New Delhi, June 17 : The 'Soul of Steel' event supported by the Indian Army in collaboration with Conquer Land Air Water (CLAW) Global was launched by the Defence Ministry on January 14 in Dehradun. the Soul of Steel Himalayan Challenge was started in this 120th Raising Year of 9 (Independent) Mountain Brigade Group. The first of its kind, "Soul of Steel Himalayan Challenge" was conducted in forward areas of Garhwal Himalayan region with the aim to achieve the Centre's initiative of 'Vibrant Village' to arrest the migration from border areas by unlocking the tourism potential of Himalayas and create income sources for the locals. Soul of Steel is a unique blend of specialised skills including high altitude mountaineering, extreme cold survival, psychological and physical endurance. The challenge opens the domain of niche military skills to an average youth who wishes to challenge his/her physical and psychological limits. The challenge attracted interest from 1401(including 94 women) highly skilled athletes, adventure sports enthusiasts and armed forces aspirants. These applicants were put through a grueling two-stage screening process, out of which only 23 (including two women) of them were finally selected to undergo a 10-week long extensive training in endurance, mountaineering, survival and rescue skills under the joint team of experts from Indian Armed Forces and CLAW Global. The participants were trained to operate beyond the assumed limits of their body, to discover the limitless realms of their mind, consciousness and spirit. The final phase of the event was held from June 10-17, in which 18 Soul of Steel warriors set out on a challenge to compete as teams of three along the rugged mountainous terrain of the Garhwal Himalayas, at an altitude of 17,000 feet and covered a distance of 65 km through glaciers, ice walls, rock faces and snow-capped Himalayan peaks. The challenge tested their self-sustained mountain climbing, survival, navigation skills, psychological endurance and physical toughness. "In this challenge, only the toughest competed, few sustained and the best won but everyone evolved." The closing ceremony of the event was organised on Friday Ghamsali which was attended by Minister of Defence for State Ajay Bhatt, GOC-In-C Central Command, GOC UB Area and huge gathering of school students, local villagers, officers & soldiers of Indian Army, ITBP, NDRF amongst many others. The event also included breathtaking performances by Indian Army on Rock Climbing, Mixed Marshal Arts, Kalaripayattu which enthralled the audience. The local villagers gave mesmerized experience to the audience with regional folk dances & songs. Chief Guest facilitated the winning team with the medals and trophy and announced opening of 'The Human Ability Biome' which will act as a perennial hub for advanced skill training courses in Land, Air and Water adventure activities, life skill training, environmental conservation, forestry training programs, rehabilitation and research aimed at harnessing the potential of the human mind and body. /IANS