UIMLA is proud to announce that the Ukrainian Association Of Mountain Leaders has been formally named as a candidate member of UIMLA. This is the first step of a process that will include asking our general assembly to make the Ukrainian Association aspirant members and then assessing the training scheme before asking the general assembly to make the Ukrainian Association Full members of our international community.
Our colleagues in Slovenská asociácia horských sprievodcov, the Slovak Mountain Leaders Association, began working with Ukrainian colleagues to build a training system and ended the winter part on February 4, 2022, just 20 days before the military attack on Ukraine.
I very much hope that the moment will come when we will be able to tell about ourselves not only to you but to the whole organization…
We have to inform you about the background of our decision to move to UIMLA. It has always been obvious to us there is a need for integration processes, the benefits of cooperation in international structures, and the implementation of common international safety standards and teaching methods…
Our whole team had to stop studying and its own business because of the war and fully concentrate on helping the homeland. This is almost an around-the-clock process. These boys and girls had to pick up machine guns instead of ice axes. They are also volunteers who help the military. These are people worthy of representing Ukraine in an international organization. And I pray that each of them will return alive and not only because everyone is dear to me as a friend. And also because I feel that as we can entrust them now our country, so can then entrust them clients in the mountains. For me, these words are not an abstraction, in three months I have lost several of my students – wonderful people.
Oleksandr – Ukrainian Association Of Mountain Leaders
We are UIMLA, we are International Mountain Leaders living and working in the mountains that often form the borders between countries. When we meet in these wild and remote places we join in our shared passion for the mountains and celebrate what binds us together. In this spirit, we would like to help you build a new future. We stand with Ukrainian mountain leaders and welcome them to our family.
Ian, UIMLA President
UIMLA intends to develop a plan to support rebuilding our profession in Ukraine. Much will have been lost in the war and we can help replace at least some equipment. We’ll be asking for help doing that!
