Igor Kutil: The key things for the development of mountaineering tourism are a well-developed infrastructure and licensed guides

"You will always recognize the guide by his slightly larger backpack than the other participants, because with years of experience we have learned to carry a lot of extra equipment for others who usually forget something. We always have food, water, clothes for those less prepared", he begins jokingly Igor Kutil, mountain guide. He adds that in the end, the least equipment of the guide is found in the rucksack. 

He continues that one of the problems he faces in his work are 'selfie mountaineers', a special category of people who go to the mountains just to post beautiful pictures on social networks. He points out that these are not big problems, but they can throw a person off track. 

"Taking photos is even positive because they contribute to the promotion of mountaineering, but there is another side to the story. They often don't have the knowledge and skills for the hiking tours they choose, but those tours bring photos that others don't have, which attracts followers on social media", he describes. 

Bigger problems are the lack of fitness and technical knowledge, insufficiently prepared food and liquids, and it's better not to talk about equipment because they don't take what little they have with them. This leads to dissatisfaction among other mountaineers and spoils the atmosphere of being in nature. 

"We deal with this every day, but that's why we are professionals", states Kutil and adds that another characteristic of a good guide is the psychology of the group.

"We should not allow one irresponsible individual to throw us off track and affect other mountaineers. We know how to balance and reconcile it very well so that the trip goes without any problems", says.

He warns of one important fact, and that is - if we want to develop mountain tourism, we must stop destroying this little bit of nature that we have left. In recent years, in order to extract wood, more and more roads are being cut through the mountains in places where there were never any before. 

"One of these was broken above Baški Oštari to the riverbed of Rama, through an untouched beech forest. I really can't understand that a little bit of beech wood can bring more profit than mountain tourism. Maybe it can, but certainly not in the long run", he is convinced.

Deforestation has a negative impact on the environment, biological diversity, climate and beauty of mountain areas, it also threatens the safety and satisfaction of mountaineers and other visitors who seek peace, clean air and natural beauty.

If we want mountain tourism, we will have to urgently do something about it, he believes.

Numerous licenses

The mountain adventure of our interlocutor started relatively late, at the age of forty. After finishing the mountaineering school, he realized that for him mountaineering is more than a hobby. Therefore, he decided to further his education, pass the exams for guides and attend various courses. 

"I obtained the titles of summer hiking guide of HPS standard A, winter hiking guide of HPS standard B, markacist, and I completed a course in dry rock climbing and speleology", he tells us.

For several years, he led a mountaineering association with which he traveled throughout the entire former state and surrounding countries. He especially enjoys ferrata climbing and has visited everything in the region.

When HPS could not provide opportunities for further advancement, he continued his education at Association of Mountain Guides of Croatia. That association is a professional organization that trains internationally recognized guides according to the UMILA standard, one of the two world standards for training guides.

"Although in the new alliance I had to start from the beginning and go through some things that I had already mastered, it was not difficult for me, because when you love what you do there are no obstacles. That's how I ended up in the Association as a tourist-mountain guide and obtained two licenses - a tourist guide and a tourist-mountain guide”, we learn from this nature lover.

Then he set himself a new goal - training as a mountain guide, which he also successfully completed. He is not resting even this winter, attending seminars and exercises in Austria, where he is training to become a UIMLA guide and mountain guide, which is the highest standard in the Association of Mountain Guides of Croatia.

The association has been active for over 20 years. It grew out of the desire to raise the guiding activity to a professional level, which was quickly recognized by i UIMLA (Union of International Mountain Leader Associations). Therefore, this organization has been training guides according to its standards for over 10 years.

It offers four licenses for which it trains guides: TPV (Tourist Mountain Guide), PV (Mountain Guide), UIMLA (International Guide) and GV (Mountain Guide). They cover all guiding activities in the mountains, from easy walks in the hills to serious mountaineering climbs in winter conditions and on glaciers.

One of the special features of the Association is the care of its members, which means that it stands behind its guides in all difficulties arising from the work of guiding. More information about the Alliance can be found on their website website.

Passion, love, joy and meaning...

