Tourism department to train local youth in mountaineering, skiing and snowboarding

PIONEER EDGE NEWS SERVICE | Dehradun

The Tourism department will provide training to local youth in mountaineering, skiing and snowboarding under a state-supported scheme. The department aims to connect youth with adventure tourism and develop their skills for employment or self-employment in the tourism sector.

The Tourism secretary and chief executive officer of Uttarakhand Tourism Development Board (UTDB) Dhiraaj Singh Garbyal said that the department will sponsor basic and advanced courses in mountaineering, skiing, snowboarding and adventure activities. Youth will be selected for these courses through a competitive process and the department will cover the training expenses. He informed that currently, six government recognised institutions in the country offer such training. These include Nehru Institute of Mountaineering (NIM) in Uttarkashi, Atal Bihari Vajpayee Institute of Mountaineering and Allied Sports in Himachal Pradesh, Himalayan Mountaineering Institute in Darjeeling, Jawahar Institute of Mountaineering in Jammu and Kashmir, Indian Institute of Skiing and Mountaineering in Gulmarg and National Institute of Water Sports in Goa.

The department will pay Rs 25,000 to Rs 30,000 per trainee for the courses, depending on the institution. Garbyal clarified that the selected youth must complete the basic course before proceeding to advanced levels. Applications will be accepted online. Trainees will also receive travel expenses and a fixed stipend for attending the course. The department will issue a certificate to each participant after training, he said.

The scheme will run from September 2025 to March 2026. Trained youth can apply their skills in adventure tourism, either by working as mountaineering guides or starting self-employment ventures. The training is expected to help participants build careers in the growing field of adventure tourism, Garbyal added.