Oct 29, 10.00 a.m.: Today we are conducting our first ever training for store managers in collaboration with the Golbal Sports Retailer Decathlon. Store managers from Indiahikes stores at the Raithal, Sari, Kotgaon and Lohajung campuses are presently attending a training at Decathlon, Dehradun. The aim of this training is to create an impactful store experience. 

For that, the team at Decathlon will take our store managers through a series a topics: factors to consider while setting up a store, impact of store set-up on shelf life of equipment, and managing inventory.

"This would be a good exposure for all our store in-charges. I am sure it will trigger a lot of thoughts in their minds," shares Nayana Jambhe, Head of Operations at Indiahikes. 

The impact of this training will be visible in the Indiahikes Stores across all Campuses in the coming months.

Store managers from Indiahikes stores at the Raithal, Sari, Kotgaon and Lohajung campuses are presently attending a training at Decathlon, Dehradun. The aim of this training is to create an impactful store experience.

Indiahikes Store Managers learn from the Global Sports Retailer Decathlon

Continuing our series on How Indiahikes Brought Out Himalayan Treks That Transformed Indian Trekking, we’re back with one of the most extraordinary treks that shaped trekking in our country — the Chadar Frozen River trek.

Today we want to share with you the story of how Indiahikes brought out the Chadar Frozen River Trek.

Chadar dramatically changed the course of trekking in our country. It brought about terrific innovations that made trekking safer and better—practices we follow even today.

It also made the unimaginable possible. What was considered as rare as an Arctic expedition became an accessible trek for trekkers like you and me.

Little do people know of the crucial role Indiahikes had to play in this. Our founder, Arjun Majumdar, pens down from his personal experience, the story of how the trek came about and what followed after.

It must have been more than 15-16 years ago, in my jaunts at street stalls, I picked up a second-hand National Geographic from the footpaths of Delhi.

Inside, in a photo story, I was stunned to see monks from the interiors of Zanskar, making their way to Leh in the dead of winter — for food, provisions and market. They were walking, for 7-8 days, over a river of frozen ice, staying in caves for shelter, with very little clothing or winter wear.

The story mentioned temperatures that dropped to minus 30 °C on this hazardous expedition. National Geographic being National Geographic, the pictures accompanying the article were stunning. Even at that time I thought this was the closest you could come to the limit of human endurance.

A year or two later a trekking companion of mine and I caught up at dinner. He was very excited.

He said he had just returned from doing something extraordinary. He had been to Ladakh in winter, and had attempted this trek on the frozen river. He had done this with a foreign group. They could do it one way, but it started to snow bitterly. They had to be evacuated by helicopter.

He talked about the remarkable expedition, the landscape and the freezing temperatures. Yet, there he was in front of me, a survivor of this ordeal. This was like those mountain expedition stories that you hear — of exceptional circumstances, valour and courage.

As years passed and my knowledge and interest in trekking grew, I began to hear more about the arduous trek that people of Zanskar took in winter to get to Leh. I also saw a documentary on the Discovery Channel.

That’s when I first began to hear this as a trek that some groups of people did, usually foreigners. That they would trace the route of these travellers to their home in Padum, the capital of Zanskar, over the frozen Zanskar river. The trek was called the Chadar Frozen River trek. It was a 15 day expedition.

The thought of this extraordinary adventure nagged me since then.

The early years of Indiahikes were very exciting. We were exploring some of the greatest treks in our country. Many of them were quite unknown. But some were more known.

One of the more known treks was the Stok Kangri summit in Ladakh. It was the highest trekkable summit in India and rose slightly above 20,000 feet. Trekkers from India and abroad (mostly abroad) flocked to the summit to experience the high of climbing above 20,000 feet.

In the summer of 2011, we attempted the Stok Kangri summit from a different route. We were not happy with the quick ascents that 90% of the teams took to the summit of Stok Kangri. Not many seemed to have thought of this. But that’s how we were — we were not happy with how the route impacted the trekking experience.

