Himalayan Club members speak at Woodstock

In a continuing effort to increase student interest in outdoor education and exploration, the Woodstock School's Hanifl Centre for Outdoor Education and Environmental Study welcomed several members of the Himalayan Club on campus this week. Three eminent mountaineers - Nicholas Clinch, Jim Lowther, and Harish Kapadia - spoke to the students and staff on the 22nd and 23rd of February about their work and their experiences.

Nicholas Clinch, who is one of the senior members of the club, addressed an audience of students and staff at the Parker Hall on Monday about his co-authored book 'Through a Land of Extremes - The Littledales of Central Asia'. Clinch told the story of adventurous couple St. George and Teresa Littledale, who explored several parts of Central Asia in three major expeditions in the late 19th century. After travels in the USA, the couple went on hunting and exploring expeditions through Russia, Afghanistan, Ladakh, Mongolia, Tibet, and Siberia. On their way they mapped several unknown parts of Central Asia, discovered many new species of birds, and collected botanical samples previously undiscovered in the Western world.

The second speaker on Monday was Jim Lowther, a leading British mountaineer who has long association with climbing in the Indian Himalaya. Jim has been exploring the Greater Ranges since the age of 18. He spoke about one of his most difficult journeys when he took part in a two-man Trans-Greenland expedition. One of the highlights of this 32-day trip was when Jim used a parachute to sail through the ice surface in Greenland. Concluding his talk, Jim encouraged Woodstock students to develop an interest in exploring the outdoors.

Woodstock welcomed again Harish Kapadia, a renowned mountaineer and explorer who had previously visited the school in early October. On Tuesday, February 23rd, Harish addressed a small gathering of Woodstock students, staff, and Himalayan Club members on Arunachal Pradesh - the eastern frontier of India. Based on his treks and travel, the illustrated talk covered different valleys of this unknown land, its peaks, people and places. Kapadia spoke of traversing the Brahmaputra, rarely visited villages in Arunachal, the culture, food habits, and living conditions of the tribals, and treks to the Tsanpo gorges. He also covered the current tensions in the land between India and China over the McMahon Line.

Over his eventful lifetime, Harish has climbed 35 major peaks and participated in several expeditions, including Mount Everest, Kalanath, Nanda Devi, Mount Kailash, Siachen Glacier, peaks in Sikkim, around Garhwal, and in unknown areas in Arunachal Pradesh around the India-China border. Find out more about Harish on his website.