When First aid can save a Life

Sunday is not a day when many will drag themselves out of their bed in the morning to attend a First Aid training class. But then, members of Great Hyderabad Adventure Club (GHAC) are different. Against the set quota of 20 trainees, a total of 31 adventurers from GHAC trooped into Apollo Learning Centre in Apollo Health City to learn how to save a life in an emergency.

 - Contributed By Suresh. K

This First Aid Training Course is an internationally valid certificate course conducted by St. John Ambulance Association, Hyderabad and needs participation of 8 hour activity. This course will benefit participants not just during outdoor adventure activities but anywhere and anytime in life. This course is compulsory for all GHAC trek leaders, aspiring trek leaders and those involved in longer and difficult treks. According to Chief Organizer of GHAC, Diyanat Ali, this first aid training will eventually become a prerequisite for all active members who hope to keep trekking with GHAC.

Dr Ravi Talks on CPR

Dr Vishnu Demonstrating Life saving Techniques

Dr Vishnu and Dr Ravi, from St John’s Ambulance started off with a bit of theory and then got into various kinds of emergencies and how to deal with them. First aid is a way to save a life by minimizing a dangerous situation, before the arrival of a trained paramedic or doctor or reaching the patient to a medical center.

Many deaths in our country happen due to lack basic knowledge. An unconscious person could die because of his tongue blocking the airway or getting choked by one own vomit. A simple technique of tilting the head to one side can prevent that from happening. Or a person who has suffered an electrical shock can be saved by following a few simple steps.

Also demonstrated were the ways to check if a person is conscious, is breathing or has a heartbeat and CPR. The CPR or Cardio Pulmonary Resuscitation involves opening and maintaining person’s airway, rescue breathing, providing artificial circulation by external cardiac compression. In many cases, a person without a heartbeat can be revived with this simple technique.

The 4th GHAC First Aid batch

Among the points covered in the day long training programme, were ways to deal with Animal bites, Minor Cuts and Burns, Choking, Stroke, Heart attack and Cardiac arrest, Convulsion, Electric shock, Eye Injuries, Fainting, Fractures Insect bites and Stings, Nosebleed, Poisoning, Shock, Sprains and Strains, and dealing with Unconsciousness. The faculty from St John’s ambulance also trained GHAC members in using various types of bandages. Trainees were made to practice different ways to rescue people from dangerous situations including fire and smoke. Classifying of emergency situations was another lesson for the GHAC trainees.

Provisional Certificates were awarded to the participants at the end of the workshop.

Comments from participants:

“Excellent Training with a touch of humour. This is a must training for all individuals and trekkers where it can be lifesaving. I am happy and confident to perform first aid when it’s needed.” Yogi

“I learned many essential life skills from Dr Vishnu and Dr Ravi and all for implanting the first aid ideas in to our minds.” Vijay

“It was an excellent course. I thoroughly enjoyed myself.” Padmaja

According to Praful Sahgal who underwent the training, the faculty was able to connect well with the group which made the learning’s great fun.

I was an excellent session on the Do’s and Don'ts in commonly occurring accidents. Srinivas Poluru

GHAC Assistant Organizer, Prashant Morparia, found the training useful, important and necessary

“Superb! This should be made mandatory for all citizens. What use is our education if we can’t provide simple first aid?” Vamsi Kiran

An evening with Ranvijay Singh

An evening with Ranvijay Singh 

by Amar Deep

It was meet-up with a difference. When Diyanat Ali the Foudner of GHAC (Great Hyderabad Adventure Club) posted a meet-up with Rannvijay Singh of MTV Roadies fame, many within GHAC and many others outside were wondering what it had to do with adventure.

Those doubts were soon dispelled and in no time GHAC members and fans of MTV Roadies, RSVPed for the meetup on Monday, March 28th. So the event, ‘An evening with Ranvijay Singh of MTV Roadies’ had 150 GHAC folks attending with their guests at the venue, Lamakaan.

That dream came true with Ranvijay Singh right in front of them ‘Live’ for more than 2 hours of the prime time Monday evening with them. The best seats or let me put them this way, the closest ones to him were occupied by girls, while the young men kept a distance till he started to talk. Belying everyone's expectations, Ranvijay arrived with a clean shave look, leaving behind his stub in Ooty, taking a break from a movie shoot, and looked fresh and relaxed.
 