We changed the route and started from a totally new zone near the Hemis monastery. The route was longer, but we were able to acclimatise better, resulting in greater success of our trekkers making it to the summit. I have to admit the route was infinitely better in terms of scenery as well.

Why am I narrating Stok Kangri in this background of the Chadar explorations?

As you will see, this has a lot of bearing on the Chadar trek as well.

Our Stok Kangri trek of 2011 was a resounding success. Every member of our exploration team made it to the summit. But the trek left a very strong mark on Sandhya* and me.

*Sandhya UC is the co-founder of Indiahikes.

For the first time, we realised that we could change the route of a well known trek — in a location that was remote, inaccessible, at high altitudes and trails not very well defined.

We also realised that we could work in a remote location that was almost like a foreign country. Working in Ladakh was not the same as working in Himachal, Uttarakhand or Sikkim. It felt and was very different from the rest of the country — the people, landscape and logistics.

We also built up a fine relationship with Thinley Dorjey, our Ladakhi partner, who seemed like the ideal person to grow along with us. He was adventurous, helpful, knowledgeable, responsible and very resourceful.

After we got down to Leh from Stok Kangri, Dorjey took us on a drive to the confluence of the Zanskar river with the Indus. From our vantage point high above the confluence, Dorjey pointed out a raging river. He said in winter this is the famous Zanskar river that freezes and people walk on it.

He talked about how foreigners come to Leh in winter just to do the trek. It took them 15-20 days to do the trek. He had heard of very few Indians who did the trek. Very few could spend 15 days in temperatures that went down to -30 °C or -40 °C .

He said there were stages on the trek where the frozen river would break, and you had to wade through sections of icy water, sometimes knee and waist deep. He said the trek was not for ordinary folks. Foreigners could somehow manage.

That’s what got us first thinking about the Chadar frozen river trek. Could we even think of exploring it? Could we come up with a new way to do the Chadar trek? We were at the forefront of bringing out great treks in our country. Could the impossible Chadar be one of them?

We sat down and quizzed Dorjey in detail about the route. He told us about the few villages on the way where we could take shelter. But they were slightly off the river on higher grounds. Most of the time we would be on the frozen river — we either had to take shelter in the caves along the river or pitch our tents if we found gaps in the banks.

The trek looked formidable. We knew from experience that our trekkers were not ready for such an adventure in such inhospitable terrain — that too over 15 days. Even the diehard would balk.

That’s when we reimagined the Chadar trek, a decision that changed Chadar trekking forever.

For this I have to give you a backdrop of the original route. The trek started at Chilling, near the mouth of the Zanskar river. From Chilling you dropped down to the frozen river, trekked your way over the precarious frozen river, which, like a moving glacier, never stayed the same for too long. You did this for almost 7 days until you got to Padum.

If you survived the ordeal, then after a day’s rest, you returned the same way down the frozen river, now totally changed, until you got back to Chilling. To top it off, a temperature of -15 °C on this trek was considered a warm day.

We started to question this. What if we didn’t go all the way to Padum? Would we be missing out on the essence of the trek? What if we went up only for 3 days and returned for the next 3. Would that be just a sightseeing tour of the Chadar or would it give a complete picture.

We pored over the map. Dorjey pointed out the village of Nerak. He said the village was remote and beautiful. It was slightly off the river but it would make an excellent end point. We could stay overnight at Nerak and then get back on the same route. This looked exciting.

I asked Dorjay the only question that mattered to us. Was this shortened trek going to rob us off the essence of the Chadar experience? Dorjay was quiet for a moment. In his head, I could see him counting off the trek days one by one. Finally, after a long pause, he told us in his imitable Tibetian style.

“No, it would be a complete trek on its own. Yes, there were one or two sections that were worth visiting later on, especially a gully leading off the Chadar to another village, but no, the trek up to Nerak was a complete experience on its own.”

We reimagined the Chadar trek from Chilling to Nerak, a village suggested by Dorjey, our trusted guide in Ladakh. Tourists would earlier go all the way to Padum, which made the trek 15 days long. We cut it short to just 6 days.