We were interested in why he is engaged in mountaineering and guiding mountaineers, to which he replied that he can sum it up in three words: love, love and love. He believes that hiking is "the art of finding beauty in every step".

"For many years, I did a demanding and tiring job to provide for myself and my family. When I finally achieved what I wanted, I decided to dedicate myself to mountaineering. A person reaches an age when he can devote himself more and decides to turn a new page in life", he tells us. 

His love for nature dates back to his earliest childhood, when he was a member of the Boy Scouts' Association, with whom he visited many memorable places, often camping in nature.  

"I enjoy every trip to the mountain, every view of the horizon, every time I spend time with people who share my passion. Mountaineering has brought me new joy and meaning, that's why I will never stop loving it", Igor Kutil says quite openly.

When leading people to the mountains, he first of all wants to convey to them his passion and love for mountaineering. "That's why my trips are not repeated, i.e. I don't go to the same places more than once just to satisfy the market", he reveals. 

He is constantly looking for new places and destinations so that he can pass on his enthusiasm to the group he leads. He was never interested in professionalizing management because it is not his primary concern. He is engaged in another civilian job that pays well and does not have to sacrifice his love for the mountains for the sake of commercialization. 

"I only publish events related to hiking on social networks, so the public has the perception that I make a living from it. The best way to describe why I don't publish stories from civilian life is with a quote from the song "No smoking" - Who will listen to someone else's pain?", our interlocutor said ingeniously.

Association Plan A

Through his years of hiking, he noticed, he points out, that there is a lack of stronger trips on the market. By this he means trips to high mountains of 3000 meters and above, via ferratas and winter alpinist ascents, as well as summer climbing in dry rock. 

This is the niche he wants to pursue in the next period, and that is why he founded the association Plan A (Mountaineering and adventure). It is the first association that consists exclusively of guides of the Association of Mountain Guides of Croatia, and was founded by three experienced mountaineers.

The licenses they hold cover the entire spectrum of mountain guiding, so Plan A will probably resonate more strongly in the public space soon. 

"The founders are Krešimir Gracin, Ivan Videk and myself. All three of us have our jobs outside of hiking, and guiding is our passion and hobby. When we add to that a love for mountains, a winning combination emerges. There are very few excursions of the type I have mentioned in Croatia, and there are two reasons for this: too few staff with valid licenses and insufficient education of mountaineers by mountaineer associations. I wouldn't even say that the education is weak, but that it is organized for a small number of people", states Kutil. 

Their goal will be to run numerous schools through the association, in order to build a community of mountaineers who will enjoy "stronger" trips with them, and then organize them. In the plan are:

1. sport climbing school

2. ferrata school

3. school of highlands and winter mountaineering

4. snowshoeing school

5. ski touring school

The website of the association is also under construction, so details will be available at: www.pla.hr

Alliance guides are already doing a great job in the market. Franjo Kmet lead your brand'Mountain fit' and has been successfully organizing demanding mountaineering and alpinist tours to distant destinations, such as Nepal, South America, Africa, Canada and the like, for many years. 

Another guide who also built his professional career precisely with the help of the SGVH license is Aleksandar Brborović. He leads his association'On the way up' with which he works with the top training of alpinists and high mountaineers. 

"Those two guides are a bright example of how to approach this work, and at the same time they are a guide for all the rest of us because they were the first in Croatia to organize something like this", he emphasizes.

Janitors and homes

Kutil especially wanted to touch on the topic of caretakers on Velebit, without whom this mountain with its soul would be quite deprived. 

"When you are walking in the mountains and on mountain trails, you need a solid object from time to time where you can refresh yourself and rest. Shelters, mountain houses and homes are of great help here, and the caretakers are the soul and heart of the home that make the stay in the mountains more beautiful.", says. 

In key positions on Velebit, there are three homes especially dear to Igor. Just below Štirovača, on the macadam road that leads through Velebit, is Kuga's house and caretaker Miro Zdunić. 

"He is the good spirit of Velebit who will always warmly welcome and host you, plays the ukulele and writes poetry, so an evening at his place cannot pass without entertainment and songs", he describes. 

