India is a land of varied topography including mountains, hills, rivers, lakes and wildlife. You can indulge yourself in a variety of adventure activities in India. For ensuring safety of people involving in such activities, the minimum acceptable standards have been set up in terms of equipment and human resources. Broadly the adventure activities in India have been divided into three categories namely Land Based, Water Based and Air Based.
(1) Land Based - (i) Mountaineering and (ii) Trekking
(2) Water Based - (i) River running
(3) Air Based - (i) Parasailing, (ii) Paragliding and (iii) Bungee Jumping
Basic Minimum Standards for Land Based Activities Mountaineering :
1. Application : These Basic Minimum Standards (BMS) will apply specifically to commercial operators attempting 6,000 mtr or other comparable peaks.
2. Information to Clients: A variety of organisations offer to take clients on 6,000 mtr or other comparable peaks. These BMS will supply clients with pointers to assist them to make an informed choice.
3. Danger awareness: Mountaineers climbing at very high altitude, especially above 6,000m are at considerable stress to their mental and physical powers and may not be capable of assisting others as has always been traditional in mountaineering.
4. General Guidelines for Mountaineering:
(a) All such operators will have to be registered with Adventure Tour Operators Association of India and Ministry of Tourism.
(b) The leader or chief guide and as many as possible of the guides should have high altitude experience appropriate to the altitude of the peak to be climbed. He must have been a member of three climbing expeditions above 6000 m and must have completed the Basic Mountaineering Course with an ‘A’ grade or an equivalent from abroad. He/She must be qualified on first aid and cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) certification.
(c) The guiding and porter staff on the mountain and the material supplied must be adequate for the aims of the party and stated level of service offered.
(d) An experienced doctor in the party is desirable but at the very least advance arrangements must be known for medical help. Advance arrangements must also be made for evacuation assistance in case of emergency.
(e) The minimum safety equipment available is recommended walkie-talkie radios and recommended medical supplies.
(f) Advertising must give a true picture of all the difficulties and dangers involved, and avoid promising the impossible. If an expedition is commercially launched by an operator, then the Biographical information about the guiding team should be included.
(g) The client must truthfully reveal his experience, supported by documentation/photograph, medical history etc to the organiser so that the organiser can make an informed choice about the potential client.
(h) Information supplied in advance will include a clear statement of the guiding, porterage and equipment which will be supplied by the organiser, together with details of the clothing and equipment to be supplied by the client. This is not in context of the operators assisting expeditions with logistics alone.
(i) All equipment on which life is dependent must be Union International de Alpine Association (UIAA) or European Union (EU) certified.
(j) Knowledge of low impact environmental expeditioning must be undertaken, pledging to environmental guidelines of Union International de Alpine Association (UIAA)/Himalayan Environment Trust (HET) etc.
General Guidelines for Trekking :
(a). The leader or chief guide and as many as possible of the guides should have experience appropriate to the difficulty of the route being attempted The trip leader must have completed at least two trekking trips in general and must have completed the Basic Mountaineering Course or equivalent with an ‘A’ grade. He/She must be qualified on first aid and cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) certification.
(b). The guiding and porter staff for the trek and the material supplied must be adequate for the aims of the party and stated level of services offered.
(c). Adequate arrangements must be made known in advance for medical help available in the area. Advance information must also be made for evacuation assistance in case of emergency. Minimum first aid medical supplies must be carried on the trip. In case of a helicopter requirement for rescue operation, it is recommended that the Accreditation Committee be empowered to authorize the rescue.
(d). Information provided to clients must give a true picture of all the difficulties and dangers involved, and avoid promising the impossible. Biographical information about the guiding team should be included.
(e). The client must truthfully reveal his experience, medical history etc to the organiser so that the organiser can make an informed choice about the potential client.
(f). Information supplied in advance will include a clear statement of the guiding, porterage and equipment which will be supplied by the organiser, together with details of the clothing and equipment to be supplied by the client.
Note – Information has been taken from Incredible India Site (http://www.incredibleindia.org/). I have given information only for Basic Minimum Standards for Land Based Activities – in the next posts I will provide information about Water Based and Air Based Adventure Tourism Activities.
