NEW DELHI: The ‘Soul of Steel’, a mega high-altitude endurance challenge rolled out by a group of special forces veterans and the Army in Garhwal Himalayan region in January, has entered its final phase after months of gruelling sessions on jungle and mountain survival skills, rock-craft and navigation.

The first-of-its-kind initiative, aimed at promoting adventure sports in glaciated terrains was launched by Defence Minister Rajnath Singh on January 14.

The final phase of the ‘Soul of Steel’ was flagged off by Brigadier Aman Anand, the Commander of 9 (Independent) Mountain Brigade Group on Thursday in Auli and it was attended by school students, youths from local villages and officers and soldiers from the Indian Army. “Soul of Steel Himalayan Challenge, joint initiative by Indian Army and CLAW Global, was flagged off from Auli, Uttarakhand. The three months long Skill and Endurance Challenge will culminate on 18 Jun,” the Army’s Uttar Bharat tweeted. The CLAW (Conquer Land Air Water) is a group of special forces veterans.

The final phase of the ‘Soul of Steel’ began after two-and-half months of gruelling training on ice climbing, glacier negotiation, snow shelters, jungle and mountain survival skills, rockcraft, navigation and search and rescue operations, officials said. 23, including two women, are selected to undergo a 10-week-long extensive training under the joint team of experts from Indian Armed Forces and CLAW Global.

“The final phase of the event will be held from June 10 to 17 in which the 23 competitors will set out on a challenge to compete as teams along the rugged mountainous terrain of the Garhwal Himalayas, at an altitude of 17,000 feet,” said one of the officials.