also known as abseiling, this is the technique employed by mountaineers to descend vertical rock faces rapidly, using a rope. Standing atop a forty-foot rock wall, the kids, often with quivering knees and loud wails of protest are pushed beyond the point of no return. Soon, the wails turn into squeals of delight and they cannot get enough.

River Crossing: A rope is rigged across a water body and stretched bar-taut. Using a pulley, the children pull themselves across. Simple. Well, not really. It does not take long for the children to figure out that the instructor can stop their friends midway or give them a dunking. So often kids have to brave not just the water, but also the prospect of singing a song to secure their release!

Orienteering: The children learn to read maps, use a compass, interpret topographic features, and even make basic maps themselves. All this knowledge is then applied to a hunt for hidden treasure! Children often resort to ingenious espionage in the opposition’s camp to get to the treasure first. The instructors stay in the background only to ensure things don’t get out of hand. Otherwise, the little James Bonds and Lara Crofts are given a free hand.

Nature Trail: This is perhaps the one activity that makes it all worthwhile. Because this is where the textbooks come alive. Everything in the Geography, General Science and Biology books is out there, waiting to be discovered. The kids learn all about ecosystems, rock formations, endangered species and conservation. On a lucky day, several rare species of birds and insects can be spotted. Plants and reptiles are aplenty on Sudhagad, awaiting your young scientists’ curiosity.

Obstacle Course: Crawl, dangle, teeter, climb, scramble, dash, tumble and have fun. That is what kids do on the obstacle course. Not exactly military grade, but a lot more fun. Because there’s a prize for everyone, there are no rules and you can yell all you like.

Trekking: Walk down a gorge on boulder-strewn terrain. Negotiate a jungle. Stop to take in the sights and the sounds… and food! And just when the kids are convinced that the next step will kill them with exhaustion (it’s a baseless fear, but one we don’t dispel), they see the most enticing site. A proper, gushing river, cool and inviting. They can hardly believe it when they are told that they are supposed to go in and splash about! Of course, the most difficult job for us instructors is tearing happy, waterlogged children away from the river.

Astronomy: Subject to the availability of experts, the children are taught the basics of the solar system, how to identify key constellations, stars and planets and to tell the direction by the stars. Useful stuff to brag about in school

Herpetology: Subject to the availability of experts, the children get to handle real live snakes! They learn how tell a poisonous one from a non-poisonous one, how to treat snakebite, what benefits snakes offer to the environment, the evils of poaching and killing them and the sheer hypnotic beauty of snakes seen up close.
For more than a decade now, we have been taking children for these Camps. Nearly a thousand children have been through it. The reason is simple. The activities are designed specifically for the target age group. No special athletic ability is required. The children do not have to be super-strong to do it. The idea is that the child’s limit, whatever it may be, is pushed just a little bit. We don’t try to make mountaineers out of them. We just make sure they have fun and go home a little more confident than they were.

Girivihar has more kitchen experience than most accomplished homemakers do! Out in the wild, getting the food right is vitally important. And we have been doing it without a hitch for years.

A meticulously planned vegetarian menu ensures a proper dietary balance. Export-quality vegetables are prepared under hygienic conditions by a team of local cooks, supervised by a dedicated kitchen manager. Low-grease, low-spice cooking means the food is suitable for the children. A daily dose of Bournvita gives them the calcium and minerals they need. Fluid intake is monitored to maintain electrolyte balance. Children are encouraged to eat all they like and wash their own utensils, often a novel experience for many kids.

The team of instructors is a seasoned team of dedicated experts. Between us we have nearly a century of outdoor experience!
Even the most junior instructor has at least half a decade of experience. All instructors are trained in First Aid and rescue and evacuation procedures. Before each Camp the instructors undergo a rigorous refresher course to keep skills sharp. An ideal instructor-trainee ratio of about 1:5 is maintained. There are enough female instructors to care of girls’ special needs.

The outdoors are great fun. But they can be quite risky too. Girivihar has over the decades, enjoyed an enviable safety record. We are committed to your child’s safety in several ways.
We use world-class equipment. All our equipment is specially imported and replaced frequently. Only the leading brands of equipment are purchased. A dedicated expert is responsible for the storage and maintenance of all our hardware. And we might add that the stuff is designed for abuse. A carabineer, for instance, can take a load of 2.2 tons! And it takes over 1,500 kg to snap our ropes!
But this is just the hardware of safety. The software is the team of instructors, their decades of high-grade, high-risk mountain experience and their second-nature approach to safety. Add to that transport on round-the-clock standby, a First Aid kit designed by a doctor who is also a mountaineer and a standing agreement with the local health centre for priority treatment, and you have a Camp that’s as safe as a house.

That adventure activities build capacity is hardly disputed. Top multinational corporations send their executives for Outdoor Management Development programmes. Reputed management colleges (including the IIMs) have outdoor modules to develop essential skills among students. Young children can derive several benefits from an adventure camp too. They are: