page_title: GREIM
section_title: The Skiing-Climbing Groups
hierarchical_section_title: GREIM / History / The Skiing-Climbing Groups
caption_attribution_description: Español: Nissan Terrano II del GREIM de la Guardia Civil.
context_page_description: The Grupos de Rescate e Intervención en Montaña of the Spanish Civil Guard are the successors to the old Skiing-Climbing Groups founded in 1967. Their main functions are mountain rescue and cave rescue, and police work in mountain conditions.
context_section_description: After the Spanish Civil War, under the Law of 15 March 1940, the Carabineros Corps charged with protecting the borders against smuggling became part of the Civil Guard. Border Commands were set up, responsible for sealing the Pyrenees and the Spanish-Portuguese border. During the first years of their existence, the Commands were faced with incursions by Maquis who infiltrated with subversive propaganda and material for use in acts of sabotage inside Spanish territory.  
  The only way to establish effective surveillance over the border was by training the forces in skiing, so that the Civil Guard could keep watch on the border passes during the winter. Beginning in 1945, the members of the 223rd Border Command of Jaca, who patrolled the Aragonese Pyrenees, attended ski instruction organized by the 51st and 52nd divisions of the army. 
  In 1954 the training program was removed from army oversight, and ski courses began at the Civil Guard barracks at Coll de Ladrones in the Aragon Valley, attended by members of the Border Commands of Pamplona, Tremp, and Figueras, which, together with the Jaca command, provided full coverage for the Pyrenees border.
  By 1967 the sport of mountaineering was recovering after the hiatus resulting from the Civil War. The emerging Spanish middle class were starting to  enjoy the natural beauty of the mountains, and began suffering accidents. Since 1956 the Mountain Aid Groups of the Spanish Mountaineering Federation (FEM) had been doing a commendable job of rescuing accident victims, but their performance was hampered  because channels of communication were poor, and because they needed permission to do their work, as the people giving aid were not professionally qualified.
  On 11 March 1967 the official bulletin of the Civil Guard announced the creation of the specialty of Skier-Climber. The first course would be held at Coll de Ladrones, with a module in skiing and a module in climbing. Both modules would include experience in rescue and first aid.
  The initial deployment in September 1967 had little success, since the guards were intended to remain in their bases and come to the rescue only when accidents occurred, without a period of training and maintenance of their level of expertise.
  This first unsuccessful attempt led the commanders of the Civil Guard to reconsider.  They brought together the first-trained specialists in three new units, which were established on 1 November 1968 in Jaca and Boltaña – both in the province of Huesca - and in Granada province.
caption: Nissan Terrano II with mountings for skis, on the roof of the GREIM base at Potes (Cantabria).
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