The second home is below Dabarska kosa, in Ravni dabr, which is run by Mile. You are always warmly welcomed at his place, he says, he likes to talk about Velebit and the events on it, which is always interesting for mountaineers. 

"And the third home, Ramića dvori, in the national park Paklenica, is a cult meeting place for mountaineers. It is led by Mario Ramić, a sailor and mountaineer in his native house. I can often joke and say that the one who hasn't visited the Ramić Palace hasn't even been to the national park", he describes. 

"I didn't mention the homes only because of the caretaker and the good atmosphere, but also because we are a tourist country and we would like as many satisfied guests as possible. In recent years, the trend of active vacations has been visible, and in order to achieve this in the mountains, we need a well-developed infrastructure", he says. 

In our country, unfortunately, it is at a low level. We have some facilities that are taken care of by mountaineering societies, and that exclusively on a volunteer basis. The fact that they maintain it is very good, but we lack more such facilities that the state should finance and take care of, he believes. 

"We have such examples in neighboring countries, Slovenia and Austria, where they decided that mountain tourism is the branch they want to invest in and their infrastructure is at an enviable level. That is why they have results from mountain tourism", he says.

Guide Licensing

Another thing that should be worked on in his opinion is the licensing of guides. "We have few who want to do this professionally, but maybe that's not a problem. I think the problem is that many uneducated people are engaged in this business, so they do not venture into the market with unfair competition with the educated ones.", he says. 

Let's note that there are three organizations that deal with guide licensing. HGK and HGSS are the first to jointly organize a two-day course for adventure tour leaders. 

"In my opinion, this is too little for serious education, but even that is better than nothing. These guides can lead mountain light walking tours for a limited time and may not lead tours in which any technical equipment is used - harness, Y set, ropes and the like", he explains.

The other is HPS, which trains quality guiding staff, and their licenses are marked with the letters A to G. Summer hiking is A and it is also guiding without the use of technical equipment. HPS has a hyperproduction of such guides. While, for example, for the B standard, which is winter hiking, the number of licensed guides is already dropping significantly. 

"I won't even mention the other categories because they are trained very little or not at all, which is why there is a lack of personnel for sport climbing and alpinism. HPS guides can guide professionally, but their organization encourages them to remain at the volunteer level, which is not good for tourism", he thinks. 

The third is SGVH, where professional guides are trained for all categories of mountaineering and is the only such organization in Croatia.

"These two things I mentioned, infrastructure and licensed guides, are, in my opinion, two key things for the development of mountain tourism", emphasizes Kutil.

He prefers only the people he meets there to the mountains

Of all the natural beauty and stunning views, the people make him happiest in the mountains, he says. He does not think only of the people he leads, but also of those from other regions he meets on the mountain. 

"Last year we had a trip to Prenj, a beautiful and impressive mountain in Bosnia and Herzegovina. It is also called the planet Prenj because of its amphitheater surrounded by more than 12 peaks over 2000 meters.", he describes. 

They took advantage of the holidays, which they combined with the weekend, and went to Bosnia and Herzegovina for four days. The first night before exploring Prenje, they spent the night in the Rapti home, where they were welcomed by their warm hosts with dinner and national dishes. 

"The next day we went hiking in the Prenj peaks and slept for two days in the Vrutak shelter, which is managed by the same company that manages the home. Overall, it was a wonderful trip", he continues. 

The reason for this mention is the following: the home only works on weekends, and the group still had days off and on the last day, Tuesday, when they were returning, they had to spend one more night in the home. 

The kind hosts not only left them the keys to their home, but also food and drinks to refresh them when they return. It is not usual to leave a home without a caretaker to unknown mountaineers, and this gesture of theirs impressed him greatly and he is very grateful.

"The summary of everything I said is love for mountains and love for people, that's what motivates and drives me", concludes Igor Kutil and adds that mountains are like good friends: they are always there for us, they provide us with refuge and support and encourage us to rise above ourselves.

Photo: Igor Kutil (archive)