Soul of Steel’ Himalayan challenge enters final phase

The ‘Soul of Steel’, a mega high-altitude endurance challenge rolled out by a group of special forces veterans and the Army in Garhwal Himalayan region in January, has entered its final phase after months of gruelling sessions on jungle and mountain survival skills, rockcraft and navigation.
The first-of-its-kind initiative, aimed at promoting adventure sports in glaciated terrains and to complement the Centre’s ‘vibrant villages’, was launched by Defence Minister Rajnath Singh on 14 January.
The final phase of the ‘Soul of Steel’ was flagged off by Brigadier Aman Anand, the Commander of 9 (Independent) Mountain Brigade Group on Thursday in Auli and it was attended by school students, youths from local villages and officers and soldiers from the Indian Army, officials said.
“SoulofSteel Himalayan Challenge, joint initiative by Indian Army and CLAW Global, was flagged off from Auli, Uttarakhand. The three months long Skill and Endurance Challenge will culminate on 18 Jun,” the Army’s Uttar Bharat tweeted.
The CLAW (Conquer Land Air Water) is a group of special forces veterans.
The ‘vibrant villages’ scheme seeks to develop remote border villages in the country by promoting adventure tourism and arresting migration through revenue and employment generation while fostering the spirit of adventure amongst the youths.