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Kampala, Uganda | THE INDEPENDENT | Mountain Slayers Uganda has handed over mountain climbing safety equipment to the Rwenzori mountains’ guiding community as 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, that took place at Rwenzori Base Camp Guest House in Kasese was the culmination of a project dubbed “Galvanizing Mountain Tourism Through Enhancing Mountain Safety” and led by Mountain Slayers Uganda President Paul Lumala.
In a statement shared with The Independent, Lumala said, 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 many areas including, outdoor leadership, group organisation and management, wilderness first aid, cardio-pulmonary resuscitation, field emergency evacuation and more.
The equipment comprised of climbing safety – static ropes, 30 units each rappelling devices, self-locking, and spring gate carabiners, harnesses, helmets, ice axes, crampons, ascender devices and 20 ice screws.
It also gave out crevasse rescue items – pulleys, snow pickets, cords webbing and slings.
The others are, six stretchers and 15 pairs of radio sets to enable emergency communication.
This development comes at a time when tourism sector players are doing whatever it takes to revamp the sector that has been hit hard by COVID-19 lockdown restrictions.
