New Delhi, April 26 -- From our vantage point, a short hop from Byasi village in Uttarakhand, we can see the Ganga silently rounding a bend before continuing downstream to Rishikesh. For more than three decades, Vaibhav Kala, 53, has admired this view and the many avatars of the river. This is where he first arrived, fresh out of college from St Stephen's in Delhi, in 1992 to work as a river guide with tour operator Himalayan River Runners, setting aside a conventional career to chase a life outdoors.

It was a time when adventure tourism was a cottage industry. The market was restricted to a few players. Gear was hard to find and infrastructure was poor. Besides, when it came to Indian travellers, there were few takers for a holiday that...