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Publication of UIAA Standard 156 Avalanche Rescue Shovels

The UIAA Safety Commission has published its 23rd safety standard. Standard 156 is dedicated to avalanche rescue shovels, “the result of a decade of work, from problem seen, to field testing, to lab testing, to standard development," explains UIAA Safety Commission President Dave Custer. The original challenge was to implement an avalanche rescue shovel standard such that a shovel would reliably withstand the loads generated in rescue activities. Anecdotal observation suggested that some shovel modes failed often during...

A first Respect The Mountains venture outside of Europe

The fourth UIAA Respect the Mountains event of 2017 was a significant one. For the very first time the UIAA’s flagship mountain clean-up project – partnered by KEEN - took place outside of the European mountains. The Manitoba province, Canada, provided the setting for this landmark occasion. Conceived as a project to encourage mountain users to unite and clean tourist areas of waste, the UIAA Respect the Mountains Series has grown in both its geographical...

IMPRESSIVE NUMBER OF APPLICATIONS FOR 2017 UIAA MOUNTAIN PROTECTION AWARD

Nepalese post-earthquake recovery programmes, a waste management scheme on Patagonia, clean climbing on Denali and brown bear conservation in Bulgaria. Just some of the diverse projects from some 15 countries to have applied for the 2017 UIAA Mountain Protection Award. Now in its fifth year, application for the 2017 Award closed on 14 July and the response from the mountain community was again impressive with 26 initiatives put forward. Projects represent a range of spheres including...

New UIAA Director of Operations begins role

The UIAA is delighted to announce the appointment of its new Director of Operations. Nils Glatthard, a Swiss national based in Meiringen in the Bernese Oberland Alps, began full-time in the role on 10 July, 2017. A member of the Swiss Alpine Club (SAC), Nils comes from a strong mountaineering lineage. His father founded the Mountaineering School of Meiringen, and today one of his three sons, Yannick, competes as an ice climber. Nils has a strong and significant...

International Climbing and Mountaineering Federation (UIAA) statement on Pavel Batushev

In accordance with its strict commitment to clean climbing, the International Climbing and Mountaineering Federation (UIAA) can confirm the following: - On 28 January, 2017, during the UIAA Ice Climbing World Cup event in Rabenstein, Italy, Mr Pavel Batushev, a 29-year old athlete from Russia, provided a urine sample to the UIAA Anti-Doping team. The sample was split into two separate bottles. - Both samples were transported to a World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA)-accredited laboratory. The laboratory analyzed...

CHANGES TO DIMENSION OF THE ICE TOOL BOX

The UIAA Ice Climbing Commission reminds athletes about a new rule change ahead of the 2018 UIAA Ice Climbing season. This concerns the altering of the dimensions of the ice tool box which has changed from 30cm x 55cm to 25cm x 50cm. All tools athletes use in competition at the 2018 UIAA Ice Climbing season must comply with the new ice box dimensions. The complete Rules and Regulations for the 2018 UIAA Ice Climbing season will be...

A SEASON TO REMEMBER

Han Na Rai Song was one of the stars and standout performers of the 2017 UIAA Ice Climbing World Cup season. Three successive UIAA Ice Climbing World Cup wins in the lead discipline meant she finished the five-event season on top of the podium becoming the first South Korean female to achieve that honour. It was a momentous year for the country renowned for its love of ice climbing, and one which will host the...

UIAA – NEWSLETTER, JULY 2017. NOW PUBLISHED

The July 2017 UIAA Newsletter is now available. The UIAA Safety Commission's recent meeting in Woerden, the Netherlands provided an opportune moment to reflect on the federation's commitment to mountain safety: past, present and future. A subsequent visit to Outdoor2017, the international tradeshow in Friedrichshafen, enabled the UIAA to further discussions with many of its Safety Label holders. Three years on from the publication of the UIAA paper 'Natural Rock for Adventure Climbing', Doug Scott reflects on its impact and...

MOUNTAIN ACTIVITIES FOR PEOPLE WITH PRE-EXISTING CARDIOVASCULAR CONDITIONS

The latest in our Series of extracts promoting the UIAA MedCom’s comprehensive library of mountain medicine recommendations focuses on pre-existing cardiovascular conditions. The paper was first produced in 2012 and is available in English, Czech, Italian and Japanese. It is intended for physicians, interested non-medical persons and trekking or expedition operators. Background Literature on whether people with pre-existing cardiovascular conditions should go to high altitude is limited. Making a decision depends upon what altitudes are likely to be...

NATURAL ROCK FOR ADVENTURE CLIMBING. THREE YEARS ON

The UIAA first published the ‘UIAA Recommendations on the Preservation of Natural Rock for Adventure Climbing’ in 2014. The document, spearheaded by longstanding UIAA Management Committee member Doug Scott, evaluated the history and appeal of different forms of rock climbing, and considered earlier attitudes to fixed gear. It also considered how the case for adventure climbing can be re-stated more effectively and offered guidance to UIAA member federations in developing countries on how to sustain the balance between sport and...