As the Himalayan Association marks its golden jubilee, stories about the club's conquests has a lot to reveal

WEST Bengal's brief winter sees the state's numerous mountaineering clubs holding their annual rock climbing courses on the crags of Susunia Hills, an overnight train ride away from Kolkata. These weeklong camps serve as the introduction to climbing for most youngsters. Many of them go on to do the Basic Mountaineering Course at the mountaineering institutes in Darjeeling, Manali and Uttar Kashi. Twenty-four years ago on January, I attended one such course and embarked on a lifelong association with mountaineering.

The course was organised by Himalayan Association and it brings a lump to my throat to mark the golden jubilee today of its founding on March 12, 1960.

One of the oldest civilian mountaineering clubs in the country, it was originally named Himalayan Institute by founders Umaprasad Mukhopadhyay, Probodh Sanyal (both famous Bengali travel writers) and mountain-lovers Sukumar Roy, Mani Sain and Amitabha Dasgupta. But prime minister Jawaharlal Nehru and chief minister BC Roy advised them to change the name to avoid confusion with the Himalayan Mountaineering Institute of Darjeeling. The club organised an expedition in the first year of its existence. A team led by Sukumar Roy climbed Nanda Ghunti (6,309m). Interestingly, this is one of several mountains associated with Nanda Devi and is named after the veil of the goddess.

This was followed in 1962 by the first Indian ascent of Nilgiri Parbat (6,474m) under leader Amulya Sen.

The club held eastern India's first rock climbing course in 1965, launching a tradition that still lasts today. The following year, it made a landmark achievement by climbing a virgin peak, Trisuli (7,074m). The Himalayan Association team, led by Chanchal Mitra, which made the first ascent of Trisuli, was invited to participate in the 1967 Republic Day parade in New Delhi. The peak had earlier been attempted by a Polish team in 1964 as a pre-Everest expedition. In 1965, Himalayan Association mounted its first expedition to Trisuli but was unsuccessful. It was the second attempt the next year that saw the club achieve arguably its proudest moment. In 1967, a team led by Shyamal Chakrabarty made the first Indian ascent of Uja Tirche (6,202m). Then came the climb of the virgin Bomba Dhura (6,334m) under Manik Banerjee in 1977. It was followed by the ascent of Maiktoli (6,803m) by a new route in 1981 and the first civilian joint climb of twin peaks Kamet (7,756m) and Abi Gamin (7,355m) in 1986.

Memorably, India's oldest active woman climber, Chandra Prabha Aitwal (now 68 years old), did her first expedition with Himalayan Association. She was a summiteer on the club's first all-woman expedition to Kedar Dome (6,940m) to mark International Year for Women in 1975.

Yet this list of impressive "firsts" does not convey the real achievement of half a century of teaching, encouraging and promoting first-grade mountaineering along with environmental awareness. This is known only to those who have been regular visitors to the club's courses and to its tiny office and library in a congested street in central Kolkata.

Senior members willingly give their time to educate and help youngsters with informal lectures and advice on altitude, diet, gear, hazards and mountain photography besides the allimportant subject of climbing technique.

The club is located at 89, Mahatma Gandhi Road, Kolkata -700007.