REVIEW: 2020 UIAA GENERAL ASSEMBLY

The 2020 UIAA General Assembly (GA) was held on 23-24 October. Owing to the Covid-19 pandemic, the annual meeting took place online for the first time in the federation’s 88-year history. A record number of delegates - 130 representatives from 68 countries - joined on Zoom and a further 250 member federation representatives and partners followed an accompanying livestream on YouTube. Presidential Election Peter Muir from the Alpine Club of Canada (ACC) was elected as the new...

PETER MUIR ELECTED AS UIAA PRESIDENT

Peter Muir from the Alpine Club of Canada (ACC) was today elected as the new President of the UIAA – International Climbing and Mountaineering Federation. Muir, elected during the federation’s first ever online General Assembly, becomes the UIAA's 14th President (including two Acting Presidents) and the second from Canada. Muir succeeds Frits Vrijlandt, Royal Dutch Climbing and Mountaineering Club (NKBV), Netherlands as UIAA President. Vrijlandt’s second and, as defined in the UIAA Articles of Association, final four-year...

IMPACT OF COVID-19 CAUSES CONCERN FOR PROGRESS OF MOUNT EVEREST BIOGAS PROJECT

Following recent profiles on the progress made by two past UIAA Mountain Protection Award winners – Mountain Wilderness France (2016) and AlpineLearning Project Weeks (2019) – the focus turns to 2017 winner Mount Everest Biogas Project (MEBP). The United States-based project, launched in 2010, is a volunteer-run, non-profit organisation that has designed an environmentally sustainable solution to dealing with the impact of human waste on Mount Everest and eventually other high altitude locations.  This year was...

GUIDE TO THE 2020 UIAA GENERAL ASSEMBLY

Information below concerns the UIAA General Assembly, to be held online, on 23-24 October. Digital Magazine & Annual Report For delegates attending the 2020 UIAA General Assembly, a dedicated digital guide has been made available. The GA, to be held online, will take place on 23-24 October. The guide can be downloaded here. The purpose of the Guide is to ease delegate planning and preparations by offering all key information about the event (agenda, programme, training sessions, elections,...

SAC SHARES GUIDE TO HOSTING PHYSICAL MEETINGS

The Swiss Alpine Club, through its President Françoise Jaquet (member of the UIAA Management Committee and the UIAA Covid-19 Crisis Consultation Taskforce), has made the following information available to UIAA members. At the end of August, the SAC held its own physical General Assembly (with invites confined to voting delegates, around 200 people attended). The protocols the SAC put in place, measures which UIAA members planning future physical meetings may find useful, are linked below. Protocols included...

JOIN THE ACCESS FUND’S CLIMBING ADVOCACY CONFERENCE

On 14 and 15 November, the Access Fund is organising its annual Climbing Advocacy Conference. For the first time the event will be exclusively online and open to international attendees. The theme this year is "A Global Perspective on Local Solutions" and currently speakers from ten different countries will participate. The UIAA will be represented at the event through its Access Working Group. Other UIAA Commissions, delegates and UIAA member associations are invited to attend. Registration...

Anaylsis: WWF’s Living Planet Report 2020

In early September, the WWF produced its 2020 Living Planet Report. Its contents make interesting reading for organisations like the UIAA, and its members associations, involved in mountain-based activities and initiatives. The headline of the communication which accompanied the release of the report read: WWF’s Living Planet Report reveals two-thirds decline in wildlife populations on average since 1970 (For precision, the population sizes of mammals, birds, fish, amphibians and reptiles have seen an average drop of...

COVID-19 AND CLIMBING: CCC ASSESS LATEST TRENDS

The International Climbing and Mountaineering Federation (UIAA) Covid-19 Crisis Consultation (CCC) Taskforce held its fifth online meeting on 23 September. This Taskforce, created in April, offers guidance and leadership on subjects related to climbing and Covid-19. All communications related to the UIAA and Covid-19 can be found on the dedicated Portal. In addition to the meeting summary below, the UIAA also published the following statement regarding climbing and Covid-19. The message encourages climbers to follow advice...

UIAA STATEMENT: RESPECT MEASURES, CONTINUE CLIMBING

On 23 September, the UIAA Covid-19 Crisis Consultation (CCC) Taskforce held its fifth online meeting. The meeting notes are available here. All UIAA activity related to Covid-19 can be consulted through the dedicated Portal. During the 23 September meeting, the CCC Taskforce agreed that the message of caution and optimism shared by the UIAA following its previous meeting, 4 August, remains appropriate. The UIAA encourages climbers to follow guidelines published by competent authorities in their respective countries...

FOCUS ON THE FUTURE: UIAA PROGRESS ON NEW STRATEGY AND COMMISSION PROJECTS

Ahead of next month’s online UIAA General Assembly (GA), the UIAA Management Committee (MC) and Commission Presidents held a virtual session on Saturday 26 September with a focus both on preparing for the GA and the federation’s strategic plans for 2021 and beyond. Following an opening address by UIAA President Frits Vrijlandt, chairing his penultimate MC meeting, UIAA General Secretary Lode Beckers detailed the progress made on the UIAA’s next Strategic Plan (the current SP expires...