CORRESPONDENCE ADDRESS: 206/207, Shilpin Center, G.D. Ambekar Marg, Dadar(E), Mumbai - 400 031. Tel. 24150211 / 24150221. Registered Under: Bombay Public Trust Act. F/1361 (Bom.) dt. 1966-03-31 & Societies Registration Act. Bom. 11/1966 GBBSD Dt. 1966-01-21

Wednesday Walk-in: 1930 onwards at Café Colony, Hindu Colony, East End of Tilak Bridge, Dadar (E).

CIRCULAR NO: 1/ 2020 Event Schedule DATE: 1 January 2020

Dear Members,

We ended the year sparklingly with the successful completion of the 44th Rock Camp and the 29th Adventure Camp for Kids. Girivihar’s flagship Camp was restarted after many a years and saw a turn up of 11 trainees. The was conducted at CBD Belapur Parsik Hills. The Adventure Camp which was held at Sahas Campsite, Trimbakeshwar was completed successfully by 45 trainees. Reports of both the camps is at the end of the circular. The slideshow of the Adventure Camp will be announced soon.

The two months of November and December kept all of us busy with the planning and execution of these two camps, with recceing the sites etc. A notable activity from last circular would the Climbing Session held at Dighe. A detailed report of the same, by Vinita Chhatwani is attached at the end of this circular.

Reminiscing, at the end of the year, Girivihar dedicates 2019 to Franco Linhares. One of the most senior members of Girivihar, Franco was honoured with the Lifetime Achievement Award at the Girimitra Sammelan on 13 July 2019. And rightly so, he deserved every clap in the standing ovation he got while he received the award. A Lot has been said about Franco over the years. Starting from his active participation, albeit being the inexperienced newbie venturing in the high mountains in the Kanchenjunga Expedition of 1988 to being President of the IFSC climbing World Cup 2016, Franco sure has come a long way. More importantly he has inspired so many youngsters, trekkers, climbers and the sort and taken all of them along with him on his path. We're sure he will continue being the lovable young grandpa Frankie who's parting words at the Girimitra Award Ceremony were, ".... the best is yet to come!!"

As the season for rock climbing and stay hikes now kicks in, we would love to have maximum participation from all you members, the more the merrier!

Mountaineering News/ Updates/ Tips: Mount Everest deaths: Four bodies and 11 tons of rubbish removed A clean-up expedition to Mount Everest has removed 10.8 tons of rubbish and four dead bodies from the world’s highest mountain. Read the complete article here. MAC Samvad: The second Maha Adventure Council (MAC) Samvad will be held from 6 pm to 9 pm on 10 January 2020 at Swatantra Veer Savarkar Rashtriya Smarak, Dadar. Keeping in mind the sanctity that needs to be preserved by us when we go to the various forts and mountains, this Samvad will focus on our views and opinions as trekkers and people who wander in the Sahyadris. The topic is “दु셍गभ्रमंती आणि शुणिता” and Dr. Milind Paradkar, a well-known historian, will be present to guide the participants at the Samvad.

Knowing the importance of First-Aid: If you’re headed outdoors, you should always carry either a prepackaged first-aid kit or a DIY kit that you can create using our list as a guide. Knowing how to use the items in a first-aid kit is as important as having them, so consider taking a training course. Take a look at this article and list of basic first aid you need to carry to all your outings.

Rock Climbing News/ Updates/ Tips: Few skills are as fundamental to climbing as working with rope. Your life literally depends on your mastery of the subject. This article and accompanying videos cover the most common knots, hitches and bends used in climbing. Take a look!

Club/ Members Updates: Vijay Beladkar completed the last leg of his East Coast Cycling Project. He cycled from Puducherry to Kanyakumari via Rameshwaram, a stretch if 825 kilometres. Spanning over almost 8 years, Vijay has now completed cycling both the west and east coast of . Congratulations Vijay, keep inspiring us always! Climbing Walls: Since last three years we have being working hard to find places and setup the Climbing Walls from World cup. After successfully setting up the Walls at IIT Powai & YMCA Colaba, we are now working with NMMC for setting up the main imported Wall in Nerul. After rigorous efforts, NMMC has given tremendous support and has built a structure for the Wall in Nerul NMMC park. We continue to work with NMCC for setting up the wall in the premises and hopefully make it operational in the next two months. This will be the dream come true, a closure of promise that we made to the Donors, the only Word Class wall in India and perhaps a new beginning for the society.

Notes: 1. We request members to come forward, become leaders for treks you would like to visit. 2. We take pride in every member’s activities and achievements. In regards to this, we request you to share your achievements and activities so that they can be mentioned in the following circulars.