That was the only reassurance that we wanted! A shiver ran down our spines. We were going to commit ourselves to another great adventure of our lives — an adventure that tested human endurance. But it would also be an adventure, if we pulled it off, that would open up Indian trekking to a whole new possibility.

That winter, six months after the Stok Kangri expedition, we marked out our exploration dates for the Chadar Frozen River trek. We planned it for the Republic day week of January 2012.

Back at our Indiahikes base, we informed our trekkers of this exploration. We selected a team of 12 trekkers for the exploration. This would be the team that, perhaps, would define the future of trekking.

As our trek got closer we sat down to prepare for the trek. But how could anyone prepare for an experience that they had only imagined? We could only simulate the settings in our minds.

We had never walked on a frozen river before. We had never been in temperatures less than -10 °C . Now we had to be prepared for -25 °C .

We could tackle rough terrain on a mountain slope. But how would we manage the slippery frozen river, that too over 6 days? We were already filled with dreadful stories about how people slipped all the time on the trek.

How would we tackle wading through the icy cold river in such extreme temperatures?

An important innovation on the Chadar trek

Meanwhile, in 2011, while our Chadar thoughts were on, at Indiahikes we were exploring one great trek after another. One of them was the Kashmir Great Lakes, the story of which I’ll talk about next week. But I think it was one of our best years of trek explorations.

These explorations were also bringing out a terrific surge in trekkers at Indiahikes. But it came with a flip side. Safety of these trekkers became an issue. Icy slopes were a concern. Trekkers slipping on snow patches were becoming more common.

How could we keep our trekkers safe on snowy sections was a constant question.

We had tried out mountaineering crampons on the Stok Kangri trek. They were most ill suited for treks — they were cumbersome, heavy and elaborate. We researched our mountaineering institutes. None of them had a good answer. They were still talking about mountaineering crampons. No one could suggest anything that could keep trekkers safe on snow patches.

As we looked beyond mountaineering, we researched the lives of people who lived in cold countries. We wanted to see what people in Canada, USA and Norway did in winter. How did they manage the icy conditions that prevailed almost 7 months a year?

That’s how we stumbled on microspikes — an equipment people in cold countries used to help shovel snow. They were even using it to go for a walk on icy streets. As we investigated further we noticed that there were many who jogged using them in winter. Was this the wonder equipment that could solve the problem of slippages on our Himalayan treks?

We ordered two pairs of microspikes from an Italian manufacturer. It reached us well in time. We wanted to test it in the harshest possible situation — we would take it with us on the Chadar Frozen River trek. But we were filled with trepidation. What if it failed?

To allay our fears, we took the microspikes (they were called ice traction crampons then) with us on a dry run on the Kedarkantha winter trek. We brought it out at Juda Ka Talab, where the pond had totally frozen over, much like the frozen surface of Zanskar.

We gingerly walked with the spikes over the pond with our hearts in our mouths. But to our surprise it held! We could walk normally without an inch of slippage. This was very heartening. It gave us hope. We now had to try out the equipment on a bigger testing ground. Chadar would be the real test.

The first time we tested our newly imported microspikes was on the Kedarkantha trek. Here, Arjun is all smiles after testing the effectiveness of the microspikes on the frozen Juda Ka Talab. Picture from the Indiahikes archives

Finally, on the republic day week of January 2012, we were on the plane to Leh. The captain announced it was -7 °C when we landed in Leh. Sandhya and I looked at each other with nervousness. Did we really want to do this?

The moment we stepped out, somehow everything changed. We layered up quickly and it didn’t feel as cold as we thought.

But disaster struck. Sandhya’s entire backpack was left behind at Delhi by the airline. It would take many days for it to reach Leh again. The airline did not make any promise.

How could we do the Chadar trek with no clothes? A trek that went down to -25 °C ? Our expedition was looking doomed.

But we quickly rustled up gears that we had within ourselves. Not many know that on that Chadar trek, Sandhya did the entire trek on borrowed clothes, most of which were men’s!

I think more than the cold, Chadar took us by surprise with its stunning beauty! We were in a gorge, like the Grand Canyon. It would take a long time for the sun’s rays to travel down to the bottom of the gorge, but when it did, it lit up the canyons like a rainbow.

