Himalayan Mountaineering Institute (HMI)

Himalayan Mountaineering Institute is the premier mountaineering institute of South-East Asia, founded on November 4, 1954 by Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru together with Tenzing Norgay following the historic ascent of Mount Everest by Tenzing Norgay and Sir Edmund Hillary. Narendra Dhar Jayal served as the founding Principal and Tenzing Norgay as the first Director of Field Training. HMI functions as an autonomous body under the Ministry of Defence, Government of India. It conducts subsidised mountaineering and adventure courses, including Basic Mountaineering Course, Advance Mountaineering Course, Adventure Course, Method of Instruction Course, and Search and Rescue Course. Over forty-five thousand trainees from across India and abroad have completed its programmes. The institute has trained many of India's most accomplished mountaineers, including Colonel Narendra Kumar, Archana Sardana, Malavath Purna, Harshvardhan Joshi, and Satyarup Siddhanta. The campus, designed by architect Joseph Allen Stein, hosts classroom training, climbing simulations, and serves as the launch point for treks into the Singalila range and the surrounding eastern Himalayas.