News

 Riccardo Cassin, one of the greatest mountaineers of the 20^th century, died on Aug. 6 at age 100.

 The Global Youth Summit event took place in South Africa's "Dragon Mountains" between July 11 and 19. 

The first training course led by the Italian climber who has ascended all 14 8,000m peaks without oxygen was held at the end of July in Alagna Valsesia, on Monte Rosa.

The UIAA is updating a mountain code, putting into ink mountaineering’s longstanding values of good sportsmanship, respect for cultures and care for the environment.

The draft code is intended to reach all who love mountain sport, from the hut-to-hut hiker to the expedition alpinist.

It also addresses some of the biggest debates in mountaineering today, such as the use of bottled oxygen on 8,000-meter-peak attempts.

The intent, say mountaineers involved in the process, is to create a document that reflects the sport’s high ideals and evolves with changing times.

The world’s largest climbing and mountaineering organisation and a leading sport academic centre are joining forces to collaborate on education programmes, research and personnel training.

The documents on the disorders and contracts for expedition doctors are the latest in a series of recommendation papers published by the UIAA Medical Commission.

Engineer and mountaineer Pit Schubert was honoured by the UIAA and DAV (German Alpine Club) on July 16 at the OutDoor trade fair in Friedrichshafen, Germany.

For the first time, the UIAA has developed a series of tests for braking devices designed to give climbers and mountaineers confidence that these critical pieces of gear meet the federation’s strict safety criteria.

 The Italian Alpine Club (CAI) has celebrated the inauguration of a new Frassati trail in the Aosta valley. 

The UIAA Mountain Protection Commission has praised the efforts of the members of the Eco Everest Expedition 2009 for highlighting environmentally friendly practices in mountaineering.