About Us

THE BEGINNING

Over two decades ago, a young man dreamed of giving adventure travel a new definition in India. Adventure in India, then in its nascent stages, was considered the prerogative of daredevils and out of reach to the average person. He wanted soft adventure in India to be available to all and that too in a safe, sustainable manner. He pressed on till in 1990 he founded a company that walked his talk. That man was Ajeet Bajaj and the dream was Snow Leopard Adventures! Still carrying on dreaming big, Ajeet Bajaj went on to become an acclaimed name in the adventure world and Snow Leopard Adventures went on to become a national leader in adventure tourism. Snow Leopard Adventures is the first ISO: 9000 Certified Company in its field and we are proud to have introduced countless adventure seekers to the adrenaline-rush of the outdoors through our school, corporate and family programmes.

Snow Leopard Adventures, The name

It was while trekking in the Indian Himalayas that Ajeet Bajaj managed to get a glimpse of the elusive snow leopard. It must have been the euphoria of that incredible experience that persuaded him to name the company after the snow leopard and to create outdoor experiences as rare and exceptional as the magnificent cat with a remarkably long tail. More than two decades on, Snow Leopard Adventures continues to create memorable experiences for its guests that are as extraordinary as the snow leopard…

Snow Leopard Adventures, The experience

The Snow Leopard Experience is a combination of 4 “S” elements that drive our operation namely Safety, Skilled team, Sustainability and Service. Be it river rafting on the Ganga, trekking in the Himalayas, mountain biking in Garhwal, sea kayaking  tours in Kerala or Trans-Himalayan jeep safaris, meticulous planning, tremendous emphasis on safety, ecological sensibility and personalised service form the foundation of each of our trips. Our 150-member Snow Leopard Adventures Team, comprising experienced administrators,  rafters, kayakers, climbers and naturalists, is one of the most professional and efficient teams to provide soft adventure in India.

OUR CREDENTIALS

Snow Leopard Adventures P. Ltd. is:-

• Award winner of the National Tourism Award for Best Adventure Tour Operator 2015 by the Government of India.
• Award​ winner of ​the Best Adventure Tour Operator National Tourism Award (2013-2014) by the Government of India
• Recognized as an Adventure Tour Operator by the Ministry of Tourism, Government of India.
• National Tourism Awardee (2008- 09) for the Most Innovative Adventure Activity- Sea Kayaking in Kerala.
• India’s first “ISO” certified adventure tour operator.
• India’s First International Trained Activity Provider licensee by Duke of Edinburgh
• Active Member of The Indian Association of Tour Operators (IATO).
• Member, Adventure Travel Trade Association.
• Founder member of The Adventure Tour Operators’ Association of India (ATOAI).
• Founder member of The Indian Association of Professional Rafting Outfitters (IAPRO).
• Member, Association of Domestic Tour Operators’ Of India.
• Member, Indian Mountaineering Foundation.
• Member, Skal Delhi.

THE MILESTONES

• Award winner of the National Tourism Award for Best Adventure Tour Operator 2015 by the Government of India.
• As a school trip organiser in India – awarded licence to conduct IAYP/ Duke of Edinburgh programmes as well as becoming BS8848 compliant  – the British Standard for organising and managing visits, fieldwork, expeditions and adventurous activities outside the UK (2016)
• Awarded the Best Adventure Tour Operator National Tourism Award (2013-2014) by the Government of India
• Padma Shri Award (2011) for Ajeet Bajaj, Managing Director.
• Adventure Tour Operators Association of India Hall of Fame Award (2010) for Ajeet Bajaj.
• National Tourism Award (2008- 09) for the Most Innovative Adventure Activity- Sea Kayaking in Kerala.
• Voted ‘Best Adventure Tour Operator in India’ by Outlook Traveller readers, in 2016
• The Bird Express Travel Award 2010 for Excellence in Customer Experience for its new campsite, Camp Blue Bull in Orchha, Madhya Pradesh.
• Selected by the Indian Armed Forces to run about 50 adventure courses.
• Organise BG Energy Challenge .
• Handled adventure projects for the Darjeeling Gorkha Hill Council and Sikkim Tourism
• Facilitated filming for  ‘Aisha’, an Anil Kapoor Film Production, Tele- serial ‘Seven’ with Yashraj Telefilms Pvt. Ltd and Thums Up commercial.
• Selected to facilitate the Four Square Challenge White Water Championship in India
• Organized British Canoe expeditions in Garhwal, Sikkim and Himachal.
• Community Service in India – Support children’s home managed by DivyaPremSewa mission, working in the field of leprosy patients and their children. At present the mission is giving free education, boarding and lodging to over 200 children of leprosy patients.
• Started girl’s wing for Divya Prem Sewa Mission children’s home near Haridwar
• Started Ganga First Aid Clinic at Shivpuri Village, Near Rishikesh