We had never seen such a kaleidoscope of colours. The walls of the canyons were cut through by the Zanskar in shapes unimaginable! The canyon walls were sheets of rocks, fused together over millions of years but contorted by the passage of time.

The contortions added to the colour, because each layer was a different shade. When the sun shone on them, they threw up a riot of colours that reflected even more off the snow.

But it was the Chadar itself that boggled our imagination. It was not just a frozen river. It had a life on its own. A life of colour, shapes and sounds. I had never heard ice sing, but on that trek we did, a musical tone that changed pitch and tone as we walked over it.

We had never seen bubbles of air frozen in ice in different shapes and sizes, like little mushrooms frozen in time. We saw them on the Chadar. We had never seen inky blue waters of a river set against a white powdery snow of the landscape.

We had never imagined walking on a mile long sheet of ice as clear as glass and as polished as one. At other times we were walking on sandy snow crust over the frozen river.

At times the sheet of ice was as wide as a football field, at others it was just a narrow opening just wide enough for a few to stand.

We saw giant frozen waterfalls as if a magician had stopped a river midway. Even the water droplets lay suspended in air. We saw ice floes floating past us continuously with a gentle swishing sound. And on the river we saw how water could sculpt beautiful figures on ice that defied geometry or belief.

At every moment we wondered how did a raging river flow beneath this formation of ice? How could ice form over such a fast flowing river? We discovered much to our surprise that the river sometimes formed overnight.

The evening before where we would find water knee deep, the next morning the entire section would be frozen over, strong enough for us to walk over it.

The cold, yes, it was bitterly cold. Yet, we quite got used to the -20 °C every evening and night. We had our layers of clothes — we wore all of them.

Closer to Nerak the night turned awfully cold, a draft of wind blew through our tents. We could not sleep at all. Our thermometers recorded -25 °C — it was our coldest night ever. Yet, next morning we were up and about getting on with our trek.

On that trek we discovered the power of two sleeping bags. We discovered the best way to manage the intense cold of the night was not to get into a heavy duty sleeping bag but to simply layer ourselves in multiple sleeping bags.

We still use this technique on our winter treks.

How microspikes became part of Indian trekking

And about the microspikes. They worked like a charm! On our entire 6 days of the trek we never slipped once. We walked on the hardest ice and put the spikes through almost 8 hours of torture everyday. They did not fail us for a moment. We knew then we were looking at the future of trekking.

That next summer, we teamed up with a wonderful company in the US, Kahtoola — who were very much like us, creating snow equipment out of passion. We introduced their microspikes to Indian trekking on our high altitude treks.

Today microspikes* are used by every organisation on their treks. Not many know the source of how it came about in Indian trekking. It was on the Chadar trek where it was first tested.

*Microspikes is the brand name of the Kahtoola company. Similar equipment is called by different names by different companies. In India microspikes have become generic. But it is good to know the origin.

The Chadar trek was a resounding success. On our return, the whole trekking fraternity woke up to the possibility of doing the Chadar trek.

For the first time, even someone who was new to trekking visualized themselves walking on the frozen river. What was only in the imagination of hard core foreign mountaineers, and strange Buddhist monks on National Geographic became a possibility of regular trekkers.

Chadar opened the gateway of winter trekking that was only the subject of fairy tale imagination. It was almost akin to someone from Mumbai going for a polar expedition in the arctic.

This 1 minute and 43 second video of ours broke the myth and fear surrounding Chadar. For the first time, Indian trekkers were seeing a video from the inside of the trek and not something fantastic from National Geographic or Discovery. It made the trek real and possible. This video did more for the trek than anything else could.

The next year, it opened the floodgate of trekkers on the Chadar trek. Trekkers from far and wide stepped on the Chadar to experience its many splendours. The social media became flooded with Chadar stories. It fueled the interest of Chadar even more.

Sadly, Indiahikes stepped out of the Chadar trek and Ladakh after an acrimonious dispute with the local tour operator association. The story is heartbreaking. You will find the story here.

