ACCESS RESTRICTIONS IN THE Galicica National Park

UIAA full member, the Mountaineering Federation of North Macedonia (FPSM), with the support of the UIAA Access Working Group, wishes to share details of access restrictions imposed on climbers visiting the Galičica National Park. BACKGROUND The Galičica National Park is situated in the Galicica range and forms part of the mountain range of Shara-Pind. Due to its natural beauty and rich flora and fauna, the Macedonian section of the mountain was declared a National Park in 1958....

UIAA SAFECOM ANSWERS YOUR QUESTIONS:
Figure-eight knots

The UIAA – International Climbing and Mountaineering Federation – regularly receives questions related to safety topics. The UIAA Safety Commission, with support of other UIAA Commissions and experts, has published a series of articles answering common questions with the objective of making them available to the wider climbing community. This month’s question is: I have a question about something an instructor once taught me. He said that the main rope should "clamp" the whole knot, passing behind. However,...

MEXICAN FEDERATION CELEBRATES 90-YEAR ANNIVERSARY AS A RETURNING UIAA MEMBER

The UIAA General Assembly elected four new member associations in October 2020, taking the total of total of UIAA members to 90 from 67 different countries. All four new members will be profiled over the coming months, commencing with the Federación Mexicana de Deportes de Montaña y Escalada A.C (Mexican Federation of Mountain Sports and Climbing A.C). Founded in April 1931, the club like many others, was created with the objective of uniting different national groups interested...

AN EFFICIENT START TO 2021

On Saturday 30 January, the UIAA Management Committee (MC) held its first online meeting since October’s UIAA General Assembly when five new members were elected to the body. The meeting was followed by a short session with the UIAA Commission Presidents who provided an update on project progress and priorities for the year ahead. MANAGEMENT COMMITTEE Having met regularly online over the past three months, the newly formed UIAA Executive Board provided a summary of its progress...

UIAA ICE CLIMBING EVENTS IN RUSSIA SCHEDULED TO GO AHEAD

Following a meeting held on Wednesday 27 January, the UIAA Ice Climbing Commission confirmed that the two UIAA Ice Climbing events scheduled to take place in Russia in February and March, are due to go ahead as planned. The two events are:  UIAA Ice Climbing World Youth Championships - Tyumen, Russia – 26-28 February 2021 – Boulder and Speed disciplines UIAA Ice Climbing World Cup – Kirov, Russia – 5-7 March 2021 – Lead and Speed disciplines Federations can...

A FESTIVAL OF ICE CLIMBING

An exciting, and keenly anticipated, weekend of ice climbing was held on two continents on the weekend of 23-24 January. In the French Alps, the UIAA Ice Climbing European Championships unfolded in Champagny-en-Vanoise while in North America, the competition arm of the annual Ouray Ice Festival, provided an enthralling mix climbing event. The event in Champagny, organised in conjunction with the resort of La Plagne and UIAA member association FFCAM, witnessed 36 athletes from countries take...

First guidebook published of Slovenian modern multi-pitch routes

The Publishing House of the Alpine Association of Slovenia (PZS, a UIAA full member) has released a new guidebook: Moderne večraztežajne smeri (Modern Multi-pitch Climbs) by Andrej Grmovšek and Viktor Relja. It’s the first of its kind in Slovenia and all the essential information is provided not only in Slovenian but also in English. Andrej Grmovšek and Viktor Relja have compiled 255 routes on 58 rock faces of the Slovenian Alps, ranging from 4b to 8a+...

APPLY FOR THE 2020-2021 UIAA MOUNTAIN PROTECTION AWARD

The UIAA Mountain Protection Commission (MPC) is pleased to confirm that it has updated several important assets related to the annual UIAA Mountain Protection Award (MPA). Owing to Covid-19, and as communicated in May 2020, the 2020 and 2021 Awards will now be combined with the winning project announced at the 2021 UIAA General Assembly. The application portal for projects to apply has remained open since 1 March, 2020. The MPC has recently updated the timeline for...

UIAA CONGRATULATES SUCCESSFUL K2 WINTER SUMMITERS

History was made on Saturday 16 January when a team of Nepali climbers became the first to mount a successful ascent of K2 (8,611m) in winter. K2 was previously the only one of the commonly recognised fourteen +8000m mountains not to have been summited during the winter months. Dubbed ‘the Mountain of Mountains’ by legendary mountaineer and UIAA Honorary Member Reinhold Messner, K2 is the second highest in the world and has a ferocious reputation. The...

CHANGES ANNOUNCED TO UIAA ICE CLIMBING SEASON

In response to the evolving Covid-19 situation, the UIAA – International Climbing and Mountaineering Federation – has made further changes to the calendar for its current 2021 Ice Climbing season. In November, the UIAA confirmed that no World Tour would be held during the winter of 2020-2021, and instead would be replaced by Continental Competitions with the highlight being the three-week Tour des Alps, a mini-series which would see athletes take on three European Cups and...