For a quarter of a century, Christian Biard, a former member of the UIAA Youth Commission, and Pierre Hullin have been organising an incredibly successful and popular youth ice climbing camp in collaboration with FFCAM. What started as a programme for elite young mountaineers in southwest France has grown into an internationally recognised UIAA Youth Camp.
Over the years, young climbers from around the world – and at the February 2025 edition from federations in UK, Slovenia, Croatia, China, the Czech Republic, Lithuania, Catalonia, the Netherlands, Switzerland and Belgium – have enjoyed the experience.
Guided by expert mountain guides and FFCAM ice climbing initiators, this camp provides a unique opportunity for young adventurers to develop their ice climbing skills, no matter their experience level.
Event background
A mountaineering instructor, head of youth activities and the ice school at the Toulouse Alpine Club, Christian Biard is a key figure the organisation of event. Deputy Secretary General of the federation and member of the steering committee of the Toulouse Alpine Club and the Occitanie Regional Committee, he chaired the National Mountaineering Commission for eight years and is currently responsible for youth schools and mountaineering hopefuls groups at the national level.
“Shortly after I started working with young people at the Toulouse Alpine Club in 1998, I organized an ice climbing course in Guillestre in 2000 for the club’s teenagers,” he recalls. “Why Guillestre? Because I have family in the region and I know the ice climbing spots very well. After two or three years, I included ice climbing instructor training, which increased the course size from around fifteen to around thirty participants.”
Seduced by the collective and intergenerational dynamic thus established, Christian Biard soon invited the mountaineering hopefuls group he was in charge of, then foreigners affiliated with the UIAA. “With the four guides and four staff members, we reached an unprecedented number of 76 people on this course this year.”
2025 edition
The 25th edition of this annual course began on the evening of Sunday 23 February with the distribution of equipment and a general presentation. Divided into six to seven groups, each day traveling to a different site (Aiguilles, Tour de Freissinières, Crevoux, Ceillac, Cervières, Founel, Vautreuil, etc.), participants of all levels —from beginner to advanced — were supervised by instructors and mountain guides throughout the week. “Every evening, a briefing was held to present the next day’s sites, the topology, their difficulties, and the necessary approach,” explains Biard.
Thanks to the diverse nature of the participants, exchanges and sharing took place not only during the climbing workshops, but also during everyday life. “The idea is really for everyone to mingle,” confirms Biard, who, far from being satisfied with a simple course for practitioners, also offered training sessions every evening. “Several training sessions were provided: the Common Activities Training Unit (UFCA), the Snow Avalanche Level 2 (NA2) training, and also the ice climbing instructor training.” Participants were thus able to learn and improve their skills with instructors, and aspiring instructors learned how to manage a session.
New format for 2026
Despite the success of this gathering over the past 25 years, the format is set to evolve starting in 2026. “In the past, even with large numbers, we could reach a multitude of spots without disturbing the local guides, to whom we gave absolute priority,” explains Biard. “Now, sites in good condition are becoming rare, and it’s becoming difficult to arrive with a large group at a waterfall that isn’t already busy.”
In order to guarantee a pleasant and safe experience for all, but also to continue to ensure a friendly and close relationship between participants, the staff has decided to reduce the number of participants starting in 2026, bringing them back to around forty people, including the club’s teenagers, young UIAA members, and ice mountaineering leaders in training. “We will thus return to the original philosophy of the gathering, based on the meeting and the mixing of different groups,” concludes Biard. For the multi-talented organiser, this change of format is also a way to more easily pass the baton for future editions.
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Education is a key component of all UIAA youth camps. As part of the programme, Philippe Quintart from the UIAA Office, provided an overview of the UIAA’s activities notably in the fields of mountain protection, safety, training and ice climbing. Youngsters we able to gain an understanding of the importance of respecting the mountain environment and how to be a responsible mountain visitor, the UIAA’s work in mountain safety and what the significance of the UIAA Safety Label is as well as the potential pathway to becoming a competition ice climber.
The UIAA Youth Commission is hoping to endorse up to ten youth camps across 2025. For further details on the programmes and dates of these events, please visit the UIAA website (please note: further dates to be added shortly)
Images from the event can be found here.
