Chennai Trekking Club, Trekking by CTC, Trekking in Chennai

CTC or Chennai Trekking Club is a nonprofit and voluntary organization. The members of this organization plan to meet every week for environmental education, social responsibility and outdoor recreation activities.

History of Chennai Trekking Club:

The CTC was founded by a small group of hiking enthusiasts based in Chennai on 22nd February, in the year 2008. The Chennai Trekking Club kicked off as a casual group of 7 friends who were connected with the computer industry.

This small group suddenly expanded into a huge organization of more than 10000 members. Moreover, the main objective of this organization was to facilitate trekking as a methodical sport.

Chennai Trekking Club makes plans for two three days treks for weekends in and about South India. The club also makes arrangements for other linked activities like short treks for the underprivileged people and strolls for nature photography trips, charity, first aid, one day treks, survival skills and workshops on navigation via GPS. So far, the CTC has conducted above 300 treks and every month over 500 members enroll with the club. The membership fee to join this club is zero.

Activities offered by Chennai Trekking Club:

CTC conducts member led treks on weekends and treks through the uncultivated areas and mountains in Eastern and Western Ghats. CTC also organizes occasional treks in the Himalayas.

The main credit of the enormous popularity of CTC goes to the huge fan base mostly from South India as well as the volunteers who devote their time in exploring and systematizing the treks.

The club also includes members who reside out of India mainly the emigrants who used to live in Bangalore and Chennai earlier. CTC revitalizes its members from the hustle and bustle of city life by organizing activities which incite the environmental awareness and promotes physical fitness among them.

Members who are inclined towards Wildlife and Natural photography can benefit from CTC because the club organizes frequent photography treks and trips for such people. Some experienced wildlife photographers also organize photography workshops for the CTC members. Besides these activities the club also conducts maintenance and tree plantation activities, beach cleanup, lake clean up and social treks with the poor children.

Planning and Organization By CTC

The planning and organization of each trek is done by some important members who volunteer weeks ahead of the trek. The leaders of the Chennai Trekking Club are called Pathfinders. They frequently trek through the mountains and jungles which are unknown and create their own trails using the GPS, topographic maps and compass. CTC plans treks to wilderness and forest areas close to Chennai, besides nearby areas of Chennai distant places like Western and Eastern Ghats in Tamil Nadu, Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka, Kerela and sometimes in North India are also covered. Generally around 10-40 participants take part in a trek.

Other Attractions by Chennai Trekking Club

Apart from the normal treks the club also conducts a range of additional events. From time to time CTC organizes social outings for deprived groups in Chennai which include- poor women, street children (absconded from home or lost), AIDS victims, down’s syndrome children and other underprivileged groups. Besides this the other events that are offered by CTC occasionally are:

Organizing senior treks, family treks, ladies treks and couples treks
Organizing educational workshops such as survival skills and first aid training
Workshops on navigation and maps training
Snake workshops
Photography workshops
Climbing events
Motorcycling trips on mountain roads
Trail riding in picturesque locations
Cleanup events to clean the polluted places

Chennai Trekking Club Online:

The pictures of treks are published on the CTC blog. There are above 30000 pictures published on the CTC blog that were clicked during the treks. The online existence of CTC has enhanced by its various communities on Facebook. CTC also engages its online visitors through its discussion form and an active Photography blog. In the Google maps and Google calendar of CTC all the past as well as future treks have been published.

The announcements of new treks can be seen on the google groups. Apart from the online media the club also had more than 45 articles and stories about its activities available in the local newspapers including Times of India, The Hindu, Indian Express, Economic Times, in some Tamil Language dailies and Deccan Chronicle.