However, the legacy of Chadar will always stay with Indiahikes. When we explored the trek in January 2012, even while walking on the Chadar, we knew what it would do to Indian trekking. Chadar was too much of a magnificence. It just needed to be opened up. Indiahikes did that.

Along with a new trek came the use of double sleeping bags and the microspikes. Both of which are now synonymous with trekking in India.

But more than anything else, we were once again able to define a route in inhospitable, difficult and remote terrain. Today, hardly anyone does the 15 day adventure to Padum. Most are not even aware of it. For almost every trekker to Chadar, the trek starts at Chilling, goes up to Nerak and returns back to Chilling. It is a 6 day trek on the frozen river. And that’s the legacy Indiahikes has left behind.

Here's the thrilling backstory of how the founders of Indiahikes introduced the only trek on the Frozen River in India - the Chadar trek

The Chadar Frozen River Trek - The Story Of How Indiahikes Introduced This Trek In India

At Indiahikes, we have our vision clear — we want to try and define the future of trekking in India. Over the past ten years, we have been working towards that vision. I know if Indiahikes did not exist, trekking would have been vastly different.

While we are moving towards this vision, there’s always a roadblock that holds us back. That’s finding the right people.

From our beginnings until now, many talented folks are no longer with us. They were all incredibly skilled and intelligent no doubt; but somehow, their thoughts didn’t match ours. I must admit we have sometimes taken years to understand that our paths didn’t cross. The signs were obvious in front of us, but we just didn’t notice.

So I thought I would put down the kind of people we are looking for hoping that you may know someone who could fit the part.

You’ll notice I am not going to put down any skill or experience, but reflect more on the kind of person we are looking at. In the past ten years, through our ups and downs, we have noticed that these traits are far more important than any skills or experience.

We have seen what works for us are those who are:

We find this to be the most important quality in anyone at Indiahikes. Our founders, our chief of operations, our Trek Leaders, our mountain staff, they’re all incredibly humble. They believe that the people around them add value to them. They are obsessed with growing those around them. They constantly ask questions from those around them.

We notice that humble people are on a perpetual learning mode, they accept feedback gracefully and work on it. This is a quality that merges beautifully with the trekking world that we work in.

There’s a difference between just working and being eager to work. We are looking for the latter. And we have seen that such people thrive at Indiahikes and climb up the ladder quickly!

When I talk about eager to work, it incorporates a lot of things — an innate desire to work and learn (no matter what level of work), a willingness to look beyond the clock, a readiness to make Indiahikes a part of their lives.

We believe there’s a clear distinction between a job and work. A job is something you do for a paycheque. Work is something you do to add meaning to your life. The latter is deeply ingrained at Indiahikes.

This is because at Indiahikes, we’re doing work that has an impact on the larger trekking community. We are trying to define the future of trekking. We want to work with those who understand the weight of this responsibility.

Relationships are a big part of Indiahikes. We work with different kinds of people — sometimes with CEO’s of other organisations, the government, forest departments, trekkers from different walks of life, mountain staff who belong to villages around our base camps, school principals, directors and deans of colleges. And often, you might find that the same person from Indiahikes has to interact with this entire gamut of people, all in a day.

At Indiahikes there’s a very thin line between a professional relationship and a personal relationship. We need someone who understands that our work is our life and our life is our work. We don’t see any difference.

These are the three basic qualities we look for in our candidates at Indiahikes.

I know you’re probably scoffing at me because I’m looking for an ideal human being. But even if our candidates score 7 on 10 in these three regions, and align themselves with our vision to define the future of trekking, we’ll be happy to take him on board and mould him.

I know it would make his / her life extremely meaningful, as it has with mine.

If you know anybody who would fit the bill, this is the link to our careers page – https://www.indiahikes.com/careers/

You’ll find the roles we have and the procedure to apply on the same page.

PS: There is a perception that working at Indiahikes is synonymous with being in the mountains. It is true we go the mountains often, but it is not always that we are sitting there! We also have a finance team, an ops team, a content team and more. We are looking for people to join us in this work. Check our openings here.

