Survey on near misses and accidents in the mountains

Recently the UIAA announced its renewed commitment to studying accidents and incidents in the mountains through the creation of a dedicated Working Group to oversee the project. This Working Group is supporting a study by the British Mountain Medicine Society called the 'Lucky Jim Project'. It raises the question, what processes exist for reporting accidents, incidents and near misses in a mountain environment? The UIAA Working Group will be able to use the results of the...

TEN YEARS OF THE UIAA MOUNTAIN PROTECTION AWARD

Created in 2013, the UIAA Mountain Protection Award celebrates its landmark ten-year anniversary in 2023. Across its past nine editions, the MPA has showcased over 150 sustainability initiatives in over 50 countries. Each year one project is selected as the Award winner receiving both prize money and recognition through the UIAA’s international climbing and mountaineering network. The nine past recipients of the MPA have come from nine different countries including projects from Africa, Asia, Europe, North...

REVIEW: FIRST 2023 UIAA MANAGEMENT COMMITTEE MEETING

The UIAA Management Committee held its first meeting of 2023, an online session, on Saturday 11 February. In his opening address, UIAA President Peter Muir remarked on some of the UIAA’s recent achievements: “I’m pleased to say that on most projects we are making progress. Of course, some matters are progressing more quickly than others but overall we’re moving forward. Recently this has included the extension of the partnership with the Youngone Corporation for the UIAA Ice...

Guide to the digital edition of the UIAA Alpine Summer Skills Handbook

The UIAA Alpine Summer Skills Handbook is available to purchase as a digital download from the following link. Print versions of the Handbook (in over ten languages) may be available from national federations who are part of the UIAA. Please refer to the list of the UIAA's 94 members in 69 countries. The UIAA is currently working on the release of the first edition of the Winter Skills Handbook (in English and in French). How to read the...

EXTENSION OF UIAA ICE CLIMBING WORLD TOUR PARTNERSHIP

During the recent UIAA Ice Climbing World Cup in Cheongsong, South Korea, the Youngone Corporation formally agreed to extend its partnership of the UIAA Ice Climbing World Tour until 2025. The South Korean-based company has been the longstanding partner of the World Tour since the early 2010s. Since 2018, Outdoor Research has been the brand under the Youngone Corporation umbrella to serve as official partner of the World Tour. This will continue until the close of...

BALLY PEAK OUTLOOK FOUNDATION EXTENDS UIAA MPA SUPPORT AND COMMITS TO CLEANING MOUNT EVEREST THROUGH 2030

The Bally Peak Outlook Foundation (BPOF) is the main partner of the UIAA’s flagship sustainability project - the Mountain Protection Award (MPA) - carried out via the UIAA Mountain Protection Commission (MPC). Recently, the BPOF extended its support of the annual MPA to include the 2023 edition of the Award. The annual UIAA Mountain Protection Award (MPA) was launched in 2013 by the UIAA MPC. Throughout the past decade, the MPA platform has enabled people to...

UIAA BOLSTERS COMMITMENT TO STUDYING ACCIDENTS AND INCIDENTS IN THE MOUNTAINS

For a significant period, the UIAA has sought to create an international database of accidents and incidents (‘near misses’) in the mountains. A considerable amount of time and effort has been dedicated by a number of individuals from UIAA Commissions and UIAA member associations. However the project, partly due to the Covid-19 pandemic, has stalled and with the desire to offer the climbing and mountaineering community greater information on such an important topic, the UIAA...

RELEASE OF QUARTERLY GLOBAL MEMBERS’ NEWSLETTER

Welcome to the third edition of the UIAA Global Member newsletter, designed to share news from UIAA member associations. The newsletter can be viewed here. To subscribe to this newsletter and UIAA monthly newsletters click here. Produced in collaboration with the UIAA Management Committee Continental Representatives, this newsletter provides updates from the UIAA's 94 member organisations in 69 countries on six continents. Please note that some articles linked are in their original language but in most cases Google offers a...

DOPING CONTROL PROCESS AT A UIAA ICE CLIMBING WORLD CUP

The UIAA Anti-Doping Commission, fresh from supporting UIAA Ice Climbing events in South Korea, France and Switzerland, is renowned as one of the most proactive federations in implementing the latest World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) code and regulations. It is equally respected for its wide knowledge and innovative programmes including educational resources offered to competition ice climbers. Led by President Marija Andjelkovic and Vice President Nenad Dikic, both from Serbia, they bring significant expertise in anti-doping programmes...

NEW SAFETY ADVICE RELEASES FROM THE DAV: AVALANCHE TRANSCEIVER RESEARCH AND BELAYING VIDEO

The UIAA Safety Commission is sharing two new important safety releases from the German Alpine Club (DAV): The first topic concerns research conducted by the DAV Safety Team on avalanche transceivers. Providing a thorough analysis of models on the market, information is given on the specifics of each model with their advantages and limitations. The research, a result of significant time spent testing and comparing models, can be viewed here. The DAV has also released a new...