Himalayan Mountaineering Institute

The Himalayan Mountaineering Institute (HMI) is one of the premier mountaineering institutes in the world. Founded on November 4th, 1954 by Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru, the first Prime Minister of India, the institute is located in the picturesque hill station of Darjeeling. Darjeeling is also the hometown of Sherpa Tenzing Norgay, the first human to set foot on the highest peak of Mount Everest along with Sir Edmund Hillary. And it was in HMI that Tenzing spent most of his post-Everest ascent period as Director of Field Training. HMI is now a prominent landmark of Darjeeling and a Centre of tourist attraction, it commands a magnificent view of Mount Kanchenjunga, the third-highest peak in the world. In more than 62 years of its existence, the Institute has trained more than 45,000 thousand students including 2,500 from different foreign countries. The prestigious Course completion certificate from HMI is a prized possession of any trainee, which is given due recognition all over the world. HMI boasts of a lineage of very illustrious luminaries. Tenzing Norgay was associated with HMI as its Director of Field Training from June 1954 to May 1976. He was then appointed Advisor in May 1976 and was the guiding spirit to the Institute till his death in May 1986. Nawang Gombu, who became the first man to climb Mt. Everest twice was an instructor at HMI since its inception in 1954.