Advisor to Lieutenant Governor, K K Sharma Wednesday handed over cheques of Rs 1 lakh each to the valley's two promising mountaineers, Nawab Moauzam Khan and Ghulam Mohammad Wani for successfully scaling Mount DKD Peak in Uttrakhand.The duo was facilitated here at Gulmarg in presence of Director Tourism Kashmir Nisar Ahmad Wani, Chief Executive Officer (CEO) Gulmarg Development Authority (GDA) Inam-ul- Haq Siddiqui, Deputy Director Tourism (Recreation) Sarfaraz Mohammad, Assistant Director Gulmarg Nasir Mahmood, Principal IISM Col JS Dhillon.The two climbers as part of their Indian Mountaineering Foundation (IMF) Pre-Everest training camp on June 25, 2019 successfully scaled 5700 mtr peak Mount Draupadi Ka Dhandaa 2 (DKD 2).IMF as part of Scale Four Peaks in the ‘Everest massif region’ in 2020 from Everest Base Camp is scheduled to launch expeditions to Mt Everest – 8848 Mtrs, Lhotse- 8516 Mtrs, Nuptse – 7861 Mtrs and Pumori – 7161 Mtrs.
Before the expeditions to these four peaks, IMF is holding Pre-Everest expedition camp for the shortlisted mountaineers and the two climbers from Kashmir are part of it.While wishing the two climbers more success in their future climbing expeditions, the Advisor said the youth of J&K are replete with potential in adventure sports who need to be promoted and encouraged.The Advisor further said J&K is also blessed with huge potential in adventure tourism for which the tourism department is making every effort to it not only at national but at international platforms.Speaking on the occasion, Director Tourism Kashmir said the department is laying special focus on adventure tourism.“We want to make J&K as the adventure capital of the country as almost all adventure activities are held here in the J&K. We also receive good number of tourists for mountain climbing, hiking to Valley’s numerous alpine lakes. If we encourage youth in adventure tourism, they can earn their livelihood by guiding the adventure lovers to the climbing and trekking expeditions in the Valley,” he said.