News & Updates
First Mountain Shepherds Trainees Graduate
A unique graduation ceremony took place at the Nerhu Institute of Mountaineering on Saturday, where thirty-eight youth hailing mostly from the upper reaches of Chamoli, but also from Uttarkashi and Pithoragarh districts, completed their basic mountaineering course. Organized by SPECS (Uttarakhand) and sponsored by the Winterline Foundation (USA), composed of alumni of the International Woodstock […]
Nanda Devi opens door after 24 yrs, women first
By Neelesh Misra Hindustan Times New Delhi, September 14, 2006 India’s second highest peak — Nanda Devi — has stood in its Himalayan isolation for 24 years, looming sombre over Uttarakhand’s impoverished villages — where tourism and mountaineering once brought prosperity. Seventeen women climbers from four countries want to turn around the region’s fortune. The […]
Capacity Building and Training through Mountain Shepherds
The training of local youth to participate in the local economy is integral to any community-based development project. Not only are youth the future of their communities, but also the most willing and able to take advantage of new opportunities made available by new skills. To this effect, Mountain Shepherds fundraised and sought and obtained […]
2006 ASU Trip
For the second year in a row a group of students from Appalachian State University in Boone, NC traveled to the Garhwal region of the Himalaya. Dr. Keith Bosak and Dr. Kathleen Schroeder from Appalachian State University lead six students, three undergraduate and three graduate, on a summer field course. The group was also accompanied […]
Nanda Devi to Rally the World’s Women Mountaineers
The Mountain Shepherds Initiative of the Nanda Devi Campaign has announced the long awaited list of finalists for the first ever Nanda Devi Women’s Trek 2006. Seventeen women from India, the US, Canada, and Taiwan were selected for their mountaineering skills and interest in mountain environments and peoples, and have been invited to come to […]
Jungle raj tourism vs. the people
Himal Magazine (May 2006) In the mountain fastness of Nanda Devi, which gave the Chipko movement to Southasia, the local communities are battling the Uttarakhand authorities to retain benefits from tourists when they arrive – ‘ecotourism’ or not. It is oddly tempting to describe the area known as the Nanda Devi Biosphere Reserve as ‘tucked […]
Nanda Devi Women’s Festival 2006
On India’s 56th Republic Day, Lata village continued the fast evolving tradition of hosting an annual women’s festival. Early in the morning, the president of the Mahila Mangal Dal of village Lata Mrs Shukri Devi hosted the tricolor at the Junior High School of Lata. Later in the forenoon, the women contingents from the adjoining […]
2005 ASU Trip
One of the oldest mountain ranges in the world and one of the newest had an historic meeting this summer. Students from Appalachian State University (ASU) in Boone, North Carolina traveled thousands of miles to Lata Village and the surrounding Chamoli District of Garhwal, Uttarakhand, India for a three week tour of the region. The […]
2005 Canada Trip
In the summer of 2005, students from universities in Southern Ontario, Canada travelled to the Nanda Devi region and were guests of Lata village as part of their social, ecological, and health studies in the Himalayas. Along with students from Appalachian State University, the summer was a busy time in the area. Photo Gallery
Artists’ Camp Supports Nanda Devi
DEHRADUN (July 2, 2005): A workshop for painters and sculptors organised by Delhi’s ‘Nav Siddhartha Art Group’ in support of the ‘Nanda Devi Campaign’ took place for the second year in a row in the salubrious environs of ‘Vidya Bhavan’ in Herbertpur. The workshop began on 22 June and wound up on 28 June. All […]
