Ethical issues high on Mountaineering Commission agenda

05 Sep 2008

The UIAA Mountaineering Commission met from September 13-14 in Bodrum, Turkey to discuss urgent issues. These included a reviewed code of ethics for mountaineers and the creation of a full overview comparing the different climbing grade scales.

The commission deals with techniques, ethics and legal issues of mountaineering and have two working groups, the Training Standards Working Group and the The Legal Experts Working Group.

At the meeting the members discussed the revision of the "Mountain Code" - a document on mountaineering ethics developed by the UIAA and adopted in an edited form by the 2002 Future of Mountain Sports Conference as the "Tyrol Declaration". Important points that are still under consideration are the use of bottled oxygen for high altitude ascents and the use of performance enhancing drugs that are not medically necessary.

Another pressing topic is the creation of a comprehensive overview of the different scales of difficulties and how they compare to the UIAA climbing grades.