The evening started with an intro about Rannvijay by Diyanat Ali, GHAC host cum meet-up moderator. Many in the audience already knew Rannvijay well since the days when he had won the 1st MTV Roadies series. Sitting against the white projection wall of Lamkaan, Ranvijay bowled the pretty maidens in the audience with his looks and also spoke in a friendly non-scripted spontaneous style.

He was quizzed mostly by the girls present, and many a times, he had to request for the mike to be passed on to the guys too. With the answers came his enchanting smile and the one-liners, breaking all who followed him into multiple laughs. Apart from the questions on his looks, experience in the Roadies and other MTV reality shows he is hosting, the evening host posed him a question as to what he thinks is the in thing in adventure sports.

Rannvijay was quick to share that bouldering is the happening sport that has caught on with the adventure seekers all over the country. He spotted the boulders forming part of the stage backdrop at Lamakaan, and conveyed to the audience that climbing them and the bigger ones is indeed a thrilling experience to have. He highlighted the fact that Hyderabad has the geographical advantage of having rocks all around, and one does not need to spend hours looking for them, like other cities. Diyanat added on the news that GHAC has the best of equipment has more than 200 members who do bouldering along with NIM trained trainers.

Watch the Video at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LlryxSpd7So

Rannvijay had a ready answer for a question from Diyanat on what he would do on finding an elephant. Rannvijay replied what a nature lover would, “Leave the elephant it the wild, where it belongs to.” Rannvijay shared that he met many youngsters who wanted to be on a reality show to prove themselves and hanging out in coffee shops and hookah bars to be cool. “Smoking hookah and spending hours in coffee shops leads one to nothing and I am concerned about youngsters wasting their youthful time.” he added. 

The adventurers attending gave him a huge round of applause when Rannvijay shared his close family connection with Hyderabad, and found the city to be happening and young. This visit to Hyderabad has  happened to him, courtesy Nagesh Kukunoor, who is shooting a new movie, with him in it. 

After the talk and answering quizzing questions from the girls about his single relationship status, his craze for bikes and biking, and his acting plans, Ranvijay readily posed for pictures, gave autographs with his charismatic smile. Nagesh Kukunoor and   Elahe were present through the talk and also obliged the attendees with pictures and autographs. 

Most of the GHAC adventurers attending were in awe with Rannvijay down to earth attitude and sportiveness to share without airs. His best line was that one needs to get more out of life, by connecting with nature and do what one likes to enjoy.

This was one of those evenings, which will be remembered and cherished by the GHAC members, where they connected moments with Ranvijay, the Roadie, the Reality Shows host, Adventurer biker, Passionate Traveler and now a silver screen Actor.

Diyanat Ali along with the GHAC members present at the meet-up, wished Ranvijay ‘all the best’ for the movie he is acting in and the reality shows he is hosting. 

GHAC Boating Trip to Laknavaram

GHAC Boating Trip conducted on 5th, 6th March 2011 at Laknavaram lake  was covered by Inews Channel. Video submitted by Srikanth Rao

400th meetup of GHAC

Team GHAC

It all began way back in May 2008, when Diyanat Ali decided that adventure was what Hyderabadis needed the most. 33 months later, the Great Hyderabad Adventure Club has grown into one of India's most active adventure clubs with a steadily growing membership (as of today, 3717 to be precise).

Now, history will be made on 3rd March 2011 as Ali Razvi gets set to lead a GHAC team to the Aqua Ocean Goa - Marine Wealth Awareness Programme. That, ladies and gentlemen, will be the 400th meet up of GHAC, a landmark that we all should be really proud of. It will not be long before we hit the 4000 member mark and with it moving into the next trajectory of growth.

To keep up with this rapid growth in membership, the GHAC Organizing Team is being expanded and that will mean more treks and shorter waiting lists. We are also ramping up training for the new organizers and introducing a new mentoring program. All these moves will drive in a culture of total professionalism among the GHAC Leadership, which should then percolate down to all our members.

At the end of the day, it’s the effort and dedication of each one of you at GHAC that makes us what we are today. We thank you for reposing your confidence in us and will strive to keep up with the increasing expectations.