1. If you would like to see our available roles, click here.

2. To see a video on what it’s like to work at Indiahikes, click here.

3. To read about our Trek Leaders, head over to this page.

4. If you ended up here by chance and were actually looking for treks to do, see our upcoming treks here.

5. To download a free guide on the 13 Best Treks of India, click here.

Working at Indiahikes can be extremely rewarding if you embrace the values and expectations of the organisation. So here's what we look for in applicants.

What We Look For In Applicants At Indiahikes

At Indiahikes we do not employ a lot of people. Which means you are part of a small, committed team. Your contribution means a lot. What you do directly affects the future of Indiahikes. You can see this everyday at work.

At Indiahikes there isn’t any red-tape to go through. We really do not have time for that. If you want to solve a problem or implement new ideas then you’ll probably do it without approval or after a quick talk with your colleagues.

We are committed to changing the way trekking is done in our country. That’s probably one of the benefits of working at Indiahikes. You get an opportunity to be part of this change. You develop new skills that you wouldn’t get anywhere else. You learn skills that are cross transferable. If a day comes when you have to leave Indiahikes you have gained skills and experience that are marketable.

You also get to see the organisation in its entirety. You are usually part of things from the idea to outcome stage. As a result you are able to define and grow your own responsibilities.

The work volume is high. Our resources are limited. It comes down to wearing multiple hats at the same time. It is not surprising to see the ground coordinating team at Indiahikes involved in the nitty-gritty of trek operations. Or working with the content team on how the website functions. You cannot hide behind a job title. At Indiahikes everyone is involved with everything.

Work timing is sketchy at best. This generally comes from the responsibility that you take. Not everyone visualises work this way. Most people expect work to be given to them with fixed timelines. It doesn’t work that way with us. Working by the clock indicates someone who values time over responsibility — this cripples growth.

This does not mean folks at Indiahikes do not follow their personal interests. At Indiahikes the common bond is trekking. We love to trek! Going off on weekend treks is common. So is doing Himalayan treks. As staff you get opportunities to visit the Himalayas multiple times. Outside that most have hobbies that they pursue. Some are trained dancers, others singers. Being a black belt in a martial art seems to be common at Indiahikes! Most are very sporty by nature. So we have swimmers, gym enthusiasts, athletes in our organisation. Indiahikes is a very fit office too. It is not unsual to find a group of colleagues go on a 10 km run with each other. Or to come to office by cycle.

Growth at Indiahikes is surprisingly easy. What you do is easily seen. Your involvement and ability to take things forward can be felt by everyone — usually within days of joining. This growth comes with added responsibility though. Within months of starting you could be managing multiple roles.

In short, working at Indiahikes gives you scope to do interesting and innovative work. The level of responsibility is high. This grows your competencies. You are also part of an organisation that is a market leader. As a market leader your work defines the future of trekking in India. The skills learnt in this process are enormous. Not only are the skills applicable globally, Indiahikes employees are also eagerly sought after by others.

There are unlimited treks to do as well — which on their own are high learning experiences. What it requires from you is a mindset that is focused on problem solving and driving things forward.

With this background we would welcome you to apply for a position at Indiahikes here.

Working with Indiahikes is challenging, both on a professional and personal front. Here is a peek into what it is like to work at Indiahikes.

Why Work at Indiahikes

Working at a startup can be extremely rewarding and equally frustrating. In our organization everyone seems to be doing everything! It is very different from a corporate culture. Here responsibilities are high, work is busy. Yet, people like what they are doing.

We are looking for people to join us. We think you’ll love our world of treks.

On this page, you’ll find different roles we have and the application process. At the end you’ll also find a video on what it really means to work at Indiahikes. Take a look at the video once before applying.

Indiahikes started primarily as a trek documentation organization. We explored, wrote and documented treks. We did this in great detail so that everyone could organize their own treks. We believed no one needed an organization like Indiahikes to take them on treks. This was our philosophy.

