BHUBANESWAR: Braving the odds that nature stacked against them, a team of National Service Scheme (NSS) volunteers of Utkal University has successfully scaled the 12,500-feet Beas Kund Peak in the Himalyan mountains range in Himachal Pradesh. The team of 20 volunteers __ 10 boys and 10 girls __ set out on June 10 for the peak and reached the top after trekking 56 km, facing challenges on their way. From Beas Kund, the volunteers returned to the base camp at Solan Nala and embarked on their second adventure to the 10,500-feet high Patalsu Peak braving the cold conditions and the intermittent showers. This is for the first time that an NSS team of Utkal University has successfully scaled the Beas Kund Peak. Five earlier attempts were unsuccesssful. Before starting the trekking, the NSS members spent four days and three nights at Dhundi, an on-the-way camp in the mountain range where the day temperature hovered around six degree Celsius. At Beas Kund, the origin of the river Beas, the volunteers indulged in a few adventures, including rafting and snow trekking. The team was guided by Kshirod Prasad Nayak, a senior lecturer of LN College, Patkura and Purnamasi Parida of IG Women’s College, Nimapara. Nayak said the team completed trekking of both the peaks successfully within a span of three weeks ending this month. “It was a great learning experience,” he said. The volunteers described the whole journey to Beas Kund as thrilling and exciting. On their way back, they were felicitated by Atal Behari Vajpayee Institute of Mountaineering and Allied Sports with certificates. Professor Prasanna Kumar Patra, Programme Coordinator of NSS, Utkal University, lauded the team for the mission accomplished.
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