Do send in your feedback and suggestions to: diyanat@gmail.com

Cheers

GHAC Organizing Team

GHAC Leadership Summit

What does it take to build a new generation of leaders? Lot of enthusiasm, a dash of optimism, tons of knowledge, sprinkling of confidence, dressed up with devil may care attitude. Actually it takes more than that. This was obvious, when over 50 organizers and wannabe organizers gathered at Dhruva College of Management at Medchal on the outskirts of Hyderabad.  The occasion: the two day Annual Summit of Great Hyderabad Adventure Club (GHAC).

The chock-o-block agenda began with the wonderful, haunting Silent National Anthem. Our host and Chairman of Dhruva College of Management, Dr Pratap Reddy made the introductory remarks. This was followed by a formal inauguration by Vishweshwar Konda, an adventurer in his own right. Sangita Reddy, Executive Director Operations, Apollo Hospitals followed with a peppy speech. Post the inauguration, Diyanat Ali, Chief Organizer and founder of GHAC outlined his vision for the next financial year and a road map for GHAC. A session on Conflict Management by Chandra and Suresh brought out the issues that GHAC organizers faced during many of the treks.

Diya then took up the subject of the basic s of organising treks, Organiser Qualities, Ethics and etiquette. Suresh Kochattil and Chandra had a session on Introducing and using Mentoring and Feedback as a growth and success tool. This interactive session saw a number of suggestions flowing back and forth.  Padmaja made her talk on Effective Team Bonding on Treks and Diya followed with on Using Social Media to spread the word. Suresh moved in with a session on Effective Public and Media relations. A small digression from the topic saw an animated debate by delegates on the road ahead for GHAC. That more or less closed out the day sessions of the first day.

Post dinner, it was time for the Night Navigation Workshop by Mel Irwin and Keku. The participants were trained in finding their way out of a forest or mountain top by navigating with aid of stars. The one hour session was obviously not enough and we need another meet up to complete this training. A cake was cut by Diya to mark the first Leadership Summit of GHAC. The campfire that followed went on into the wee hours of the morning and saw an enthralling display of the multifaceted talents of the participants.

An early morning walk in the reserve forest adjacent to the college saw Diya introducing map reading sessions for the uninitiated. This too requires more training and we are sure to see a meetup on this subject, soon. A quick breakfast was followed a talk on Bouldering & Rock Climbing as a sport by Sujay, and it was awesome. For the first time, many of us realized the sheer range of bouldering equipment that GHAC has in its arsenal.  Chief trainer of GHAC, Lt Col. Rajeev Sharma spoke on planning and conduct of Treks. The subject of following and implementing Club Rules, Reporting violations and Disciplinary Action was taken up GHAC General Counsel, Javed Razack. Following that, Ali Razvi, our master negotiator spoke on Vendor Persuasion and Negotiation Skills.

Post lunch, Col Rajeev took us on Wilderness Survival Skills Workshop in the reserve forest. It was enlightening session that complimented the theory class that was held in the morning. We learnt how to make tea without any vessel, make different kinds of fires, make a basic but effective water filter in the wild, and make shelters in the wilderness.  Col Rajeev also taught us how to make different types of Knots and their usage including a Rope Lashing Workshop Session.

Back to the classroom, it was time for First Aid and Emergency Procedures by Dr Vibha. CPR and other emergency procedures were followed by a demo on evacuation by Prashant Pai and team. A session on Pain Relief and Relaxation with Physiotherapy by Praveen was followed by presentation of accounts by Ranga.

All in all, it was two wonderful days of theory and practical classes that enhanced the learning skills of the participants. The benchmark gets higher for the subsequent Summits. The post-summit deliberations will continue in the weeks to come.

Backpacking- How not to pack for Treks.

By- Ankitha Sista

 

My first 3 day trek with GHAC was particularly memorable for me and possibly my co-adventurers. The reason primarily being my abnormally huge backpack, which probably had in it all one needed to start pulling off a Walden at Kondaveedu Fort (That's where we went. It was a 2-day trek, though). I didn't think twice about the stuff I packed in it, and thought it'd be perfectly normal to carry such a huge back-pack (We see them in them movies, right?). I made lots of lists and was pleased with myself when every item on the list given in the meet write-up was crossed off. That huge stupid grin of mine was wiped off my face when I reached the Secunderabad Railway Station. "Are you carrying that for this trek" was on everybody's minds and a few faces. "Just how much does your Backpack weigh?" was a question frequently asked. Just after the "What's your name?"

