Adventure Sports in India

Camping in India

Camping is perhaps the best way of enjoying the wonders of nature given to Himachal and sharing the warmth of its people. You can carry your own gear along or opt for any one of the several camps that are pitched in various parts of the State. These camps offer accomodation, catering and variety of activities like hiking, fishing, nature-tours and rafting. Most of these offer quality facilities and services.

Himachal has camps at Sarchu in Lahaul besides built accomodation, and tents are available at Sangla and Kalpa in Kinnaur and Kaza in Spiti part of Lahaul & Spiti district. The Youth Hostel association of India, runs camps at Dalhousie (Chamba) and at Kullu-Manali. Camps run by the private sector are at Barog in Solan district, Baspa (Sangla) valley and Kalpa in Kinnaur, at Tabo in Spiti, at Al Hilal (Taragarh) and Dharamsala in Kangra, at Shoja near Kullu and Mashobra and Baldian near Shimla Adventure camps are likely to be available soon in the Pabbar valley in the Jubbal - Hatkoti - Rohru area in Shimla district.

Hang Gliding in India

Hang gliding, at its most primitive level, fulfils humankind's desire to emulate the birds. Though a relatively recent entrant within the ambit of adventure sports, hang gliding has really caught on with clubs coming up in cities such as Pune, Delhi, Chandigarh, Shimla, Mumbai, Devlali, Bangalore and Kalaheti.

According to experts, while India has good thermal soaring effects during the summer months, and offers hill soaring almost round the year, the soaring in the winter months-although too static-is also good for hang-gliding. Several sites in India have been identified by expert hang gliders with those in the lower reaches of the Himalayas rated as/among the best in the world.

Heli Skiing in India

A thrill-a-minute adventure sport where split-second decisions can literally make or mar, heli-skiing is probably the most exciting sport to be introduced in the sub-continent. The first Asian country to offer facilities for this sport, heli-skiing made its debut in Kashmir in January 1988. Set up in collaboration with the famous Swiss-born ski-mountaineer, Sylvan Saudan, this exciting sport requires prior skiing experience as well as a thorough knowledge of the physical features, cornices, crevasses, wind direction and potential avalanche hazard areas.

Though expensive and exclusive, this ultimate adventure sport is fast gaining popularity. Then of course, there is a range of the conventional sporting activities, which can be viewed at various stadia. One of these is an addiction called cricket and the best place to watch this game is in an open enclosure, surrounded by roughly 50,000 frenzied fans! No wonder, it's called the 'religion' of the sub-continent. For fitness freaks, there are jogging trails, more often than not within the hotel premises where they are staying or just outside it.

River Rafting in India

The challenge of the daunting, turbulent rivers is no less, than that of the rugged mountains. The icy heights of the Himalayas, are the source of some of India's mighty rivers. Fed by innumerable streams, they race along tortuous boulder - strewn beds, cutting deep gorges, and breaking into silvery white rapids.

An intricate network of thundering mountain rivers, flowing through an amazing landscape of thrilling gorges, forests, and remote villages, the Garhwal and Kumaon hills, in the state of Uttaranchal Pradesh, provide ideal settings for some dramatic water adventure.

Rock Climbing India

Rock Climbing in India, initially began as training for mountaineering and turned into an exciting sport about 15 years ago. Rock-climbing is largely balance and not strength. Balance also determines the value of strength by how much energy you spend actually climbing Sheer rock faces, ideal for rock climbing, can be found in many areas. The Aravali hills have good climbing faces at Dumdama, Dhauj and Nuh, all situated near Delhi.

The Western Ghats have Mumbra and Dudha beyond Pune. Himachal Pradesh offers the Manali Valley, Manikaran and the Rohtang Pass. Rajasthan has Mount Abu and Sariska which have gentler rocks. In Karnataka there are the Chamundi Hills. High-altitude climbers will enjoy the rock faces at Sonmarg in Kashmir and Gangotri in Garhwal, Uttaranchal. These trips are advisable in the summer and autumn months.