Prabhakar Patankar Mountain Talks
Prabhakar Patankar was a Life Member of The Himalayan Club from 1954 until he passed away at the ripe old age of 96 years in 2011.
Mr Patankar had the rare distinction in serving in the Royal Indian Army till 1948 and subsequently joining the Indian Civil Services, retiring as a Commissioner in the Sales Tax Department.
A passionate outdoorsman, he undertook one of the earliest Everest base camp trekking expeditions in Sep-Oct 1953, inspired by the historic feat of Tenzing Norgay and Edmund Hillary earlier that year. Apart from being an avid trekker, he was an expert swimmer and exponent of ancient Marathi literature. He published a book in Marathi on his passion for the Himalaya titled Himalayashi Zunj.
The event “Prabhakar Patankar Mountain Talks” is organised in January every year in his memory, wherein eminent achievers in the field of mountain adventure and climbing are invited to present their endeavours. Rijul Gill, Narendra Kumar Gautam, Anil Retawade, Harshad Rao, Vivek Shivade and Peter Van Geit have been the speakers till date.
