Significant progress has been made on the further development of the UIAA Training Standards label. Also discussed at the recent meeting in Switzerland of the UIAA Mountaineering Commission was traditional climbing and an update to the Legal Experts Working Group document on legal liability. The full report on the meeting is from Phil Wickens, commission secretary:
The UIAA Mountaineering Commission met in Bern, Switzerland, in April. The meeting, which was hosted by the Swiss Alpine Club (SAC-CAS), was very well attended with 20 delegates representing 14 different countries, and included meetings of the Mountaineering Commission’s two working groups; the Training Standards Working Group (TSWG) and the Legal Experts Working Group (LEWG).
Chiaki Aoyama from Japan is developing an international system for collecting and analysing accident statistics. Once in place, this will help to identify areas where safety and training can be improved, and for insurance companies to better understand risk in mountain activities.
The Bolting and Traditional Climbing Working Group is currently in the process of collating national policies, guidelines and publications regarding traditional climbing, and regarding the placement of fixed protection in the mountain and crag environments. The group, which is chaired by Doug Scott, is concerned about the loss of traditional climbing areas, skills and ethics. It aims to formulate an UIAA statement that is recognised internationally, and to establish guidelines, based on existing policies, to assist federations in developing their own policy and guidelines for traditional climbing and the placement of fixed protection.
A lot of interest has been expressed in the Training Standards by developing federations and organisations. In order to expand the work of the Training Standards Working Group, a detailed business plan was drawn up, together with a system for training experts, assessors and trainers. The group proposes that a UIAA Training Standard label be awarded to Federations that meet the UIAA standards, and are currently organizing a series of seminars to train the trainers, assessors and external validators. Philippe Deschamps and Stéphane Lozac’hmeur from the Petzl Foundation charity discussed areas in which they are continuing to assist the TSWG. This currently includes providing help for Asian federations to set up their own national training schemes, and help with the design of training manuals for federations that have none.
Xabier Saenz Ezeizabarrena from Spain has succeeded Renee Hopster as Chair of the Legal Experts Working Group. The group is currently updating its 2002 report on legal liability, which it expects to publish shortly. They have also created a database of the most important cases from Netherlands, Belgium, Spain, Britain, France, USA and Japan, and report a reduction in the already limited significance of waivers in EEC law due to new consumer protection regulations. Future work will include reports on waivers, climbing wall accidents, use of expert evidence, insurance, legal risk assessment and cross boarder employment issues.
Two climbs have been awarded the 2011 Piolets d’Or: Greenland Big Walls Expedition and Mount Logan South East Face.
The following text is from the organising committee of the prestigious award, which is supported by French, American, British and Italian alpine clubs – all member federations of the UIAA:
The jury, presided over by Greg Child, has come together to deliberate on the six expeditions selected for the 19th edition of the Piolets d’Or.
The selection was made from 53 first ascents across 19 countries on 5 continents, with 138 mountaineers of 22 different nationalities. These ascents represent the spirit of exploring remote and rugged locations, of pioneering new routes in lightweight style, and of embracing a sense of commitment and teamwork. These attributes lie at the heart of the Piolets d’Or.
The six climbs that were nominated by the jury this year are climbs that were deemed to best represent the ideals of the Piolets d’Or Charter, and are climbs that the jury themselves would have been proud to call their own. These diverse ascents were made by experienced alpinists, on low or middle altitude peaks, featuring exceptionally high levels of technical competence. There was an overriding sense of team spirit and having fun.
The jury has decided to highlight two very different ascents:
Greenland Big Walls Expedition
This was innovative big wall climbing with a difference – in excellent style, using neither bolts nor pitons, and traversing the peaks after the climbs. In the popular sport of big wall climbing, this showed that it is possible to make these ascents completely clean. In addition to a high technical level, the team approached by yacht into unexplored areas and showed huge camaraderie.
by Sean Villanueva, Nicolas & Olivier Favressse (Belgium) and Ben Ditto (USA), boat captained by Bob Shepton (UK – 75 yrs).
Mount Logan South East Face
This was a new route on a very remote 2,500 metre face, undertaken with meticulous preparation. The climb- ers travelled over a wide area to find routes for acclimatisation, and only embarked on the route after careful planning to avoid objective danger. The ascent epitomises climbing in modern alpine style, travelling at speed on unknown terrain for a route one and a half times the height of the Eiger North Face. The pair completed the long connecting ridge to the East summit.
by Yasushi Okada and Katsutaka Yokoyama (Japan).
British climber Doug Scott tells the UIAA about his contributions to mountaineering, the challenge of preserving traditional climbing and the importance of the Piolets d’Or award for encouraging innovation and exploration.
Scott is the 2011 recipient of the Piolets d’Or Lifetime Contribution Award – only the third climber to have been given the honour, after Walter Bonatti (2009) and Reinhold Messner (2010).
He spoke to the UIAA ahead of the Piolets d’Or ceremony on 16 April in Courmayeur, Italy. Scott is the British Representative on the UIAA’s Management Committee.