To fund our documentation process we also organized treks. The participation on our treks grew. People loved the Indiahikes experience. Today, Indiahikes is India’s largest trek organization.

What made Indiahikes grow? We believe we redefined the way trekking was done in India. If you look at it most trekking trails, trekking processes, safety systems, environment policies was introduced to Indian trekking by Indiahikes. Trekkers saw it first hand. They loved what they saw and they spread the message to others. Almost 20,000 people trek with Indiahikes every year.

For our work requirement we are looking at those who are keen to define the future of trekking in our country.

In this context read our work requirement below. 

Just like us you want to define the future of trekking in our country. While trekking is a passion, the main reason to work with us is the opportunity to create an  impact on the trekking world. You want to be involved in this world in some way or the other. 

Which is why at Indiahikes role change is constant. You may join the trek coordinator team and shift to operations. A content team member may go on to start a new division. Or a trek leader can become a slope manager. With this in mind the roles available are:

Trek Coordinators run Indiahikes treks from our office in Bangalore. It is a role that has communication at its crux. Along with running treks efficiently, you build trek experiences that stays with trekkers. You talk extensively with trekkers, understand and learn from their experience. You also work closely with our operations team setting experiences in place.

The role requires you to handle trekker queries, help solve their problems and be an adviser to them. The skills learnt here is like an MBA program. Which is why as you grow in the role you usually get into core Indiahikes management. Salary starts at Rs 4.2 lacs per annum.

Applicants for Trek Coordinators must fulfill the following criteria:

Must have done treks (we prefer if you have done Himalayan treks)

Must have 2 years work experience (in other industries).

Must have excellent English and Hindi communication skills. We would like to test your written English.

Male/Female. An independent thinking, humble person is what we are looking at.

2. Assistant Trek Coordinators (Part-time, home based)

Assistant trek coordinators help trek coordinators carry out their responsibility efficiently. Usually assistant trek coordinators (ATC) are given independent responsibility that they need to look into. The role has communication at its core.

You need to commit to 5-6 hours a day for this. This would be at usual office hours, but with some flexibility. We work on Saturdays too, so the work is between Monday and Saturday. This role cannot be done after office hours. It does not suit those who would like to supplement their regular income after office hours.

The role, needless to say, requires impeccable written English skills.  You are expected to know good communicative Hindi as well. Salary starts at 2.4 lakhs per annum.

Applicants for Asst Trek Coordinators (ATCs) must fulfill the following criteria:

Must be willing to commit to 5-6 hrs of work at regular working hours

Trek leaders lead the Indiahikes teams in the mountains. Trek leaders ensure that more than leading trekkers on a trek, trekkers take back a permanent change in their mind, body and spirit. We believe the outdoors have a profound impact on us. It is the trek leaders job to bring about this change.

Trek leading is a skill that is learned. You devote up to one month for Asst Trek Leader Training (ATL), followed by a period of 4-6 months as a Provisional Trek Leader (PTL). Training is imparted on leadership, safety, operations and climbing skills. At the end of the PTL program you go on to become a trek leader at Indiahikes. 

The ATL program pays candidates a stipend of Rs 4,000 per week (this lasts approximately 30-45 days). During the Provisional Trek Leader training, candidates get a stipend of Rs 25,000 per month (for about 4-6 months). After the training program, trek leaders earn between Rs 4.2 and Rs 6.0 lakhs per annum. Some earn more depending on their performance.

Applicants for Trek Leaders must fulfill the following criteria:

Must be at least 24 years of age. Male/Female.

Must have a Basic Mountaineering Course certificate from a reputed Institute.

Must have done at least two high altitude Himalayan treks (above 14,000 feet).

Must be willing to acquire a BLS certification (basic life support). A BLS certification can be done in any metro city at reputed hospitals.

Must have excellent English and Hindi communication skills.

Work experience in a leadership role in a different industry is preferred.

Must follow an active fitness regimen. BMI (Body Mass Index) must be between 18.5 and 24.9.

Smoking and drinking is not permitted under our work conditions. If you smoke or drink then it is something that you need to leave behind.

