Know Your Trek Leaders better!

Advance Mountaineering Course at HMI Darjeeling

Overview of Your Technical Trekking Team

On every trek that you see here on the site, you’ll be assisted by one trek leader and one assistant trek leader. Team will have a local guide who knows the trek better then anyone, most of which have been working in the area since their childhood.

Trek Leaders – All trek leaders are highly trained in the mountaineering field and are certified to lead expeditions in the Indian Himalayas. Soul Adventure trek Leaders were trained in HMI Darjeeling, they did BMC (Basic) and then AMC (Advance Mountaineering Course) were taught lead climbing on an expedition and a variety of rescue techniques.

Assistant Trek Leaders – Soul Adventures hire trainees who are looking to gain experience in the mountains. ATL will be a bonus assistance for a better experience of our clients in the mountains.

You can trust them with your safety with any kind of adventure activity in the Himalayas. Our team also conduct training sessions for errant clients, where you can improve your skills and tackle the mountains one shade better.

HMI Darjeeling conduct Advance mountaineering courses every year where BMC qualified trainees go under Advance training in Sikkim Himalayas. Rope fixing for the team on the expedition is the major aspect of the training, trainees fix ropes on the glacier using different climbing techniques (single ice axe and double axe lead).

First phase of the training is conducted on the “Tenzing Rock” face in Darjeeling itself. Advance rock techniques like Jumar climbing with load on a long face; lead climbing; rappelling down with load and aid climbing on overhang sections are taught. This help trainees to smoothly negotiate rock sections on the expedition.

Trek to Basecamp In the second phase of the training our future trek leaders move to HMI basecamp in the Kanchenjunga National Park. They are trained at the base camp for few days where they’ll do load-ferry in the morning and training in the afternoon after coming back from load-ferry to “Advance basecamp”.

Third Phase after occupying Advance Basecamp (ABC) trainees go for the glacier walk where the third phase of the training will take place. Trainees learn how a Lead Climber work on the mountains, which technique they use to open the route for the team. They fix rope on the glacier in the real conditions that they’ll face in the mountains. Falling rocks and crumbling glaciers ice makes the training more a real Expedition scenario.

Trek leader also learn rescue techniques while doing alpine climbing and that’s why you can trust your trek leaders, as they are trained and have mastered these in the mountains while working in every feasible season.

Mt. BC Roy Submit - After completing the glacier training trainees go all out as Mt. BC Roy waits for them to test their limits but now the trainees have learned all the required manoeuvre to tackle the peak. After a daylong technical climb and dangerous decent trainees have completed the test and have tackled it with flying colours.

Now the graduates are trained to tackle any kind of situation that might affect the team on an expedition. They are trained to open routes for the team and lead from the front.