Hike Itinerary!

The trek schedule for the months of January and February is as follows:

Event CBD Belapur Climbing Session Date Satur, 11 January 2020 Leader Sandeep Bhagyawant (+91 9833717385) Easy Assembly St. Joseph's Catholic Church, Plot No. 28, Sector 8, CBD Belapur. This climbing session is for everyone who wants to get introduced to the sport of Information climbing. From beginners to anyone who has already had a taste of climbing, everyone is welcome. The session will be conducted by experts who have been in the climbing circuit for decades and are expert guides.

Event Ahupe to Peth Date Friday, 17 January to Sunday, 19 January 2020 Leader Mandar Marathe (+91 98700 02262) Grade Difficult Assembly Railway Station, 9.00 PM Friday.

Event Naneghat Date Saturday, 25 January and Sunday, 26 January 2020 Leader Suresh Nair ( +91 98205 31000) Grade Medium Assembly Leader will convey the assembly point.

Event CBD Belapur Climbing Session Date Saturday, 1 February 2020 Leader Sandeep Bhagyawant (+91 9833717385) Grade Easy Assembly St. Joseph's Catholic Church, Plot No. 28, Sector 8, CBD Belapur. This climbing session is for everyone who wants to get introduced to the sport of Information climbing. From beginners to anyone who has already had a taste of climbing, everyone is welcome. The session will be conducted by experts who have been in the climbing circuit for decades and are expert guides.

Event - Childrens Special Hike Date Sunday, 9 February 2020 Leader Sayalee Dhuri (+91 98190 44218) Grade Easy Assembly Leader will convey the assembly point.

Event Gorakhgad Date Sunday, 16 February 2020 Leader Vijay Beladkar (+91 98692 41799) Grade Easy Assembly Leader will convey the assembly point.

Event CBD Belapur Climbing Session Date Sunday, 23 February 2020 Leader Saurabh Oka (+91 99202 02170) Grade Easy Assembly St. Joseph's Catholic Church, Plot No. 28, Sector 8, CBD Belapur. This climbing session is for everyone who wants to get introduced to the sport of Information climbing. From beginners to anyone who has already had a taste of climbing, everyone is welcome. The session will be conducted by experts who have been in the climbing circuit for decades and are expert guides.

Event Ghangad - Tel Baila - Sudhagad Date Friday, 21 February to Sunday 23 February 2020 Leader Aditya Athavale (+91 90967 80015) Grade Medium Assembly Leader will convey the assembly point.

For all outings a packed lunch, a set of clothing packed in plastic & water bottle are necessary. Please speak to the trek leader for registration, payment details and any other queries. We Girivihar members meet every Wednesday at 8.00pm at Café Colony Dadar. Please feel welcome to attend these meetings and make yourself familiar with us. For stay hikes, prior registration is necessary. We may not entertain last minute requests. Also, please attend the pre-hike meetings so that the leader is familiar with you and you can help with the food planning. Circular is now available on the GIRIVIHAR’s website at www.girivihar.org and our Facebook page..

．．．．．．．．．．．．．．．．．．．．．．．．．． Happy Hiking! Happy Climbing!

Yours sincerely, Abhijeet Athavale (General Secretary) (8779489569)

Dighe Climbing Session Report

Event Date: Sunday, 10 November 2019

Leader: Vinita Chhatwani (+91 98203 25647)

No of Participants: 11

Vinita Chhatwani, Sandeep Bhagyawant, Rohan Gawand, Aunum Mehta, Pratik Singla, Archana Thakur,

Bijuri Khinvasara, Ravi Bangera, Ben Grasser, Ophelia Ecoiffier, T T Niranjan

Location: Dighe Climbing Site

Event Details: The event was confirmed on 9th Nov 2019 despite the cyclonic rains that leashed Mumbai on 8th and 9th Nov. The idea was to just hang out in the outdoors even if we could not climb. The assembly points were changed based on the participants (T T Niranjan, Vinita Chhatwani) who agreed to bring their vehicles. We had a quick breakfast at Airoli Station and headed to Dighe climbing site. For detail on the climbing site please refer to the link - https://www.mountainproject.com/area/112827576/dighethane. It was awesome weather with some mist and a lot of fog. After

reaching the climbing site we discovered that some of the easy

routes were still wet and could not be climbed. However, we could

climb some routes that were dry. Top ropes were set up for the first

timers while the

experienced

climbers

enjoyed leading

the hard routes.

The beginners

who joined, where overwhelming in their attempts to learn and gave it a good shot to imbibe the most from the day.

