The Society of Mountain Guides and Leaders The "Carpați" Society of Mountain Guides and Leaders (SGLM) was informally established in 2010, on the initiative of several professionally active mountain guides (Marian Anghel, Adrian Glăvan, Gheorghe Coșa), who felt the need to develop and refine the mountain guiding profession in Romania, in accordance with current international requirements.
Subsequently, the initial group was joined by other mountain guides interested in raising the Romanian professional standard (Iulian Pănescu, Octavia Codru), the Society of Mountain Guides obtaining the legal status required for international affiliation.
The Society of Mountain Guides and Leaders has its registered office in Sibiu (SGLM Center) and two other regional offices in Banat – Timișoara (SGLM West) and Bucovina – Suceava (SGLM East).
The Society of Mountain Guides and Leaders is the first professional association of mountain guides and leaders in Romania to be internationally recognised, being affiliated with Union of International Mountain Leaders Associations (UIMLA) from 2013. In 2017, the Society of Mountain Guides became a full member of UIMLA.
The Society of Mountain Guides and Leaders offers professional training courses authorised in Romania.
In 2022, through the efforts of the Society of Mountain Guides, the profession of mountain hiking guide officially reappeared in Romania, through the adoption of a new professional training standard.
The Society of Mountain Guides and Leaders has professionally trained several cohorts of international mountain leaders (International Mountain Leaders, International Mountain Leaders), currently reaching over 30 members.
In November 2019, the UIMLA international congress – Union of International Mountain Leader Associations – gathering 22 countries from around the world, was organised in Romania, in Brașov.
UIMLA is the professional organisation that regulates at European and world level the profession of "International Mountain Leader" (IML) profession worldwide. (IML), International Mountain Leader. This is a person recognised and qualified to lead, teach, support and instruct their clients, for a fee or as a volunteer, in all mountain areas of the world, regardless of the season and altitude, up to the limit of permanent snow (glaciers); mountain areas with permanent snow (glaciers) are excluded, as well as areas where technical mountaineering or climbing equipment is required for progress.
At national level, the Society of Mountain Guides and Leaders is a member of Association of Ecotourism in Romania (AER) and collaborates directly with: