About the Mountaineering Commission

The Mountaineering Commission deals with training standards, ethics and regulations of mountaineering. It operates through its three working groups, the Training Standards Panel and The Legal Experts Working Group (LEWG) and the Traditional Values Working Group (TVWG).

The UIAA developed the UIAA Training Standards for our member associations to encourage good practice in the training of voluntary mountaineering leaders and instructors.

The federation through its Ethics and Law activities is also involved in the process of writing UIAA documents on climbing and mountaineering ethics as well as monitoring and putting out discussion papers on issues such as the use of fixed equipment for climbing, particularly in vulnerable and environmentally sensitive areas. The UIAA published two documents on this issue:  "To bolt or not to be"  and the UIAA Policy on the preservation of natural rock for adventure climbing.