Tracking the impact of climate change in the Andes

Editor’s Note: Rodney Garrard is a member of the UIAA’s Mountain Protection Commission. His article The effects of climate change on people in the Andes: melting glaciers means drought, tension and conflict for Peru’s mountain people in and around Huascarán National Park was recently published in the June 2012 edition of eco.mont, an Austrian peer-reviewed journal that publishes research within protected mountain areas. What the paper is about The paper focuses on the impact of climate change, the resulting melting...

UIAA mourns the death of mountaineer Roger Payne

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 12 July 2102 on Mont Maudit in the Chamonix region of France along with eight other climbers. "It's very sad news and on behalf of the mountaineering community, our sincerest condolences to his family and BMC friends," said Jordi Colomer, acting president of the UIAA. Robert Pettigrew, former president of the BMC...

Safety Commission issues update of corrosion notice for anchors in marine locations

Editor's 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 French version of this article can be found here. The Chinese version of this article can be found here. Background 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. The...

Tamotsu (Tom) Nakamura: A modern day explorer with an ancient heart

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. In Nakamura’s case the area he has chosen to focus on are the mountains, glaciers and forests of west Sichuan and eastern Tibet, gorge and high mountain country that is the source of five great rivers in Asia; the Yangtze, Mekong, Salween, Irrawaddy and the Tsangpo-Brahmaputra. “The...

Stewardship and environmental sustainability to be focus of Mountain Protection Commission

The UIAA Mountain Protection Commission has approved plans for a mountain stewardship award and a mountain protection label for environment friendly UIAA approved projects and products. Both initiatives are aimed at encouraging best practices and best products that will reduce the stress on the mountain environment and protect it for future generations. The commission intends to facilitate communication by featuring stewardship projects on its website, a virtual marketplace, where those interested in a plan can read all...

Alpine Association of Slovenia to host youth leader seminar

A seminar to train youth leaders being held in Slovenia this summer is a unique opportunity for young climbers from around the world to learn how to teach mountaineering to children. The UIAA approved seminar takes place at the Mountaineering Training Centre Bavšica  in the scenic Bavšica Valley. It is the main training facility used by the Alpine Association of Slovenia (Planinska zveza Slovenije) to train mountain guides, mountaineering group mentors and youth leaders. Based on training principals and expertise that the...

Italian observatory set to lobby for freedom in the mountains

A new group called The Italian Observatory for Liberty set up to resist attempts by national or local authorities to constrain freedom of access and risk taking in mountaineering and climbing was unveiled at the "Festival della Montagna" in Trento earlier this month. “The attacks on freedom involve many types of sports and of social life,” said group member Carlo Zanantoni. “But the accidents occurring in mountaineering have a large resonance in the media, because they...

UIAA at the heart of a novel look at mountaineering history by Harvard University historian

German-born historian Carolin Roeder will spend the summer poring over the archives of the UIAA as she works on a novel history of mountaineering involving transnational relationships between mountaineers. Roeder, a PhD student at Harvard University, is part of a growing trend in academic research that focuses not just on well catalogued and well-documented histories of the ascents and failures of mountaineering expeditions, but contextualizing mountaineering historically. In her case Roeder is focusing on the cross-border ties...

Management Committee of the UIAA approves new process for validation of training standards

The UIAA Management Committee, in a bid to enhance a much sought after service to member federations, has approved a set of proposals for voluntary Training Standards  to be delivered as a professional service. The call for such a service was rated as the number one priority of member federations in the strategic plan survey in 2011 which outlines a road map for the UIAA until 2016. The approval in a recent meeting in Budapest, Hungary, sets in...

Input sought on bolting debate

The debate over whether to bolt or not to bolt on mountains has been renewed with a new working paper  on a controversial issue that often pits sport climbers versus adventure (trad) climbers. The draft paper which was presented at the UIAA Management Committee meeting in Budapest, Hungary earlier this month is a call to action to create national bolting policies and the need for a UIAA policy statement promoting preservation of natural rock surfaces for adventure...