Birendra Rajkarnicar is the founder of the Himalayan School of Outdoor Recreation, bringing with him over 33 years of expertise in entrepreneurship and business management. Educated at the Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy at Tufts University, his professional journey includes roles at AT&T Communications, Crain Communications, and the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) in the United States. Upon returning to Nepal, he led innovative ventures such as Himalayan Knitworks, which introduced cotton knitwear to the local market, and the House of Rajkarnicar, a pioneer in exhibition and event management.
After a dynamic career both locally and internationally, Birendra launched a new educational initiative in Nepal: the Himalayan School of Outdoor Recreation. This institution offers a tailor-made, multi-disciplinary curriculum designed to develop a new generation of professionals in outdoor recreation and adventure—individuals equipped with the necessary expertise, experience, and mindset. He is currently deeply engaged in building the school into a transformative, visionary, and impactful institution for the future.
What inspired the foundation of HSOR and what gap in outdoor education were you aiming to fill?
On a personal level, what led to the founding of the HSOR was the transformative nature of outdoor adventure travel and the lifestyle of physical and mental engagement required for running such a school.
The gap that HSOR hopes to fulfil is the gaping disconnect between the exponential growth in outdoor adventure and the human resource development in kind and magnitude to match the demand in the industry. What we need is a “new outdoor adventure professional” with a tailor-made multi-disciplinary academic degree programme to best serve the outdoor recreation and adventure industry, just like the acting school for the theatre and film industry or the law school for the legal profession.
How did you determine the balance between classroom-based learning and field experiences in the program structure?
Well – one rule does not fit all courses. Some courses do not require any or little experiential teaching while others may require over 75% field training content such as swimming or mountain biking or skiing. I would also like to point out that field experience does not necessarily mean leaving the city or overnight stays. Field experience may be just a demonstration within the school compound or an observation visit to the Jawalakhel Zoo or experiential exercise in the Bagmati Corridor UN Park or Nagarjun Forest. But in general, our goal is to ensure that the classroom knowledge is reinforced by field experiences.
What lessons from Nepali culture and the Himalayas do you believe the global outdoor industry can learn from?
Community-based forest programmes to conserve and manage Nepal’s natural environment and wildlife habitat is a well-run concept in Nepal that the global community can learn from Nepal. Likewise, Nepal is also developing community-based homestays such as the WWF-supported Madi Valley community homestay, which can also be another community programme that the world outdoor adventure industry can learn from Nepal. As an add-on to the homestay programme, the international outdoor adventure industry can also take a few cues from our tea-house hospitality and camp hospitality models, which we have almost perfected to an art.
On a socio-cultural level, despite such diverse ethnicity and religion in Nepal, people live in relatively more peaceful co-existence than other regions of the world. Brahman, Tamang and Sherpa villages within half-day walking distance or Hindu temples side by side with Buddhist monasteries co-exist relatively peacefully. Nepalese culture of social tolerance and peaceful co-existence can be a social insight and inspiration for foreigners who visit Nepal.
On a technical level, Nepal’s outdoor adventure support professionals must have mastered the prevention and treatment of high-altitude sickness and the manoeuvring in glacier avalanche environments, which Nepalese mountaineers can share with their foreign counterparts. This is my opinion. I cannot authoritatively make this statement, but our mountaineering instructors may be able to verify my thoughts.
What kind of personal transformation do you hope each student goes through during their time at HSOR?
Developing a fitting “attitude” is one of three fundamental focuses of our teaching and learning at HSOR. A harmonizing, well-balanced and positive attitude is the essence of transforming students into ideal leaders of outdoor adventure. The personal development of students which is not just social and interpersonal skills but resolving personal values. Moral issues of justice and tolerance for differences whether it is ethnicity, religion, nationality or gender and even to the extent of other living species sharing this world. Character issues of compassion, responsibility, ownership, loyalty and team-work. Personality issues of dealing with obstacles of any kind with solution focused rather than problem focused approach.
While these issues are directly dealt with in a course of the last semester, the students will encounter these issues in most courses in one angle or another. We hope the learning experience at HSOR will take the students into a journey of finding oneself and seeking truth. As students resolve these issues, we hope they will transform into great outdoor adventure professionals and leaders.
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