Total Coverage Area: 630-sq-kms
Established In: 1980
Altitude: Between 2,400mt. and 6,817
Description
The centerpiece of the Garhwal region is undoubtedly the Nanda Devi Sanctuary. Until 1934, the gorge of the Rishiganga river and the immediate area around Nanda Devi peak was one of the least known and most inaccessible parts of the Himalayan region. In the Sanctuary, the mountains stand in a vast amphitheater, seventy miles in circumference and about 6,000m high. The Nanda Devi Sanctuary is drained in part, by the Alaknanda and Saraswati rivers.

Surveying The Wildlife
The early Indian Surveyors and mountaineers alike were unable to venture into the Inner Sanctuary. It was in 1934 the Eric Shipton and Bill Tilman eventually managed to find their way to the Sanctuary. This paved the way for the Anglo-American mountain expedition of 1936 to ultimately climb the peak. When Tilman and Odell reached the top of Nanda Devi on 29th August, 1936, they had reached the highest point ever climbed by man till then. And this height record stood till the French stood on top of Annapurna in Nepal in 1950 - the first 8,000m peak to be climbed by man.