Mountain talk

At the Annual Seminar, mountaineers will speak about their expeditions to Everest and other peaks.

The Himalayan Club, an 87-year-old organisation that has members from around the globe has been celebrating mountaineering including those who scaled Mount Everest and other treacherous peaks. Each year, for 30 years, the group marks its founding day with a seminar during which mountaineers give presentations based on their expeditions. This weekend, their latest Annual Seminar will address issues pertaining to mountain climbing, its cost, the risks involved and the impact on the environment.

At the Annual Seminar, mountaineers will speak about their expeditions to Everest and other peaks. Representative Pic

At the event, mountaineers, explorers and writers will present audio-visuals and illustrated talks. The list includes Lindsay Griffin, Tony Smythe, Dawa Steven Sherpa, Divyesh Muni and Harish Kapadia, among others. The Jagdish Nanavati Award for Excellence in Mountaineering will be given to the exploratory expedition to the Eastern Karakoram in 2014 while the Jagdish Nanavati Garud Medal will be awarded for exemplary services rendered by the support staff to a mountaineering expedition. The Kekoo Naoroji Literary award, for best literary work in Mountaineering (2014), will be given to Tony Smythe (son of legendary British mountaineer Frank Smythe) for his book, My Father Frank.

What to expect?
On day one, Lindsay Griffin will deliver the Kaivan Mistry memorial lecture where he will recount his most extraordinary adventure in a session titled Escape from Mongolia. The incident took place in the early 1990s and reflects on human spirit, teamwork, and luck. It will be followed by award ceremonies and a talk by author Tony Smythe.

On day two, Divyesh Muni, of The Himalayan Club, will talk about the challenges of self-organised expeditions to smaller but unexplored as well as technically difficult mountains; it will be illustrated by his recent expedition to Rassa Glacier. Dawa Steven Sherpa will explain perspectives of the Sherpas, commercial organisers and the environmental impact of climbing on Everest and other high mountains.

Explorer Harish Kapadia will share the joys of trekking, discovering new valleys and climbing areas other than climbing high mountains. Umesh Zirpe, an organiser and leader of three successful expeditions to 8,000m peaks, will talk on his experience of climbs to Mt Everest and other peaks. Others like Dr Murad Lala, a ‘tourist trekker' who climbed Everest with a commercial expedition, will give his perspective as a client of a guided climb. The concluding session will be a discussion.