I loved it, because I made friends faster than anyone else did. ;) Now how that happened was because the question that followed the ones mentioned above was "What are you carrying in it?". Smugly, I'd reply "Food", which was, the truth. I carried food sufficient for the gang for about 3 days, and other camping luxuries that weren't on the list, but in my back-pack because I set my eyes upon something and thought "Oh, that would be essential if something happens". I considered all possible case scenarios of what could possibly go wrong on the trek and Ta Da! There lay my elephantine backpack.

Coming to the approximately precise 'configuration' of my backpack, 50% of it was food. I packed food, retaining all my Indian-ness. Khakras, Theplas, Dhoklas and all the usual Gujju snacks and bread, jam, biscuits, butter, glucose, wafers, chocolates and the likes. So basically, I walked in to the Supermarket, went stashing everything I found on the rack in my trolley. Much later, in Phiraangipuram, I came to know what a squander that was when I saw the number of parcels our dear organisers had packed for lunch. Damn! I should have known. Nevertheless, the food stuff I brought did come handy because a
couple of them were foodies like me. :D

Another slip up was the carrying extra clothes. Remember, you won't need them on the GHAC treks. The schedules are really well planned and perfectly executed, so, the question of a What-if… happens doesn't arise. And the extra clothes I carried were Jeans- a total no-no on treks. Ideally, you could come
wearing clothes you'd want to trek in and another pair of clothes. But I didn't. And that made a lot of difference.

The other misjudgments included carrying my usual supply of toiletries I do, when I'm on an out-station trip. This was, clearly, not one. Diyanat later told me a few tips for carrying as minimal as possible. The smallest/ minimum quantity package the product has on offer should go in. Simple, isn't it?

It was when I began reading some climbing literature that I got to know how crucial even a milligram of weight is. People cutting off unnecessary buttons, toothbrush handles are the starters. I'm improvising on my packing with every trip I take.  As for the packing bible, what packing bible? Just stick to the list given!

Pictures

A picture dedicated to my back pack should give you an idea of why it became a standing joke on the trek.


This is for a comparison to scale since the other picture doesn't provide any.

Outdoor exercise healthier than gym workouts: Study

 More reasons to get out and join GHAC in the outdoors. Read on...

A new study has found that going for a run outdoors is better than exercising in the gym because it has a positive impact on mental, as well as physical health. The study found that exercise in natural environments was linked to greater feelings of revitalization, increased energy and positive engagement, reports the Telegraph.  Also levels of tension, confusion, anger and depression were lowered by exercising outside.

A team at the Peninsula College of Medicine and Dentistry looked at data from sources including 11 trials involving 833 adults. All compared the relative merits of outdoor exercise compared to indoors. Apart from improved mental health benefits, the study also reported greater enjoyment from exercising outside, and a higher likelihood of continuing with the exercise regime.

The study has been published in the journal Environmental Science and Technology. (ANI)

Gemini TV News Coverage Clips

For those who could not watch the Gemini TV Coverage of GHAC Bouldering and Rappelling Event. We have uploaded the video to youtube at the folllwing url.


Part 1 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FFe9fMhHGuY

Part 2 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sfvXCfgovRc


http://meetup.ghac.in
http://blog.ghac.in
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GHAC Mascot Competition

Whats your idea of a GHAC mascot?. How should GHAC Mascot look like.  What it should be called?. Come take part in the mascot competition and share your best images and win prizes.

Please upload all entries to the "GHAC Mascot Competition" Album at http://meetup.ghac.in/photos/1249795/ . You need to sign in to http://meetup.ghac.in to upload photos.

Deadline 11:59pm IST -  28th Feb 2011

Prizes

1st prize: Backpack 50 Litre
2nd prize: Sleeping Bag
3rd prize: GHAC Tshirt and Cap


Rules

   * Only one entry per member is allowed.
   * All submissions must be uploaded to the "GHAC Mascot Competition" Album at http://meetup.ghac.in/photos/1249795/
   * All mascots should have a name as the caption for the image uploaded.
   * Original Idea should be yours.  you can have someone design it for you.
   * GHAC  Committee will select the winners and declare the official mascot.
   * GHAC Club becomes owner of selected official mascot with all due credits given to the maker.

Great Hyderabad Adventure Club signs an MOU with Child Reach India

 Great Hyderabad Adventure Club signs an MOU with Child Reach India

Evening of 1st February 2011 was a red letter day for Great Hyderabad Adventure Club, as an MOU was signed between GHAC and Child Reach India to raise funds for welfare of lesser privileged children in India. CRI is a subsidiary of Child Reach International, a UK based charity organization that works for the welfare of children in India and across of the world. The MOU was signed by Diyanat Ali, Chief Organizer GHAC and Naresh Chaudhary, Country Director, Child Reach India.

