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Mahindra has opened Registrations for its Trail Survivor Course at the Mahindra Adventure Off-Road Training Academy. The course sits just above the beginner 'Getting Dirty' course; Mahindra says that the 'Trail Survivor' is meant for the advanced newbie.



Here’s what you need to know

Location: Situated in the hills around Igatpuri (120 kms from Mumbai, 40 kms from Nasik).

Rides: Mahindra Thar (provided by Mahindra).

Duration: 10 hours and spread across two days. You arrive on the afternoon of Day 1 and depart same time on Day 2.

Cost: Rs 15,000 per head. Includes accommodation and all meals.

Dates:
March 30th & 31st
April 13th & 14th
April 20th & 21st



The course will cover the introductory aspects to offroading, moving on to advanced 4WD theory and recovery techniques. Participants will then understand the usage of equipment and safety, followed by driving sessions on Class II & Class III courses. The program winds up with a Q&A session and certification.

• To book online and pay with your credit card, click here.
• The event calendar is located here.

Thanks Redline for sharing. You have mentioned about beginner 'Getting Dirty' course, but I was not able to find any on their site. Is that included in Trail Survivor or is it seperate?

I haven't been able to confirm that either!
Trying to get a confirmation from Mahindra Adventure folks on the same :)

The beginner course would really be helpful for people like me, who know about off roading theoretically but have zero practical knowledge :D.

Would be glued to this thread for updates and reviews about this course :).

Would it include 1 jeep per participant. I would hate to share it with the instructor with me just sitting next to him and watch him negotiate the roughs.
Even for beginners, it is necessary to sit behind the wheels and get stuck and then learn how to get out of the mess that 1 has gotten into.:-)

Participants, please share your reviews, once you return.

Prime question from me : Is it really worth spending 15k for this course ?
There's no pessimism involved while I ask this question; as I really am looking forward to acquiring these skills, so if fellow members confirm that it would indeed be a great experience - I won't hesitate putting my money. :thumbs up

I think for the fact that they are providing vehicles itself should cover the cost easily.Think of potential damages,wear and tear and maintainance necessary to your own vehicle(if you were to bring your own vehicle).Plus they are providing food,accomodation and training.Not bad IMO.

Hi Vinod & M&M Adventure,

Congratulations on a Very good initiative, courses like these will help create awareness and responsibility amongst 4wd enthusiasts.

Regards,

Arka

I do agree with you. Keeping the food+accommodation+training+vehicles, it sounds reasonable.
I am not sure if you already know about this. Jeep Thrills (Chennai chapter) has been doing this year after year. This year's anniversary event just concluded couple of weeks back. If you don't mind the travel, you could always attend the next year's Jeep Thrills workshop.

Nonetheless, a great initiative from M&M :thumbs up

Cheers,
Deepak

We will be shortly opening registrations for 'getting dirty' soon. You can register there. If you like it, then you can upgrade to trail survivor based on available seats.

Thanks freewheel. A burnt clutch replacement costs about 8-10K! Vehicle regular maintenance is extra. This is value for money deal.

Thanks Arka! Just doing what JT Chennai has been doing at local level. I had my classes there :D

My colleague Manish sarser would be the trainer.

Thanks Deepak.

These courses may not be for people who have been there and done that. The program is for beginners who aspire to live adventurous life. This way we get to more and more people and introduce them to off-roading.

Good Stuff :) What is the minimum and maximum number of people allowed for a course ?

We will begin with a small classroom which can seat 12 members per batch only. As and when this picks up we will add additional class room facility.

If you need instructors you have my number.
Have guide books and instructions documents well written and ready to give away adapted to India. Also first aid and safety instructions.
Shahid Ahmad
North India Offroad Club

I came back this weekend from this program and boy, did I have fun! Right from the time I registered for the 'getting dirty' course to reaching back home to B'bay after driving through some amazing mist laden roads, it was a weekend well spent.

I drive a Mahindra vehicle - I've been a proud owner of a Thar for 9 months. The vehicle has been a pure joy to drive on road and off in contrast to what some people say about it on many threads (some of them have made their presence felt on this 'neutral' thread as well). So one can say that I'm a little biased towards Mahindra when I write this but the levels of professionalism that the Mahindra team displayed during those few hours we ( my wife and I) were with them, the great camaraderie I developed with the team and the rest of the participants, the sheer joy of roughing out a vehicle with the knowledge that there are expert hands to pull me out if I screw up, all of this has left lasting impact on me.

I had registered for the event about 15 days back but could only get a place in the morning slot. The registration process was easy peasy, like all online registrations these days. The morning slot meant that I would have to leave B'bay at 5 in the morning to reach Igatpuri at the reporting time of 7:15. I had mailed a day before to the Mahindra guys if I could bring my wife along for the course which they graciously allowed. Come Saturday morning we set off for Igatpuri a little behind time. At sharp 7:15, while we were still 20 minutes away from the meeting point, we got a call from Mahindra team to check where we were. Knowing of our whereabouts, the offered to wait for us to join before they set off for the course. We reached the meeting point (Mystic valley resort) a little after 7:45. On our arrival we were welcomed by Manish Sarser, Bhosle Saab and Ravi from Mahindra Adventure and served with a lavish breakfast. Even though I was the only participant, Manish made sure he arranged for breakfast, a t-shirt and cap for my wife who had also joined me. This ofcourse left us pleasantly happy and gratified.

With all the other co-participants we were quickly taken through a small theory session on off-roading and Thars capabilities. At any point it did not appear that the intention of the group was to hard-sell their vehicles (something I was cynical about and was expecting)- rather Manish and Bhosle Saab made genuine attempts at apprising us all about off-roading and what to expect on the course.

After a brief 30 minute classroom session we all drove to the course in our designated Thars. These Thars had gone through different but very basic mods including M/T tyres, winches, snorkel, roll-over bars etc. While M/T tyres were standard across all these vehicles, other mods were there on few and not all. As we later realized the biggest difference to the vehicles off-roading capabilities came from the M/T tyres as there was a Thar with A/T tyres which could barely clear any obstacle.

Once at the course, we were again briefed on important basics on 4wd, safety, getting stuck and getting out. The course itself is set in the middle of a scenic valley over 20+ acres of land and has multiple obstacles of varying difficult and nature. Since it had been raining for some days now, the terrain had become all the more difficult. We were then taken through multiple obstacles under the watchful eyes of Manish, Bhosle Saab, Ravi and many more employees from Mahindra who were there all the time and helping us move over rumps, wade through ditches and winching us out when stuck. I can say with conviction that you need a terrain like this to unleash the beast that resides within the metal body of the Thar. Boy...was she fun to drive. I have started loving my own vehicle a lot more after the event.

I will end this post here with a video I shot of another participant but would greatly recommend this program to everyone who loves to drive, has a bit of adventure within, is taking up off-roading, wants to get out on the weekend. It was worth every single penny of the 6k that I spend. And thanks to Mahindra Adventure and Manish and team for making this a memorable day.