Would you like to assist Indiahikes trek leaders? Perhaps be a future trek leader? The ATL program is suitable for:

Individuals who do not fully satisfy trek leader selection criteria (background, qualification, age, etc)

But looking to be future trek leaders with Indiahikes

ATL applicants must meet the following criteria:

Must have done at least two high altitude treks in the Himalayas. (Triund and Kheerganga do not count as trek experience).

Work experience in other industries is given preference

Must have excellent English and Hindi communication skills. 

Must follow an active fitness regimen. BMI (Body Mass Index) must be between 18.5 and 23.9.

ATLs undergo extensive training before being considered as trek leaders with Indiahikes. The training is in two stages. First stage is an assessment period of 30-45 days. If your assessment is successful, after forty five days you become a Provisional Trek Leader (PTL). The PTL training program can last between 4-6 months. During the first assessment period you earn a stipend of Rs 4,000 per week. As a PTL you earn a stipend of Rs 25,000 per month.

In between or after the training program you must get a basic mountaineering course done. After the course you get promoted as Trek leader. Once a trek leader, your earnings range between Rs 4.2 and Rs 6.0 lakhs per annum. Some earn more depending on their performance.

Before you apply for the post of an assistant trek leader, read this article about what the job involves.

This video interview of our Trek Leader will also give you a good idea about what the role involves. 

The digital content team at Indiahikes is in charge of taking the Indiahikes digital experience forward. This entails content creation, social media management, SEO and conversion rate optimization. Indiahikes is primarily an information and content-driven organisation. Our content is known to be authentic, thought provoking and, above all, the last word on trekking. We want the digital content team to grow that.

As a digital content team, you write thought provoking articles, create videos and podcasts. There are opportunities to grow our social engagement and a chance to work on our community. The variety in the role is enormous; the work is global. Growth in the role is rapid, usually within months.

The skills learnt here are applicable in any organisation where digital content is made. Salary starts at Rs 4.5 lakhs per annum. What we require:

Someone who writes well. By “well” we mean simple, honest writing that shows knowledge, maturity and good command of English.

Someone who is curious about the world of trekking.  You need to be someone who is instinctively curious, willing to research and learn about the mountains. Yes, you must like trekking.

Preferably from a media background. We prefer if you are a journalist or from the media.This is not an absolute must, but someone who has an idea about how to write for the web, how to structure articles, what kind of content works, will really help. We’re alright if you are from a different line looking to switch to writing, provided you fulfill point one.

Someone with at least two years of work experience (any industry). Work experience does not have to be in writing or media. When someone comes with work ex, they bring in new perspectives and wisdom from their previous work. If you are freshly starting out then impress us with your writing.

Someone willing to be Bengaluru based. This is an absolute must. We’re looking for those willing to work full time from our Bengaluru office.

Apply by writing a 300 word piece on “How content is changing the future of trekking”.

6. Asst Creative Coordinators (part-time, home based)

This is a part-time home based role for those who cannot join our office. This role suits those who are temporarily not at their current work. The role requires you to be part of our writing team.

The responsibilities are varied, but usually specialised. For example, you may be required to write articles for our trek pages, or sometimes write independent articles. Or you may be asked to work with our social media team. Each of these roles are usually very independent and creative in nature. It requires you to nurture the responsibility on your own.

Which is why we are not looking for those who are fresh out of college. Prior work experience in other industries in good positions best suit these roles. You do not need prior experience in creative or writing roles. However, if you do have journalism background, it helps. We’ll anyway put you through a training program to show you how to write for these roles.

This role cannot be done after office hours. It does not suit those who would like to supplement their regular income after office hours.

The role, needless to say, requires impeccable written English skills. You need to commit to 5-6 hours a day for this. This would be at usual office hours, but with some flexibility. We work on Saturdays too, so the work is between Monday and Saturday. Salary starts at 2.4 lakhs per annum.

Indiahikes website is known for its high quality images. We are looking at photographers who can take the level of images higher on our website. 

Indiahikes is hiring. If you are looking for an adventurous career option in India, or any other career in the trekking world, check the openings here.

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