Three-fold rise in applications of women mountaineers this year

With several steps initiated by the Mamata Banerjee government for women empowerment, a number of them have shown interest to take part in adventure sports and as a result, applications for mountaineering has gone up by three fold in the past one year.

According to the data available with West Bengal Mountaineering and Adventure Sports Foundation (WBMASF) under the state Youth Services and Sports department, around 150 girls from different parts of the state have applied this time to take part in an expedition to climb mountains measuring around 7000 metre in Garhwal division of the Himalayas. The number of women applicants was only 50 last year.

The state Youth Services and Sports department organises the expedition every year and selected candidates are provided with financial assistance. They also get certificates and medals after successful completion of their expedition.

Following the advertisement in dailies seeking applications from interested ones above 18 years and below 40 years of age, around 150 women and 250 men had applied with all sorts of documents to get selected for the expedition that to begin in the first week of September.

Ujjal Roy, a member of WBMASF, said: "The number of women applicants have gone up by three times this year. At the same time, the number of men applicants has also gone up by around 100."

Roy further added: "Every year we select 10 men and 10 women for the expedition. Despite such a huge number of applications this year, the same number of men and women have been selected who will be taking up the expedition as two separate teams. But with such an increase in number of applicants, we are planning to increase the number of teams to three from next year," said Roy adding that this year the selected applicants will be taking up expeditions on two peaks — one is of around 6,500 metre and other is 7,000 metre in Garhwal division of the Himalayas. The date of the journey is yet to be finalised but the 25 to 30 day long expedition is expected to begin in the first week of September.

It may be mentioned that the state government had taken a slew of measures to ensure safety of mountaineers aspiring to climb 8,848 metre high Mount Everest or any other peak above 8,000 metre. The steps were taken after death of mountaineers from the state while climbing Mount Everest in 2016.

According to the experts, the state government's support to help mountaineering aspirants taking up expeditions on around 6,500 to 7,000 metre high peaks help in sharpening their skills before they attempt to climb Mount Everest.

WBMASF members have also visited several schools and colleges in the past two years to encourage students to take part in adventure sports considering that it helps to build sportsmanship and sense of fellow feelings among them. It also helped in encouraging more people to apply for the expedition this year.