Himalayan Mountaineering Institute, Darjeeling

The Himalayan Mountaineering Institute in Darjeeling teaches climbing and runs a museum on Everest expeditions and Himalayan life. It sits next to the Darjeeling Zoo.

The Himalayan Mountaineering Institute (HMI) stands at Jawahar Parbat in Darjeeling. It was established on 4 November 1954, the year after the first ascent of Everest, to promote mountaineering as an organised sport. Tenzing Norgay, who reached the summit with Edmund Hillary in 1953, was the first director of field training, and Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru supported its founding. The institute runs adventure, basic and advanced mountaineering courses.

For general visitors the main draw is the museum on the campus, which the institute describes as having three sections: the history of Himalayan mountaineering, the Mount Everest expedition, and Himalayan life covering culture and wildlife. The institute says nearly half a million tourists, mountaineers and researchers visit the museum each year. The campus sits next to the Padmaja Naidu Himalayan Zoological Park, and many visitors see both on the same trip.

Museum ticket price and hours are not published on the pages that could be loaded. The institute's own page gives office hours of Monday to Saturday, 9:30 am to 4:30 pm, closed Sundays and government holidays, and a search summary mentioned a Rs 60 museum fee, but that could not be confirmed. Call the institute before visiting.