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SO, YOU want to be JamesBond? Think about it. JamesBond is the ultimate adven-ture sport junkie. His job hashim skiing down slopes, jump-

ing out of planes, diving into the seas andleaping off buildings and bridges. Thisarticle will tell you how to do all this.While it wont tell you how to leave a trailof beautiful and heartbroken women in your wake, your consolation is that youll be doing all this for the sheer thrill of itand in a safe environment. Old 007 isusually compelled to do the above because someone is trying to kill him.

Most of us are so enthusiastic aboutadventure holidays that we sometimespack in too much. Remember that thefocus of the trip is to have a holiday . itshouldnt feel like an endurance camp. Itis hardly worth your time, money and

hard-earned leave if, on your return, youhave to be carried into Dr DMellosDormitory for the Bodily Drained. Youradventure sport holiday should beplanned with enthusiasm and practicality.

TREK TALKWhen I did my first trek, years ago, all of us filled our 60-litre backpacks to the brim and set off without a plan. Half anhour into the trek, not only had we lostour way but we were feeling like manuallabourers.

Lesson learnt. Hire Rajus andBahadurs. As in, guides and porters. Younot only contribute to the local economy, but your trek becomes infinitely more

fun. You enjoy the walk rather than curse your bag.

The Himalayas are full of treks rangingfrom easy to moderate to technical.Manali, Uttarkashi, Nainital, Almora,Darjeeling and Gangtok are all towns where you can find a number of agenciesto outfit your trek. Start easy, get to grips with life in the outdoors morning jobs inthe meadow, showers under waterfallsand food flavoured with wood smoke and then gradually aim for more demand-ing treks on your subsequent trips.

Should you go for a trekking holidayabroad (its called a walking holiday) thensome trails have log huts while othershave established campsites with cleantoilets and bathing facilities. Here inIndia, Banjara Camps offer luxurytrekking (www.banjaracamps.com).

WATER FUNRafting is like instant coffee. Jump intothe raft, hang on tight, get swirled byrapids and get an instant adrenaline high. You dont even need to know how toswim. But this only holds for short raftingtrips of an hour or two. You get yourthrills over a few rapids, lounge on the beach, eat chicken tikka by thecampfire and leave. But for someserious white water buzz, youneed to do a multi-day expedi-tion which combines negotiatingrapids, setting up camps for thenight and generally paddling aconsiderable distance on theriver. For this you need to be

absolutely conversant with commands,techniques and how to react should theraft flip. And it often does.

If you want to turn the oceans into your playground then you can gosnorkelling, for which you need to knowhow to swim. But to get up close to the wonders that lie in the oceans, to swim with shoals of fish and gaze upon multi-hued corals and spectacularly spangledsea-beings, you have to be certified as aSCUBA diver (see box).

At popular diving locations there are anumber of operators where you can show your Divers Card and go for a dive withthem.

My very strong suggestion would be todo your SCUBA diving course at a place where the water has good visibility likethe Lakshadweep or Andaman andNicobar Islands. If your first dive is in

dark and murky waters, it could put youoff diving and that would be a shame.

MARCH 14, 2010HINDUSTAN TIMES SUNDAY MAGAZINE20

Curious aboutadventuresports butdont know

how to start?Heres some

adviceText & photos

by RishadSaam Mehta

SNOW SPORTSI LEARNTto ski atAuliand came backsix kglighter from the cardioworkout I got walking upthe slopes with myskisover my shoulder.Therewerent lifts there at thattime. Nowthere are liftsto pull you up the slopes,but sadly, sometimes thesnow plays hooky anddoesntfallat all. Gul-marg is a better optionand you can now flystraight to Srinagar (40km from Gulmarg) too.

TOKIT yourself outwithad-venturesport gear visit:

AVI Industries, 13, ShrijiSadan, 352, Chan-davarkar Road, Matun-ga (E), Mumbai. Tel:022-24143810 /65779787. avinashka-math@gmail.com. AVIis said to have the bestadventure sports gear

in the country.

GET YOUR GEAR

TAKE TH

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THE WHITE STUFFMost of us, so beleaguered by heat andhumidity, get ecstatic at the sight of snowand have made almost a sport out of frol-icking in it. But snow is also reasonenough to take off for an adventure sportholiday. In India there are two ski resortswhere you can learn to ski, or you can doso abroad. In New Zealand you can take ahelicopter to the top of a glacier and do aguided ice-hike even if you havent everstepped on ice before.

