• EDITORIAL POLICY
  • ABOUT US
PML Daily
No Result
View All Result
  • Home
  • NEWS
    • Politics
    • Education
    • Regional
    • Africa
    • World
  • INVESTIGATIONS
    • National Archives
    • Special Reports
  • OpEd
  • BUSINESS
    • Agriculture
    • Tech
    • Finance
  • FEATURES
    • Health
    • Tours & Travel
    • Entertainment
    • Society
  • COLUMNISTS
    • The Suited Penguin
  • SPORT
  • Jobs
  • Magazines
  • Home
  • NEWS
    • Politics
    • Education
    • Regional
    • Africa
    • World
  • INVESTIGATIONS
    • National Archives
    • Special Reports
  • OpEd
  • BUSINESS
    • Agriculture
    • Tech
    • Finance
  • FEATURES
    • Health
    • Tours & Travel
    • Entertainment
    • Society
  • COLUMNISTS
    • The Suited Penguin
  • SPORT
  • Jobs
  • Magazines
No Result
View All Result
PML Daily
No Result
View All Result
Home FEATURES Tours & Travel

Mountain Slayers Uganda trains, equips Rwenzori Mountain guides and rangers

PML DAILY EDITOR | PML Daily EditorialbyPML DAILY EDITOR | PML Daily Editorial
September 21, 2021
5 0
4
SHARES
66
VIEWS
FacebookWhatsAppTwitter
Mountain Slayers Uganda were able to retrieve funding for the project through grant funding from the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP). (PHOTO/Ronald Tusiime).

KASESE – Mountain Slayers Uganda (MSU) yesterday handed over mountain climbing safety equipment to the Rwenzori mountains’ guiding community. The equipment handover is part of a project that also saw guides and rangers from the Rwenzori mountains receive safety training for the mountains back in June 2021.

The activity took place at Rwenzori Base Camp Guest House in Kasese. It was the culmination of a project dubbed “Galvanizing Mountain Tourism Through Enhancing Mountain Safety” and led by Mountain Slayers Uganda President Paul Lumala. The project is sponsored by the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP).

The handover of equipment preceded a 10-day training of 14 guides and two rangers from Rwenzori Ranges Hikers Association (RRHA), Rwenzori Mountaineering Services (RMS) and Uganda Wildlife Authority (UWA) on safety in the mountains carried out in June 2021 by Sentinel Outdoor Institute.

The training aimed to increase the level of safety for both local and international tourists while climbing the Rwenzori and focused on the following areas:

Mobile stretchers are part of the equipment that will be put to use in the Rwenzori mountains. (PHOTO/Ronald Tusiime).

Outdoor Leadership

Group Organisation and Management

Wilderness First Aid (WFA)

Cardio-Pulmonary Resuscitation (CPR)

Leave No Trace (LNT)

Field Emergency Evacuation

The equipment comprised of:

Climbing safety: static ropes (200m), 30 units each rappelling devices, self-locking, and spring gate carabiners, harnesses, helmets, ice axes, crampons, ascender devices, and 20 ice screws

Crevasse rescue: pulleys, snow pickets, cords webbing, and slings

Evacuation: Six stretchers (one for each hut on the Central Circuit of Rwenzori)

Emergency communication: 15 pairs of radio sets

For quality assurance, a team of hikers from Mountain Slayers Uganda went to Rwenzori to test the equipment and to summit Margherita Peak. They were led by a team of three guides and two additional staff trained in June. According to Lumala, the team completed the test without incident and found the equipment to be effective. The guides led the team to summit Rwenzori’s highest peak, Margherita, at 5,109 metres.

Josephat Baluku, who has been a professional guide with Rwenzori Mountaineering Services for over 30 years, said that the training empowered them and has made them more efficient guides:

“Most of the equipment we were using was not the standard recommended gear. For example, with the new ice axe, we can now easily identify the crevasses (holes in the glaciers) so that hikers don’t fall in them. I once fell into a crevasse and couldn’t remove myself. I sustained an injury that left a scar. With the new gear and the training we received, I can remove myself from a crevasse using the different static ropes and other equipment.”

Baluku is excited to use the gear and invites all Ugandans to try climbing the Rwenzori. The climbing experience will be easier with their improved skills plus the safety equipment. “It’s their mountain and not only for foreigners,” he added.

Nelson Bwambale, who has been a guide for two years, says the training has boosted his confidence and made him a better guide.

“We will be able to guide hikers in the way it should be done. We have been well trained, and I encourage Ugandans to come and enjoy the mountains and their beauty,” said Bwambale.

Lumala said Mountain Slayers Uganda are on a mission to make more Ugandans take up hiking as a hobby but, having had several trips to the Rwenzori in the past, had observed issues with safety in the mountains.

For instance, if a climber suffered from Acute Mountain Sickness or an injury, the guides used a “human ambulance system” or “manbulance”. This is where a 10-man team takes turns carrying the injured hiker down steep, slippery rocks back to safety at the mountain foothill, Lumala explained.

“Many people fear that they may fall off a cliff, get altitude sickness, get injured and unable to move, which are all valid fears. We, however, believe that through the training that was conducted coupled with the gear we’ve supplied the guides, safety issues have been minimized. This alleviates one of the biggest barriers preventing some people from going into the mountains,” said Lumala.

He added that the success of this project will make MSU feel even more confident in selling the idea of climbing the mountain because the right skills were imparted in the guides to provide necessary responses to the different situations that may arise.

“Most of the experienced guides are past 55 years and will eventually retire. It’s nice to know that we are helping the younger guides sharpen their skills beyond what they are picking up on their own. This all culminates into a winning situation for adventure seekers out there,” Lumala said.

MSU plans to replicate similar training on other mountains in Uganda.

A team from Mountain Slayers Uganda tested out the new equipment and training by summiting Margherita Peak (5,109 m) in the Rwenzori Mountains over the last week. Here are some photos from their test run up Mount Stanley:

Share this:

  • Twitter
  • Facebook

Related

Leave a comment

Tags: Acute Mountain SicknessMargherita PeakMountain Slayers UgandatopUnited Nations Development Programme

Get real time update about this post categories directly on your device, subscribe now.

Unsubscribe

Discussion about this post


About

The PML Daily, published via www.pmldaily.com is a publication of Post Media Ltd, a professional Digital/New Media company in Uganda.

Follow us

  • EDITORIAL POLICY
  • ABOUT US

© 2023

No Result
View All Result
  • Home
  • NEWS
    • Politics
    • Education
    • Regional
    • Africa
    • World
  • INVESTIGATIONS
    • National Archives
    • Special Reports
  • OpEd
  • BUSINESS
    • Agriculture
    • Tech
    • Finance
  • FEATURES
    • Health
    • Tours & Travel
    • Entertainment
    • Society
  • COLUMNISTS
    • The Suited Penguin
  • SPORT
  • Jobs
  • Magazines

© 2023

Welcome Back!

Login to your account below

Forgotten Password?

Retrieve your password

Please enter your username or email address to reset your password.

Log In

Add New Playlist