About us
 

Vidya Ramachandran was an avid mountaineer and trekking enthusiast, in the early 1970’s. She was always looking for new peaks to scale, new mountains to explore. She trained hard for each expedition to the mountains, knowing very well that apart from the stamina, grit and determination are required. Success in Mountain climbing involves a lot of great Mountaineering technical skills. Her favorite saying was: “Mountaineering is basically about challenging oneself and scaling the peaks of one’s mind, before one attempts to climb the mountain peaks”.

She encouraged many young women to take up mountaineering and shared her experiences with them. She helped them train and equip themselves for the trek expeditions.

It was in May 1974 that Vidya and other women set out to climb the Hardeol peak in the Garhwal Himalayas, as part of an Indo-New Zealand women’s expedition. On the morning of 30th May 1974, a tremendous avalanche cascaded down the slopes and buried the Camp 1 where the women were staying in. Vidya and 3 other women who had just started climbing then, were either caught in that initial avalanche or in the secondary avalanches triggered by the main one. Sadly, their bodies were never recovered, despite intense search efforts by both the Indian authorities and by Gopal Ramachandran, Vidya’s elder brother, who mounted a private and valiant effort with the help of friends.

 

Gopal Ramachandran, a 1968-batch Gold Medalist from IIT Madras, worked as a highly-rated specialist in the semi-conductor domain in the Bay Area, California, USA. He was as adventurous as Vidya. He himself was a mountaineer, who had climbed various mountain peaks in USA, South America, India and Nepal. He was also a brilliant photographer, scuba diver and flying enthusiast. He bought himself a small plane and would fly it over Alaska and other pristine places, capturing nature’s awe-inspiring beauty for posterity.

Gopal passed away in end-2021 and magnanimously, left all his Indian assets to be used to support and fund women’s trekking and mountaineering expeditions in India. This was to honor the memory of his sister, whom he and his family lost in May 1974.

This Vidya Ramachandran Trust has been formed, keeping his wishes and above noble intentions in mind.

The Trust will have Mr. B. Seshnath, a cousin of Gopal and Vidya, as the Author (main Trustee), Mrs. Meena Badami and Mr. Satish Venkatachalaiah as co-Trustees, who are both are keen mountaineers and regularly participate in various expeditions.

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