ITBP rock-climbing competition begins

Tribune News Service

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Mussoorie, June 23

The fifth Inter-frontier Rock-climbing Competition, in which more than 96 participants from around six frontiers of the Indo-Tibetan Border Police (ITBP) are contesting, began at the ITBP combat wing here today.

The chief guest, DIG, Deputy Director, ITBP Academy, Devender Singh, inaugurated the event and declared the games open. The participants presented a guard of honour to the chief guest.

The ITBP jawans, known as ‘Himveers’ from six frontiers, displayed their talent in various events conducted today. In single man pole, carry method, Manoranjan Kaletha and Deep Singh Negi from the Northern frontier were declared winners while Kuldeep Singh Negi and Vikram Meena were adjudged second. M Prasad and Harimohan from Training were declared joint runners-up.

The events being conducted include balance climbing on natural rock, followed by jumar climbing, prusic knot climbing, seat rappelling, piton climbing and cat crawl. The other events in the competition which will go on till June 25 are stomach rappelling, crevasse rescue left and right method (Bilgri), piggyback etc. Competitions in search and rescue exercises were also conducted on the occasion.

DIG Devender Singh, who was the chief guest, said such training was important for ITBP soldiers as operations in the mountains were challenging, especially when one came face-to-face with a rugged terrain and inclement weather. He said ITBP jawans had proved their mettle when a natural disaster struck Uttarakhand, where they saved many lives using their rock-climbing and rescue skills.

He said the ITBP Academy endeavoured to impart training in rock-climbing and instil confidence in the participants.