GHAC will do what its best at, by conducting adventure activities and CRI will do the fund raising by offering the activities to the corporates and other groups. This agreement is possibly the first of its kind in India, where adventure comes to the aid of charity.

GHAC will raise funds  by conducting adventure activities in state of Andhra Pradesh for Child Rights India under the programme called Challenge Events. GHAC will also observe a charity weekend every month during which it would be carrying out itineraries only for the charity. Charity weekend is a weekend in which both GHAC and Child Rights India will be conducting events for charity.

Great Hyderabad Adventure club GHAC is a not for profit  club located in Hyderabad City and caters to weekend getaways, weekend travel,  trekking, hiking, camping, outdoors and adventure sports like rock climbing, rappelling, paragliding, skiing, white water rafting, scuba diving. The club provides everyone opportunities to get outdoors, try new adventure activities, and generally have a fantastic outdoor time. The Club also raises funds for equipment and various social causes by conducting Adventure Events and Team Building Activities for Corporates.

In the pic: Diyanat Ali  signs the MOU on behalf of GHAC while Naresh Chaudhary, Country Director signed the MOU for Child Reach India. Organisers Ali Razvi, Suresch Kochattil and Peddi Reddy were present and participated in the discussions.

GHAC takes the less privileged city children for an outing

 

Great Hyderabad Adventure Club is a Non Profit Group from Hyderabad City that promotes Adventure Activities, Environmental Care and a Healthy Lifestyle. GHAC focuses on weekend getaways, with a physically challenging twist and professionals on hand to help one explore their active side.

This Republic Day, GHAC Organiser Venkata Reddy wanted to do something different and he came up with the idea of organising a trek for the less privileged children. About 45 GHAC members got together to take about 80 Children from 2 Orphanages in the Hyderabad city to an outing to the Vanasthalipuram deer park and left them back with lot of smiles and found memories.

GHAC members also interacted one to one with the children and spent time playing games, singing and dancing. GHAC intends to continue to do the good work with at least 1 event every month being organised for the underprivileged children from our society.


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Mr. Rajeev Trivedi Wins Mumbai Marathon in the Veterans' Category

Mr. Rajiv Trivedi, Additional Director General of Police - A.P.P.A was our Guest of Honor at 'GHAC Carnival 2010'. He won the Mumbai International Marathin held on 16th Jan 2011 as a runner up in the veteran category. He is a great Inspiration for one and all. Pl Check the pics and News Clippings attached 

 Online Article on the Hindu Newspaper

GHAC needs Volunteers

GHAC needs Volunteers

Great Hyderabad Adventure Club - GHAC is a Non Profit Club that has been established in Hyderabad City to provide everyone opportunities to get outdoors, try new adventure activities, and generally have a fantastic outdoor time.
Its only 2 years since inception and we have done about 340 adventure events with a total membership base of 3300 members. We aim to become the best volunteer based adventure club that caters to everything A-Z in adventure and outdoors.

We are looking for experienced and qualified volunteers who can help in organizing or leading treks. You can also apply if you want to learn and acquire skills to become an organiser. however this will need commitment and dedication towards learning essential skills up-to first 3-6 months. We are also looking for Volunteers who can help areas other then organising.

The Achievements, Opportunities and Learnings are immense. If you are interested please fill in this Volunteer Form to Apply


Coming together is a beginning.
Keeping together is progress.
Working together is success.

GHAC TREK TO RACHAKONDA HILLS

TREK TO RACHAKONDA HILLS
- by NP Srinivas

Rachakonda Hills is at a distance of about 40 kms from Hyderabad. A group of 26 GHACians assembled at Koti at 6 am in the morning (or should I say on a VCM – very chilly morning) when the temperature was about 13 degrees Celsius.  We started towards our destination at around 6.30 AM in cars and on bikes (though some bikes were parked in the paid parking of Ramoji Film City () since we had space in the cars. From there we went ahead towards our destination (had breakfast and packed our lunch on the way) and reached the hills at around 9.30 AM.

