Hyderabad gets adventurous

Hyderabad is usually described as a “chalta hai” city where the majority doesn’t mind spending thousands of rupees on swanky gym clothes rather than waking up at 5 in morning for a walk. But 2015 proved to be different.

From organising India’s largest triathlon event to being in the headlines for the rescue story on Vivek Gupta and Shashidhar, Great Hyderabad Adventure Club (GHAC) bears testimony to the fact that the city has become much more health conscious in the past 365 days. “Next year, the focus is certainly going to be on outdoor activities. Vivek and Shashidhar survived near Chikmagalur in Karnataka despite being lost on the trail because of their outdoor training. We are training more outdoor leaders, almost 150 of them,” says Suresh Kochattil, one of the members of GHAC.

The club had over 3,000 members joining this year. “GHAC is now seeking to reach out to the school segment so that we can take students outdoors so they can learn lessons from nature. We are also seeking to train and induct more outdoor leaders who can lead our rock climbing, hiking, trekking and high altitude climbing teams,” says Suresh, adding, “One of our members, Sundari, who is 65 years old, wrote to me saying that thanks to the training provided she has been able to participate in 50 different adventure events throughout the year, including 300 feet rappelling, Tarzan swing, zip lining, surfing and cycling.”

During the year, GHAC was affiliated to the Indian Mountaineering Foundation (IMF). “Hyderabad certainly has better culture than cities like Bengaluru. Just in the ORR area, there are 20 climbing spots,” Suresh adds.