Women naval officers undertake trek to Pindari glacier

New Delhi : An all women high altitude trek to Pindari Glacier was organized by the Indian Navy from March 24 to April 2, with an aim to introduce the women officers to the extreme adventure sport of mountaineering.

Accordingly, the trek was planned at the beginning of the trekking season to add the elements of thrill and chill. The team led by Priya Khurana comprised 24 women officers.

The event, flagged off from the national capital on March 22 by A.R. Karve, Chief of Personnel reached Loharkhet on March 26 from where they commenced their high altitude trek to Pindari Glacier through Dhakuri, Khati and Dwali. The team reached the Pindari Glacier zero point (3353 mtrs) on March 30.

The team had to face treacherous terrain of gravel and boulders and snow blocks thereby making personnel movement a difficult task.

A total of six landslide zones were encountered enroute. The original trek route has been damaged in 2013 owing to natural calamity in Uttarakhand and hence the team opened an alternate route along the Pindari river to reach its destination.

The team started its descent on March 30 and reached back at Loharkhet on March 31 and in Delhi on April 2, thereby successfully completing the trek.

The services of Kumaon Mandal Vikas Nigam Ltd (KMVNL), Government of Uttarakhand were hired to provide logistics and administrative support.