To replace the assault battalions, the 109th and 108th Separate Mountain Assault Battalions were formed on 5 and 11 December, respectively. They were initially understrength due to being drawn from cadres from the 53rd and 54th Mechanized Brigades. After its return to Kolomyia, the brigade began mountain training, which it had not had time to commence before being sent to the front. Its first mountain climb took place on 13 January 2017 on Veliky Verkh. In the second half of February, brigade personnel climbed Hoverla, the tallest peak in Ukraine, and planted a Ukrainian flag in honor of the Ukrainian dead at the Battle of Debaltseve on the mountain summit.