If you really want to enjoy the snowand ice then youve got to get accustomedto low temperatures. The correct protec-tive clothing helps, but more than thatyour mind has to tell your body that itcan handle the cold. After that the ArcticCircle in Lapland can become your win-ter playground. Adventure sport thereconsists of zipping over frozen lakes and

rivers on snowmobiles or skidoos, goingon a husky safari and skiing.

You can learn to ski at plenty of skiresorts all over Europe where there arespecial beginners slopes, beginners liftsand very patient instructors.

INTO THIN AIRWhy should I jump out of a perfectlysound plane? That is the question yourmind throws at you when youre poised atthe door of a little plane 15,000 feet high,about to jump into the blue yonder.

Why indeed? And why would you jumpoff a bridge with a huge elastic band tied

to your feet or hurl yourself off a cliff holding on to the grab rail of a big kite?

Because, the headiest adrenaline rushis to be found in cheating gravity. Sky div-ing, bungee jumping and hang gliding areall fun ways to exorcise the fear of heights. It is scary, but beyond the fear,there is exhilaration. Sky diving is thefinest of these because tandem skydivesare popular and you have all the fun with-out any training. Some people find a bungee unpleasant due to the yo-yoingaftermath and while you can do a tandemhang glide, satisfaction is to be found if you take a course and go solo.

What Ive cited here is just a samplingof adventure stuff you can do on anadventure sport-centric holiday. Butthere are other offshoots you can gozorbing (rolling down while strappedinside a huge rubber sphere) or you can

go blackwater rafting, which is raftingunderground rivers. Sandboarding downhuge sand dunes is another speed junkiesthrill. Besides this, there are sky jumpsfrom various buildings around the worldand flights in vintage aeroplanes.

But remember: Your comfort level isimportant. If you think you are going tocome out of the activity with your stom-ach feeling as if youve eaten very badcheese then there is nothing wrong withnot doing it. The point is that you shouldcome out of it buzzing as if youve had ashower in soda water and glowing as if youve sipped sunshine. That is the highof an adventure sport holiday.

brunchletters@hindustantimes.com

MARCH 14, 2010HINDUSTAN TIMES SUNDAY MAGAZINE 2

TO REALLY discover thejoys of theocean, youneed a SCUBA diving

certificate,and this cantakethree to four daysbecause there is theorytolearnas wellas the ac-tual diving.Operators in India areBarracuda Diving(www.barracudadiving.com), Dive Goa (www.divegoa.com), Lacadivesat Lakshadweep(www.lacadives.com)and Dive India atHavelock, AndamanIslands (www.diveindia.com).Operators at Goa

arrange trips to NetraniIsland in Karnataka andthat is where you shoulddive for your certificationifyoucantgettoLakshadweep or theAndamans. Goa is notrecommended. The visi-bility is notgood.Of course, you cando the diving courseabroad but that wouldbe much more expen-sive. Insteadgetcertifiedin India and godive all over the world.

WHY THROWYOURSELF OUT OF A

PLANE? BECAUSECHEATING GRAVITY ISSUCH A HEADY RUSH

SCUBASCENE

THAT IS what theoperator you are goingwith should believe. Therecan be no com-promise. A karabiner buckling when youare fallingto earthat 200kph in a sky diveor a faulty SCUBA regulatorcan be fatal.Never forsakereputation and safety whenchoosing an operator.For the best skydiveexperience ever, head to New Zealand andjump with Nzone (www.nzone.biz).

WHEN TREKKING, hire guides fromareputable agency. Guides need to have akeen sense of direction, know their wayaround the planned trek and should beable to takeadequate action in an emer-gency. You dont want to go with fly-by-night operators, or else you might wakeupone morning and find theyve vamoosed,leaving behind onlyyour tent and pyjamas.

For treks in India, refer to Lonely PlanetsTrekking in the Indian Himalaya guide book. Aquaterra andExpeditions India organise some very cool rafting and trekking trips and you can check them out atwww.aquaterra.in and www.expeditionsindia.com respectively.

SAFETY IS A RELIGION

LEAP