In all it was a good climbing session that lasted for around 3.5 hours.

Adventure Camp 2019 Report

With high energy, a group of 45 participants and 12 instructors left Mumbai on 25th December 2019 for 5 days of fun and adventure at Sahas Campsite, Trimbakeshwar, Nasik. The long route of about 200 km took us almost 5 hrs and we reached for a late lunch. After the welcome briefing, all children settled in their respective tents. The group got divided in 6 groups (known as ropes). The first activity for the day was an obstacle course that included obstacle activities like commando net, crawling, Burma bridge, Tarzan Jump, etc. The children learnt a few basic knots in the late evening session. For the next 3 days, we conducted 6 activities: 3 in the morning and 3 in the evening. These were Physical Training in the morning followed by Rappelling, River Crossing, Rock Climbing, Kayaking, Orienteering and Nature Trail. Each day, we shuffled the groups so that each group could complete each activity. These smaller group sizes ensure that more personal attention can be given to each child. On 26th the annular solar eclipse took place. Due to cloudy weather, we could not witness this beautiful phenomenon. Being overcast at nights too, we could not conduct star-gazing in this camp. On 27th night, the children wore their master-chef hats and enjoyed cooking their own dinner. With gorgeously plated salads and tangy rice preparations this self-cooking activity was one of the best so far. The Camp-Fun was scheduled on 28th night. The kids were preparing for their performances since Day -1 in their spare time. We had some well-choreographed dance sequences as well as some comedy skits. What better way to enjoy all this than having a cup of hot Bournvita to sip on! As the last day dawned, everyone was busy in packing their belongings. Soon after breakfast, the ropes set out on a thrilling treasure hunt trail. Apart from the chocolates that the children received, the real treasure is the experience of team-work, discipline and sheer enjoyment. The camp concluded with the distribution of certificates, Tshirts, some Goodies and the uber-essential group photo. The return journey was tiring as there was a lot of traffic but all the fatigue vanished as soon as the children met their parents after 5 long days. I would like to thank the parents of all the participants for trusting us. Also thanks to Sahas Campsite for the awesome food and accommodation services. I am also grateful to all other instructors, namely, Abhijeet A (Gattu), Abhijeet R (Micro), Aditya, Asavari, Asmita, Dilip, Franklyn, Juee, Karvi, Parin, Prasanna, Prince, Rutesh, Sayalee, Vijay A, Vijay B (Sotya), Saurabh O, Saurabh P (Sapya), for their valuable voluntary contribution in the planning as well as on-field. Special thanks to Mr. Nandu Chavan for some technical equipment and guidance on how to use it.

-Parag Lagu Camp-In-Charge

44th Rock Climbing Camp 2019 Report

After a gap of almost 5 years, Girivihar revived its flagship activity – the Rock Climbing Camp. This year we had 11 participants aged 14+. All participants assembled at CBD, Belapur Bus Depot on 12th December. Our accommodation was arranged at Mrs. Juee Khopkar’s residence. Juee is one of the senior members of Girivihar and she was very kind enough to allow us to stay in her residence. Special thanks to her. Soon, we put our luggages at Juee’s place and moved on to the Boulder area. Belapur houses a beautiful boulder nursery as well as some long wall routes. The first session at this nursery was learning the basic knots. Post lunch, the participants got introduced to basic techniques. Tired from the physical activity, the group moved to a nearby garden for an evening lecture on introduction to climbing equipment. This was essential so that participants can use this equipment on the subsequent days. On Day 2, we first decided to go to a 40 ft rock face. Here some of our senior members have bolted some of the routes. These routes vary from easy to very hard. The participants got introduced to top-rope climbing at these routes. They also got a demo of how lead-climbing is done. Another skill required for climbers is to know how to rappel. This too was taught to each participant as they tried their hand at this technique of descending down a rock face. In the evening session, all of us visited some more boulders where skills like balance and shifting body weight were tried out. In the evening, we all did some rope coiling practice after learning some coiling methods and coil- locking knots. The third day was almost the same as the second one. We had in the morning and bouldering in the evening. A small test was also conducted during the day for individual certificate grading. On the last day, the participants were given to artificial bouldering at the Podar College , Matunga east, Mumbai. The course ended with certificate and Tshirt distribution. I would like to thank Mr. Prasanna Joshi for guiding us, Mr. Saurabh Oka for taking the initiative and all other instructors namely Prem, Shubhash, Vidyut, Aditya and Abhijeet for their contribution to this camp.

-Parag Lagu Instructor, Rock Climbing Camp 2019