Well, this was not Rachakonda Hills. To our amazement, it was RACHAKONDA HILL RANGE. A full fledged range of hills which will take not less than 2 days to fully explore / trek. Since this was an exploration trek we did limit our climbing to only one hill. The entry to the hill range was through a small door-way well constructed with two pillars (approx. 5 mts apart) connected with a beam (constructed by arranging well-cut rocks) at the top. Cement or mud to hold the rocks together were not seen. Maybe the good old architecture / civil engineering. 

At the entry point there was a huge boulder and some people got onto bouldering (basic rock climbing)  while others moved on to climb the hill. It was almost a 45 degrees (on plane) climb for us. One that was not very difficult. After climbing the hill and going a little further we came across a small temple (Shivalayam – The temple of Lord Shiva) on the hill top. We rested there for some time and then proceeded there for further exploration. Again a set of boulders were encountered and people who could, did the bouldering.  To reach the boulders 3 or 4 people took the difficult route of a vertical climb and clearing the thorns on their way to the top. Others discovered a simpler route to reach the other side. Some amongst the 2nd group did go to bouldering. 

From there, there was further exploration and as we went ahead we found a VALLEY – well, what a view that was. It seemed there was a river many years ago that has gone dry, and this was evident from the way the path in the valley meandered. Certain segments of the boundary at the top of the hill were well arranged by rocks cut into rectangular pieces.

After spending some time at the top of the hill, we moved to some distance and again rested for about half hour. Some folks brought snacks which we all shared and then moved back downward to our starting point where our cars and bikes were parked (we took a simpler route than the one which we took while climbing uphill). A few people started climbing a tamarind tree and starting plucking fresh tamarind. There we finished our lunch, bottled water that was being pumped up through a bore in the nearby agricultural field, freshened ourselves, and then moved back to Hyderabad.

A few learning from this trek:

1. People should not trek  immediately after eating and should eat moderately.
2. Full sleeves and trousers are a must to avoid any injury, especially when we are passing through some thorny paths
3. When it is climbing uphill, heavier bags are avoidable unless one is able to carry the same comfortably

As I always believe:

Sitting in the office or at home

No one can see the Rome

The world is beautiful, come one and all

Explore .. Explore .. Explore .. Nature has no short-fall

Am sure there will be many more treks, many more learnings as Nature has no short-fall

What does adventure mean, to you?

My sleep eludes time (it's 2 in the morning!), winamp is playing some of my favorite numbers and had a flash thought of sticking a post! huh? (What's with this guy?)

Adventure, is the word that defines the craziness cited above (as you might put it!). Certainly, the place is not adventurous. I do not find business hotel in the city side to be an adventurous offering but the moment definitely is. The bigger question, and the precise idea for this post, is "What is adventure to you?". Is adventure all about tying a rope around your legs and jump from more than 800 feet or is it a cycle ride along the country side and your romance with silence and scenic views! Is the thrill provided by the raft, adventurous, or the lone walk on the hills gives you that thrill!

The definitions vary, from an individualistic perspective, and that's where the brilliance is. I do not buy the thought that a jump against a cycle ride, deserves a place higher than latter activity. Why? My Take.

I, personally, love the walk along the beach line, in my hometown. The gigantic view of the ocean and the sky, the horizon, the running crabs, the shells, the breeze, the music plugged into my ears and the wonderful walk, kicking the water as I walk. The silence is one to be embraced. I take time out to do this one thing, whenever i am in my hometown (besides eating my favorite ice cream at my favorite ice cream joint). I find this activity to be adventurous and very soothing (that's important). It's got everything, as far as i see it. The natural view, neutral experience, silence, the twilight hours, thrilling evening, the beautiful night sky that few lookup to appreciate! Aha! There are no thorns or twists and turns or slippery slopes. It's a plain flat walk! That's adventure? duh, to me!

Every one has a preference for an adventure activity over another and the preference, obviously, is set by what defines them or how they want an activity to define them or maybe, simply for the heck of it! Eventually, amidst the heavy and energy draining working days, one will find that soothing experience in adventure, that is true!

If you haven't found it yet, don't worry, you'll, for sure, find it someday :-)

P.S: The comments section is open for your thought on adventure. Why do you think the thing you like to do, qualifies as an adventure for you? Remember there is no right or wrong answer. It's only your take!

-- Shishir NC

GHAC Outdoor Organiser Workshop

Outdoor Leadership Summary

Outdoor Leadership Workshop

Here is a quick summary for those that could not attend the GHAC Organiser workshop on Sunday 29th August 2010  and a refresher for rest of us who attended.

