Vitaliy Lazo , founder and participant of Freeride in the Death Zone project (anoxic summits and freeride descents from the highest mountains in the world) finished the training program and passed the final exam for ski guide of Russian Mountain Guides Association. The results become known by the end of May, 2019.
Russian Mountain Guides Association — non-governmental organization, founded under the guidance of Mountaineering Federation of Russia, in order to develop professional mountain guides community, to organize the educative and training process on the global standards, certified by IFMGA/UIAGM.
For Y2019 Russia is the candidate country for IFMGA/UIAGM. The training process supervised by Association of Canadian Mountain Guides.
The exams took place in Tuyuk-Su (Almaty, Kazakhstan ) with Keith Reid (ACMG, Canada) and Reiner Taglinger (IFMGA Technical Director, Austria) supervision. Tests were held in the form of a regular training module, with an assessment of skills to rescue the victim from the crevasse and avalanche training, and movement through the terrain.
The examiners note that attaching great importance to technical skills, the main task of mountain school is the development of soft skills, which are decision making, risk management and customer care. These skills are very difficult to learn in theory; they require extensive experience and regular practice.
We recently published Vitaly's interview , devoted to the ascent of Nanga Parbat 8-thousander in the beginning of Summer, 2019.
by Natasha Poletaeva