BHAWANIPATNA: Every week, Jogabyasa Bhoi takes youths of his village on expeditions to the local hill so that they do not face problems while climbing treacherous slopes. It’s a routine he barely misses.Having scaled the highest mountain peaks in the world, the famed mountaineer is on to a new summit. He wants every youth enthusiastic about climbing to get the right training.
For the last five years, he has been training schoolchildren and college-goers of his village and other parts of Kalahandi in mountaineering free of cost.Jogabyasa, who has scaled the highest peaks of five continents including the highest of them all - the Mt Everest - in 2011, has voluntarily trained over 1,000 youths of the district in mountaineering within this period.
A teacher in Rupra Upper Primary School and a native of Rupra village in Kalahandi, 38-year-old Jogabyasa imparts practical and theoretical mountaineering skills to youths every weekend and all holidays.Last month, he trained over 50 NCC cadets under Kalahandi University during a trekking camp organised by NCC Directorate, Odisha, and the university. He helped them climb the Bhaludangar and Dokri Chanchra, also called Gudhandi.
“In the current times when most of the youths do not understand the importance of having a purpose in life, mountaineering teaches them discipline and makes them ready to face the most difficult challenges in life. Mountaineering as a sport is in a way pitting oneself against nature,” says Jogabyasa who has also scaled Mount Kilimanjaro, Mount Elbrus, Mount Carstensz Pyramid, Mount Stoz Kagri and Mount Aconcagua.
A nature-lover since childhood, he used to climb Tangri dangar (hill) near his small village during his school days. “As I grew up, the urge to climb higher mountains also got stronger. Through my free training sessions, I always ask the youths to get involved with nature, understand its flora and fauna to be a better mountaineer,” says the expert mountaineer.
He has also taken part in many cycle expeditions across the country with an aim to promote national integration. Jogabyasa has also been a member of Indian Mountaineering Foundation as the State coordinator of Biju Patnaik Himalayan Expedition in 2017.