Outdoor Leadership is the Capacity to influence others towards achieving common goals with a focus and competency the team would not achive on their own.

LeaderShip Styles - are ways you in which you express your influence on the group

COLT - Condtional Outdoor Leadership Theory (Priest & Gass, 1997) - The Conditional Outdoor Leadership Theory is a new approach to leadership based on applying the appropriate leadership style according to importance of task, group relationship, and level of conditional favorability. COLT Theory divides leadership styles into

Autocratic- complete decision making -high on tasks, low on group relationships, unfavourable conditions
Democratic - shared decision making - concern for task and group  relationship are balanced with somewhat favourable conditions
Abdicratic -  leave the decision to the group - low on tasks, high on group relationship and fully favourable conditions

A good leader knows when to change his style of leadership based on the task  and condition at hand.  The best action of the leader depends on a range of situational factors.

What is expected of a good outdoor leader

• creditability - he has the required experience. Has been there and done that or has the competence to undertake a task
• is physically strong with good endurance
• has technical competence with outdoor skills
• is intuitive
• is compassionate and respects team members
• leads by example
• Is punctual and maintains timeliness 
• has common sense
• has courage
• is passionate
• Is safety conscious and responsible
• Knows First Aid, Rescue and emergency handling procedures
  
• is realistic and respects limits
• communicates effectively and does regular briefings and keeps team informed
• Is a good listener
• delegates authority and involves group in planning, decision making and utilizes people skills
• Keeps a challenge or a goal for every activity
• Keeps a level of unpredictability and uncertainty in the activity
• Facilitates group interaction
• Likes and respects critics and handles critical feedback in a constructive way
• Manages and addresses conflicts before they get out of hand
• Has guts to say No
• Keeps learning and Mentors others
  
• un-leaders and becomes part of the group when not on the activity and knows when to use authority.

Qualities and Behavior  an outdoor leader should avoid

• Being Manipulative and coercive
• Misinforming team members
• Being Unrealistic and going over limits
• Less concern for safety
• No concern for environment
  
• Showing Arrogance
• Being Abusive
• Showing Anger
• Getting into fights verbally or physically
  
• Being Egoistic
• Having special relationships with some members of the group or bonding only with select few.
• Having access to more privileges then the group members.
• Asking Team members to do his personal chores.

References:
1) My own experiences and learning's when on the outdoors with Great Hyderabad Adventure Club www.ghac.in
2) My observation of other leaders when in the outdoors.
3) Collins Camping and Hiking Manual by Rick  Curtis
4) Outdoor Leadership theory and practice by Bruce martin
5) Effective leadership in adventure programming  By Simon Priest, Michael A. Gass

- Diyanat Ali, Chief Organiser, GHAC

Rapelling on a sunday morning.

An early morning wake up after a long time, do you know how awful that feels? especially for a lazy guy like me. But it was time and i had to leave for the rapelling event at moula ali. Moreover, i was supposed to assist the organizers!

Moula ali hasn't changed for months (and i hope it continues to be the same). A cloudy morning added to the view of a typical morning in hyderabad from a hill top. A quite breeze (which later turned to an incredibly gusty wind) with softness in air, just made a perfect start for a day. I felt like standing there and looking at the surroundings. Well! i can only speak for myself!

The team had already assembled and the ropes were in place and the first man was to take a 'rapelling plunge'. A good rapelling round for the first person and next it was me! but before i could take the plunge, i had to receive the much required 'gyaan' from the organizer. I learnt new terms associated with rapelling - harness, descender or figure of 8, b-lay (i do not know the spelling, think i should google it!). Very informative and the process employed for good descend was also mentioned.

My descend began. The path, from the start, had a gradual drop in angle to a certain point, after which the inclination was almost 90 degrees. The best part was here where i could start what i call a 'rapelling jump' and experience the rope controlled descend, jump-by-jump. The view down was excellent. Although for a first timer, the view would appear to be quite scary but one should never think of it. You overcome it and have a thought of experiencing the gradual descend. I'm sure you'll love it and would crave for doing it again!

Well, my completion of rapelling round was followed by me assisting in sending all the gears back to the top, after each participant completed his/her descend.

All in all, a great first-rapelling in hyderabad and the spot chosen by the organizers is apt. Cheers for good organizing!