SAFETY

Safety is a way of life at Snow Leopard Adventures and our operations are governed by an obsession with safety .
We ensure safe operations by:-

• Strict adherence to our Safety Code of Conduct.
• Use of state-of-the-art equipment for all our activities and by before season thorough inspection of all our adventure equipment.
• Conducting an annual Camping and Adventure Process Training (CAPT) programme for our entire team.
• By organising regular swift water rescue training programmes for our river team and outdoor referesher courses for the rest of our experienced operations team.
• Annual certification in Wilderness First Aid and CPR by WMI,  National Outdoor Leadership School, US to our outdoor trip leaders
• Keeping a comprehensive First Aid kit at the camp and by carry a First Aid kit on all our adventure trips.

SUSTAINABILITY

Environment

In order to emulate best practices in sustainable development, which appreciate the relationship between humans and nature at all levels, Snow Leopard Adventures lays tremendous emphasis on running an environment-friendly operation. We are also proud of our Corporate Social Responsibility initiatives. We promote minimum impact tourism and try to follow the rule of great outdoors “take only photographs – leave only footprints AND give something back to the local environment / community”.

CSR

Even while running a highly successful adventure operation, we are proud to state that Snow Leopard Adventures endeavors to fulfill its responsibilities to the society. Our CSR initiatives include the Ganga First Aid Centre, which was started over 14 years ago to provide basic health care to the villagers in the area. The fact that over 40,000 villagers have been treated at the Centre speaks volumes about its success.

Snow Leopard Adventures also supports a children’s home managed by Divya Prem Sewa mission, a non-government voluntary organization, working in the field of leprosy patients and their children since the last 10 years. At present the mission is giving free education and food & hostel facility to over 200 children of leprosy patients.

Snow Leopard Adventures helped set up the girls’ wing for this home, which presently houses 12 girls. The mission also runs a small workshop within the premises to help students learn vocational skills to ensure that they can be independent after they leave this school.

Primary School in Kathiya Village, near Rishikesh

Snow Leopard Adventures supports a children’s home managed by Divya Prem Sewa mission, a non-government voluntary organization, working in the field of leprosy patients and their children since the last 10 years. At present the mission is giving free education and food & hostel facility to over 200 children of leprosy patients.

Snow Leopard Adventures set up a girls’ wing named “Ganga Vatika Girls Hostel” in 2012. Though the present building houses only 12 girls, we have helped construct a new building, which will eventually house 45 girls. The girls are expected to join in June, 2015. The mission also runs a small workshop within the premises to help students learn vocational skills to ensure that they can be independent after they leave this school.

We have also adopted a primary school with about 50 students in Kathiya village close to our camp and have been supporting them with school furniture and stationery. We recently built toilets there as some parents were not sending their girl children to school due to lack of toilets.

SERVICE

Utmost emphasis is given to personalised service in our operations. Once an adventurer comes to our camps, he or she is treated as our guest. Without taking away from the essential nature of camping, we try and enhance the comfort level of our guests. Every tent is equipped with comfortable beds, linen, towels, mineral water etc.

The food at our camps,  supervised by an ex- Taj employee, is a combination of Indian, Continental and Chinese. In fact, it was because of all this and more that the International Young Presidents Organization,  rated us a 9.8 out of 10