UIAA’s Clean Climbing programme and Olympic goals featured at SportAccord

Nenad Dikic, President of the Anti Doping Commission was a featured speaker at the SportAccord conference in Sochi, Russia (Photo: UIAA) The UIAA was present at the SportAccord Convention in Sochi, Russia earlier this month with the goal of promoting the federation and its ice climbing progamme with Olympic and other sports decision makers. Representing the UIAA at SportAccord were President Frits Vrijlandt, Anti Doping Commission President Nenad Dikic and Office Manager Sophie Gerard. During the conference the...

Mountaineering Commission meeting highlights

Tadao Kanzaki, president of the Japan Mountaineering Association (centre) speaks during a rescue and accident data sharing agreement involving the UIAA, Japan Mountaineering Association ("JMA”), Japan Workers’ Alpine Federation("JWAF”), and Japan Rescue Organization LLC("JRO”). (Photo: UIAA) The UIAA Mountaineering Commission met recently in Osaka, Japan for its annual meeting. Highlights of the meeting hosted by the Japan Mountaineering Federation included: An agreement was signed between the Japan Mountaineering Association (JMA), the UIAA Mountaineering Commission, Japan Workers’ Alpine Federation (JWAF), and Japan...

UIAA Ice Climbing World Championship to be a standalone event

2015 UIAA World Championship in Rabenstein, Italy from UIAA - Climbing & Mountaineering on Vimeo. The UIAA Ice Climbing Commission met recently in Seoul Korea for its annual meeting. A key decision made at the meeting hosted by the Korean Alpine Federation was approval of a motion to make the UIAA Ice Climbing World Championship a separate event from the UIAA Ice Climbing World Tour. The UIAA Ice Climbing World Championship is currently held once every two years and part of the...

UIAA celebrates 20 year anniversary with the Olympic movement

Two decades ago when sport climbing was in its infancy, the International Olympic Committee recognized the UIAA as the first international body to represent climbing and mountaineering. It was a historic moment. As the UIAA - International Climbing and Mountaineering Federation celebrates its 20th anniversary as a proud member of the Olympic family, competition climbing has matured and the push to make ice climbing an Olympic sport in 2022 has become more focused. "It is a proud anniversary...

Chamonix to celebrate the “Golden Age of Mountaineering” this summer

The Chamonix Valley remembers the "Golden Age of Alpinism" this summer (Photo: http://1865.chamonix.fr/en/) It is an era remembered today as the "Golden Age of Alpinism” and 1865 marked its zenith. That was the year which ended a  a glorious decade of climbing with 65 first ascents of  peaks stretching from Mont Blanc to the Dolomites. But it was also a year when the first triumphant ascent of Matterhorn, the last of the great unclimbed 4000m Alpine peaks turned to...

FEDME hosts International Mountaineering Congress ‘CIMA2015′

UIAA President Frits Vrijlandt (second from left) at CIMA2015 with officials from FEDME and FAM (Photo: FEDME for UIAA) More than 300 people gathered in Zaragoza, Spain to attend a unique congress, CIMA 2015, which brought together key actors and institutions to discuss the challenges of mountaineering in the XXI century. The congress, which met 26-28 March 2015, was also the venue of the UIAA Management Committee meeting. It was organized by UIAA member, the Spanish Federation of Mountaineering and...

Happy Birthday! The symbol which has to come stand for the UIAA is 50-years-old

The original UIAA Safety Label logo is 50-years-old. Fifty years ago, in an inspired moment, a universal seal of approval was born. The UIAA logo which is recognized today around the world as a symbol of excellence, quality and safety was the spontaneous creation of a boy named Oliver, the son of Jean Juge, then vice-president of the UIAA Ropes Commission. Under some pressure to come up with a logo that would be the "Seal of Approval” for...

Defining a historic year: A look back at the 2015 UIAA Ice Climbing World Tour

An enthusiastic crowd watched the inaugural UIAA World Cup in Bozeman, Montana (Photo: Max Lowe for UIAA) What a season it was for the 2015 UIAA Ice Climbing World Tour! It began in Bozeman, Montana with the heroic work of Joe Josephson, renowned mountaineer Conrad Anker and their crew of volunteers who made history with the successful hosting of the first UIAA-style World Cup competition in North America. And the Tour, presented by The North Face Korea, ended tens of...

Innovative Nepalese mountain training scheme in final stages of development

A group of ten experienced Nepalese trainers attended an advanced week-long assessors’ workshop in Langtang, Nepal conducted by Steve Long, chair of the UIAA Training Standards Panel. The Nepalese trainers are part of an innovative multi-year UIAA Training Standards program conducted in partnership with theNepal Mountaineering Association and Nepal National Mountain Guides Association to help design, test and implement a qualification for mountain trek leaders. When the Mountain Trek leader is finally accredited next year, it will...

Sanjaa Zaya receives top Mongolian sporting award

Sanjaa Zaya receives top sporting award from Mongolian President Tsakhiagiin Elbegdorj UIAA Youth Commission member Sanjaa Zaya has been honoured with Mongolia’s greatest sporting honour, the Mongolian State Honoured Sportsman Prize. Zaya, 68, received the award from Mongolian President Tsakhiagiin Elbegdorj in recognition of her role as one of Mongolia’s leading female climbers. An energetic member of the UIAA Youth Commission, Zaya represents the Mongolian National Mountaineering Federation, a member federation of the UIAA – International Climbing and...