Organisation

Every year our member organisations come together at the General Assembly. The General Assembly makes the decisions concerning the UIAA’s role, its activities and its budget. It elects the President, the Executive Board and members of the Management Committee.

The President is the UIAA’s representative to the world and chairs all meetings of the General Assembly, the Management Committee and the Executive Board.

The Executive Board is elected for a four year period and consists of the President, Vice-President, Secretary General, Treasurer and three other members. Together they carry out the decisions made by the General Assembly, control finances and supervises the commissions and the office staff.

The Management Committee is elected for a four year period and consists of the Executive Board, representatives from the five largest member associations, one representative from each continent and three to five representatives elected by the General Assembly. It makes recommendations to the General Assembly on matters such as budgets and admission/expulsion of member associations. In addition it creates and dissolves the commissions and assigns them responsibilities.

The Commissions consist of members with special expertise in a particular field of mountaineering. They give advice to the Management Committee and the General Assembly, as well as giving information and recommendations to all members. The commissions are: Access & Conservation, Expeditions, Medical, Mountain Protection, Mountaineering, Safety and Youth.

The Auditors are responsible for auditing the UIAA’s accounts. They report in writing to the General Assembly.

The Court decides in conflicts of competence and other possible disputes between the UIAA, its members and bodies.

The Sports bodies manage the UIAA’s two competitive mountaineering sports disciplines:

The International Council for Ski Mountaineering Competitions (ISMC) is a separate body within the UIAA which is responsible for all aspects of Ski Mountaineering competition sport.

The highest body of the ISMC is the annual Plenary Assembly, which all member associations can attend. The Executive is the Management Committee (10 members + President of the Athletes Commission). The other bodies of the ISMC are the Technical Commission (including Judges/Referees Commission), the Sports Regulations Commission, the Calendar and International development commission and the Athletes Commission. The ISMC has its own independent administration based in Barcelona. It organises international and continental competitions including the World championship.

The International Commission for Ice Climbing Competitions (ICICC) is responsible for the administration and development of all aspects of the new international Competition Ice-climbing sport. Since 2004 it has organised World Championships in addition to the established international and continental competitions.

Those who compete in the two sports must adhere to the rulings of the following commissions:

The Anti-Doping Commission assists Member Associations in implementing the World Anti-Doping Code (WADA code), and is responsible for the application of the code in the organisation of our competition sports activities.

The Disciplinary Commission deals with violation of UIAA competition rules.

The Appeals Commission hears appeals from athletes who have been found guilty in a disciplinary case or who wish to contest competitions results or judges’ rulings.

Office staff
The UIAA has an administrative office in Bern, Switzerland which supports the work of the elected volunteers