News

The International Mountaineering and Climbing Federation (UIAA) turns 80 this month.

The day credited for the birth of the idea of an international federation of climbing clubs is 27 August 1932 and it came about during a meeting that took place at a conference in Chamonix, France (21 August - 3 September 1932) when representatives of 19 countries assembled at the Majestic Hotel.

The growing interest in climbing indoors has prompted the UIAA Legal Experts Working Group (LEWG) to publish a paper highlighting liability issues faced by operators of indoor walls in North America and Europe.

Three courses approved by the UIAA Medical Commission designed for doctors and others interested in altitude, wilderness, travel and sports medicine will take place in the United Kingdom in November and December and in Germany in 2013.

Phil Wickens, secretary to the Mountaineering Commission of the UIAA has submitted an expedition report about an expedition to the Antarctic Peninsula aboard aboard the Spirit of Sydney. Members climbed and skied a total of 13 summits in the area east of Cierva Cove, Paradise Harbour and Anvers Island.

The paper focuses on the impact of climate change on hundreds of thousands of people, primarily Inca, who live in and near the Huascarán National Park in Peru’s Cordillera Blanca range which as Garrard puts it contains 600 glaciers and an ever-growing number of glacial lakes.

The Mountaineering & Climbing Association of Georgia is pleased to invite young members of the UIAA associations to the international youth Mountaineering School in Georgia between 8 - 15 September.

The UIAA Ice Climbing Commission has released a provisional list of places and dates for ice climbing events in 2013 including the 2013 UIAA Ice Climbing World Cup tour.

The UIAA is saddened by the tragic death of Roger Payne, former general secretary of the British Mountaineering Council (BMC) who was killed in an avalanche Thursday on Mont Maudit in the Chamonix region of France along with eight other climbers.

Note: This extreme caution is an update of a notice first published in 2009 titled Extreme Caution advised for anchors in tropical, marine areas

• The issue of environmental degradation of anchors caused both by general corrosion as well as chloride stress corrosion cracking (SCC) is ongoing and was first reported in the UIAA newsletter of 19 October 2009.

Japanese mountaineer Tamotsu (Tom) Nakamura is a modern day adventurer modeled along the lines of early explorers who carefully and methodically documented their journeys to remote areas of the world.