More pictures at the rappelling photo meetup

GHAC Carnival 2010 - A huge success

GHAC Carnival held on 15th August 2010 was a big success with close to 450 people attending it despite the rains.  It was a lovely evening with the Adventure Fashion show being the Highlight of the evening. It was a pleasure watching the talented GHACians sing and dance together.

I must mention my deep sense of appreciation for the Keynote speaker Mr Rajeev Trivedi Additional Director A.P.P.A for gracing the occasion and for his excellent presentation on the adventure activities  he has done.

My sincere appreciation  to Shree Jayesh Ranjan  Secretary to Govt A.P, Tourism for his cooperation and for his encouragement for conducting the GHAC Carnival 2010 and extending the hand and support of APTDC to GHAC for future Club's Endeavours

I extend my thanks to Mr Sandeep Kumar Sultania Managing Director and Chairman APTDC and Mr Shekhar Babu manager APTDC and all the APTDC Staff for their  out-most cooperation and support during the entire event.

I thank the people and businesses that have chosen to sponsor and support the event. Without them this event was not possible. A big thank you to all the following sponsors

Reckon Technologies who were the main sponsor for the events. Our Co sponsors were APTDC, Wilcraft, Nava Bharat Ventures and Olive Hospital. Our Associate sponsors were BellIndia Pvt Ltd,  Hungama Deals, TripNaksha and KCHS School. Our Medua partners were Red FM 93.5 and Meraevents .com

I thank Arun Kumar from Traditions who were the event managers for the Carnival for the planning and smooth execution of everything that went so well. I thank Sharon who was the Emcee for the evening.  I thank Studio9 for the wonderful dance sequences. I thank all the Gorgeous and Handsome Hyderabadi Models who walked the ramp. I thank the "Stangers Band" for the wonderful performance.

An event  of this proportion cannot happen overnight. The wheels start rolling months ago. It required meticulous planning and a birds eye for details. GHAC  have been fortunate enough to be backed by a team of very motivated and dedicated organisers and volunteers  who know their job and are result oriented.

I would like to take this opportunity to place on record my hearty thanks to Ali Razvi for his vision and efforts for being the driving force behind the event. Without his vision and ideas this event would not have been possible. The very concept of hosting the First ever Adventure Fashion show goes to him.

I  express my sincere thanks to Mr Ranjan Sood for giving an excellent and informative speech  on GHAC and helping with organising the event.  I also thank Mr Kalpesh for all the good ideas and for supporting the event.

I extend my hearty thanks to Arun Raj for the  excellent design of the GHAC Carnival Theme. I also am thankful to Kranthi and the team of volunteers for  their enormous hard work done to publicize the event. I thank Farida and the team of Volunteers for coordinating with the press.

I thank the Sales Team consisting of Dr Vibha, Sachin and Prashant for publicizing the event and reaching out to people. I thank Bharat Reddy and the newsletter team for bringing out a superb annual GHAC newsletter edition. 

I cannot thank everyone enough for their involvement and their willingness to take on the completion of tasks beyond their comfort zones!. The Following Volunteers has helped with various tasks with organising the event.

Sreenath
Sukumar
Prathima
Deepam Morporia
Dr. Peddi Reddy
Anurag Khare
Priti
Shankar Reddy
Rashmi
Sharan K
Praveen Kumar K
Nataraj
Narendra V
Deepam Morparia
Anshu Gemini
Shraddha Bajaj

I would like to thank each and everyone who have helped with the event and whose names I could not remember. Lastly I would like to thank all the members and their families and guests for  attending the event and making it a success.

Regards

Diyanat Ali
Chief Organiser

GHAC Top Adventurer Award goes to:

The Top GHAC Adventurer Award for this year 2010 went to

Padmaja Phullbatla ( Top Female Adventurer Award)  for organizing and participating in so many treks that I cant list them all here. She has also been to the Everest Base Camp last May 2010

Sreenath M ( Top Male Adventurer Award) for organizing and participating in numerous treks and bringing in innovation all the time.  The dudhsagar railway track trekking was initiated in GHAC by Sreenath.

Shree Jayesh Ranjan, IAS,  Secretary to Government, Tourism presented the award at the GHAC carnival 2010 celebrations at Taramati Baradari.

I Congratulate them both and wish them even more adventures to come.


regards

Diyanat
Chief Organiser
GHAC