Srinagar, July 28: In a first-of-its kind initiative, Team Mountaineers, a Srinagar based camping and trekking venture, which is registered with JandK Tourism, is organizing summer camps and trekking for girls in Sonamarg.
Team Mountaineers is a camping and trekking venture started by Abdul Basit, a management graduate, in 2017.
The venture has previously held a number of camping and trekking programs at its base camp in Lashpathri Sonamarg, in which boys were the only participants.
Talking to Kashmir Images, Mir Anum, Marketing Manager for Team Mountaineers said that the ratio of girl participation in camping and trekking expeditions is very low in Kashmir and this is what has motivated us to host a special camping program exclusively for the girls. “The initiative is aimed at eliminating gender based disparity in adventure sports and encouraging girls to participate in such expeditions; besides, ensuring a safe environment for them throughout the expedition,” said Anum adding that the initiative will help young girls to gain confidence, besides; improving their mood and energy levels.
Anum told Kashmir Images that the group will be guided by a female coach. “The camp site is securely fenced with 2 guards escorting the same during nighttime.”
“Initially when I and Basit discussed about this venture with our family and friends, while suggesting us to back off everyone happened to undermine the idea,” said Anum adding that however, Basit’s determination never faded as he continued to work on his idea.”
“First of all we identified the base for our camping at Sonamarg and it took us about 8-9 months to complete all the legal and official formalities and then finally we got our venture registered under JandK Tourism,” she added.
The Founder and Managing Director of Team Mountaineers, Abdul Basit, told Kashmir Images that they started their camping programs with a small group of 20 people. “Soon we started hosting camps for different schools in which more than 50 students would participate, we also provided all the basic facilities and trekking gears to the participants,” he added.
