GILGIT:
The nine-day training course for mountaineering porters at Rakaposhi Base Camp concluded here on Thursday, with participants terming the course as a milestone for climbers in Gilgit-Baltistan (G-B).
The course, attended by 16 participants, was arranged by Alpine Club of Pakistan in collaboration with EV-K2-CNR, an Italian funded project.
The training was conducted by internationally acclaimed Italian climbers Maurizio Gallo and Michele Gucchi.
“This was one of the best training courses I ever attended,” Faiz Ali, a participant, told The Express Tribune.
G-B Forests Secretary Abdul Hameed, who was the chief guest at the closing ceremony, distributed certificates among the participants.
Gallo said that the course was meant for porters assisting climbers in their expeditions, which would help them improve their climbing skills. Rescue, evaluation and emergency communication were also taught during the course, he added.
EV-K2-CNR Technical Representative Arif Hussain said that the course was organised in the framework of Social Economic and Environmental Development, a project funded by the government of Italy and Pakistan. It was implemented through a partnership between the EV-K2-CNR committee and Karakoram International University.
Hameed thanked the Italian climbers for arranging the course and urged them to hold more training programmes in the region, which have some of the world’s highest mountains.
Published in The Express Tribune, September 16th, 2011.
COMMENTS
Comments are moderated and generally will be posted if they are on-topic and not abusive.
For more information, please see our Comments FAQ