"Journey to Ice Age" Film: Askynskaya Cave becomes accessible for disabled people

Guzel Khamitova's film, which was presented at the Rodina cinema, became one of the stages of a project aimed at adapting and increasing the accessibility of the Askynskaya Ice Cave for people with limited mobility.

The film's premiere was attended by its heroes - wards of neuropsychiatric boarding schools in the city of Oktyabrsky and Arkhangelsky regions of the republic. Nadezhda Shchelchkova, a wheelchair user, was the first to visit this cave. They reflected their feelings in a photo exhibition accompanying the project. There were also rescuers from the Ministry of Emergency Situations at the premiere who helped the heroes fulfill their dream.

The Askynskaya Ice Cave is located just 124 km from our capital. In a short time, the territory has turned into a tourist Mecca. Over the past year, this place has become popular among the residents of our republic and nationwide. According to statistics, in the summer months alone, the cave was visited by 40% of tourists from the Russian Federation.

Minister of Family, Labor and Social Protection RB Lenara Ivanova said that the project idea emerged in August 2020 during the visit of Nyuta Federmesser, head of the Vera hospice charity foundation. Nyuta began to ask about the cave's visitors and offered to make excursions to the Askynskaya Cave accessible for disabled people.

The author of the film is a well-known TV journalist Guzel Khamitova. According to Guzel, the first stage of serious work has been completed now: mobile caterpillar walkers, a snowmobile was purchased, a winter Bashkir yurt was made with a grant from the Federal Tourism Agency. Russian Helicopters funded the purchase of a car and road construction. The administration of the Arkhangelsky region, the Russian Geographical Society in the Republic of Bashkortostan, also help a lot.

"Since June, within the framework of a grant from Rostourism, disabled people from 14 boarding facilities of the republic have come to us with an excursion, and this is more than 200 people," Guzel Khamitova said. "Now we are finishing the road; then with the support of Magnitogorsk Iron and Steel Works, we will make a staircase, along which wheelchair users will be able to climb to the cave comfortably."

The project was also supported by the Ufa search and rescue team of the Russian Emergencies Ministry. The film was shot under the sponsorship of the Rostourism Grant, the Regional Branch of the Russian Geographical Society in the Republic of Bashkortostan, the Ministry of Family, Labor and Social Protection of the Republic of Bashkortostan and the Bashkortostan TV and Radio Company.

After the presentation, both the film and the photo exhibition will travel throughout the republic.