PRIZES SHARED AMONGST SOUTH AMERICAN CANDIDATES

During the Gala dinner which concluded the 2018 UIAA General Assembly, the winners of the 2018 UIAA Rock Climbing Festival Award were  announced. UIAA Rock Climbing Panel representatives, Anne Arran (BMC), UIAA Management Committee, and Marc Beverly, UIAA Executive Board, presented the concept of the Award which was launched in 2015 and is dedicated to a different continent each year. The focus in 2018 was South and Central America with three festivals recognised. Given the strong profile of...

REVIEW 2018 UIAA GENERAL ASSEMBLY:
FOCUSING ON THE FUTURE

The 2018 UIAA General Assembly was held in Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia on Saturday 6 October, welcoming more than 100 delegates representing 34 different countries. The event commenced with a welcome message from Mr Tserenbat Namsrai, Mongolian Minister of Environment and Tourism with Tulga Buya, President of hosts, Mongolian National Climbing Federation (MNCF), later providing an address which highlighted the many diverse projects undertaken by a dynamic federation. Frits Vrijlandt’s UIAA Presidential report included highlights from the UIAA Annual...

COMMUNITY ACTION NEPAL BECOMES SIXTH RECIPIENT OF UIAA MOUNTAIN PROTECTION AWARD

Community Action Nepal (CAN), a charity and NGO/INGO which has been operating in Nepal for over 20 years, was announced as the sixth winner of the annual UIAA Mountain Protection Award at the 2018 UIAA General Assembly in Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia on Saturday 6 October. The 2018 MPA Trophy was collected by Trish Scott and Murari Gautam, CAN Nepal UK’s country representative. Following KTK-Belt in 2015 and the Mount Everest Biogas Project in 2017, CAN is the...

PASSION FOR THE MOUNTAINS: 35 YEARS AT THE SERVICE OF MOUNTAIN SAFETY

Jean-Franck Charlet was recently recognised for his outstanding thirty-five years of commitment to the UIAA. Charlet joined the federation in 1983, served as Safety Commission Vice President under Pit Schubert for seven years and then became Commission President from 2002 to 2009. During its most recent meeting, the Frenchman was bestowed the title of Honorary Commission member by Amit Chowdhury, current President. Charlet, born in Argentière in the French Alps, has both climbing and the mountains...

IRAN – AN EMERGING FORCE IN COMPETITION ICE CLIMBING

The most recent UIAA Ice Climbing World Tour featured athletes from 29 different countries. Teams varied from the 52-strong Russian presence to countries such as Ireland, India and Bulgaria represented by single athletes. While the overall World Cup winners of the speed and lead disciplines hailed from Russia and the second most represented team in South Korea, competition ice climbing continues to develop its foundations in a number of countries. To cite a few: France, which...

INTERNATIONAL RELEASE DATES ANNOUNCED FOR THE DAWN WALL

The UIAA is delighted to share details of international screening times for The Dawn Wall, winner of numerous international awards including the UIAA Prize at the 2018 Trento Film Festival. About The Dawn Wall In January 2015, Tommy Caldwell and Kevin Jorgeson captured the attention with their attempt to scale the Dawn Wall, an apparently impossible 3,000 foot rock face in Yosemite National Park, California. The two lived on the rock face for weeks, provoking media frenzy...

Skills Series: Spacing between members of the party

The latest article in the UIAA Summer Skills series focuses on spacing between climbers. Characteristics of the terrain, the conditions for progression and the experience of the members of the party will determine how they rope up. Wide spacing Advantages Allows use of intermediate belay points. Allows climbers to cross dangers separately (crevasses, cornices...

ALPINE CLUB OF CANADA WELCOMES UIAA ACCESS COMMISSION

At the end of August, the UIAA Access Commission travelled to Canmore, Canada for its 31st annual meeting. Hosted by the Alpine Club of Canada (ACC), the Commission welcomed members from Azerbaijan, Canada, Iran and Taiwan together with President Juan Jesús Ibañez Martin (FEDME, Spain) and UIAA Executive Board member and Commission link Peter Farkas. Among the key topics discussed were the recent, and temporary, access restrictions imposed by French authorities on Mont Blanc (see more...