UIAA: The Piolets d’Or committee commends you as “one of the pioneers of alpine style climbing in the Greater Ranges…” as someone who “embodies the spirit of modern alpinism…”. And it also recognises your charitable work in Nepal. Modesty aside, what do you think has been your most valuable contribution to alpinism?
Doug Scott: if anything it was climbing high in lightweight style and sometimes completely in Alpine Style on new routes. That is where all the interest lies; to go where no one has gone before, where there is uncertainty, wondering what will you find there, will there be belay ledges and a place to bivouac for the night?
I did learn a lot about handling myself in the thin, cold air on the big, siege style expeditions to the South West Face of Everest (1975). Dougal Haston and myself left the summit at 7 pm and had to sleep just 100 metres down, without oxygen, sleeping bags – and as it turned out – without getting frostbite. That really widened the range of how and what I would climb in the future.
My most important climb was Kangchenjunga (with Joe Tasker, Peter Boardman and George Bettembourg in 1979). We were the first to go onto a big mountain without oxygen and to do it lightweight without a mass of Sherpas and fixed ropes. That was a big step into the unknown for us, always wondering what would happen if one of us got oedema. You wouldn’t be able to get a man down from up there.
Now they are flying helicopter rescues up 7,000 metres. What do you think of this recent development?
The whole point of the Himalaya has always been the solitude, commitment and taking responsibility for your own life. If people push on, lulled by a false sense of security, believing they can always call for a helicopter then there are likely to be more accidents.
When we were off in the 1970s and 1980s, that was that, you went off. You severed your connection with home. If some porters came up, you sent some letters off to the wife, but there were no telephones or radios. On Kangchenjunga there were no radios at all. You just went to be there. Nowadays people hardly leave home and office since they are still connected.
How important do you think the Piolets d’Or award is for encouraging innovation and exploration?
The Piolets d’Or puts a marker in the sand. The reason it has become a flagship award is because it has tried to keep the original idea of exemplifying the best of Alpinism and the most inspiring climbs possible. This can’t be done with drills, porter ledges and fixed ropes. Everyone knows if you have basic skills and are a tenacious, persevering type, you can climb anything. Since the uncertainty as to the outcome e of the climb is what matters most, what is the point? That’s why there was a big fuss when a Russian expedition won the award in 2005 for the first ascent of the North Face of Jannu (criticised by Steve House for using months to climb the face with fixed ropes). Basically the award is there to give acknowledgement to those that do original climbs in an amazing way, high up.
As a member of the UIAA Management Committee, how do you think the UIAA could improve the way it supports the values you hold dearly?
The UAA has been spending a great deal of time on procedure and ancillary matters. Hopefully that is just about complete and now it can think more about actual climbing. The work done by UIAA Commissions responsible for safety, mountain protection and access are important but getting into commercial ventures like ice climbing competitions does take up a lot of time and money. This has put some Federations off, like those from Germany and Austria.
We know that it is important for the UIAA to be recognised by the International Olympic Committee otherwise some Federations may leave the UIAA. Despite this I would like to see more attention paid to actual climbing and pointing the UIAA towards being the guardian of the best traditions of our sport. I’ve come onto the UIAA to help to promote the idea that the few remaining areas of Traditional Climbing should be preserved – as heritage crags if that is the only way.
It seems that the UIAA is going through another period of upheaval since the third Executive Director in a year has left the UIAA. Also the UIAA is in severe financial difficulties. The Chinese character for crisis is in two parts; one part of the ideogram is chaos and the other part is opportunity. If we take a lead from the wise Chinese the UIAA would be well advised not to let the moment pass without analysing the situation in depth and putting reform in place to rectify the problems.
ndian mountaineer Balwant Sandhu died recently in a road accident. Sandhu climbed and trekked for over 50 yrs in most ranges of the Himalayas. He was principal of Nehru Institute of Mountaineering Uttarkashi for Five years (1980-85). He was president of the Himalayan Club [1983-84) and Vice President of the Indian Mountaineering Foundation (197-98). He was a life member of the Central Himalayan Environment Association, the Himalayan Club, and the Indian Mountaineering Foundation. In 2001 he was elected an honorary member of the Alpine Club, United Kingdom. In the following article, British mountaineer Doug Scott pays tribute to Balwant Sandhu:
Balwant Sandhu was not as one would imagine a Sikh Colonel in the Indian Army to be. On the Indo-British Changabang Expedition of 1974 most of his resting time was spent reading Arthur Miller or chatting away, in his deep baritone voice, interspersed with infectious chuckles of laughter, on every subject under the sun with the odd line or two from Browning or W B Yeats thrown in for good measure.
Balwant was the co-leader, along with Chris Bonington, although it was Balwant who had overseen the organisation of the expedition right up to base camp. He had tremendous respect from the Army members of the Indian contingent who helped progress the expedition, as far as the British knew, with very little fuss or bother. Subsequently, Balwant, Chris, Martin Boysen, Dougal Haston, Sherpa Tashi and myself all made the first ascent of Changabang (6864 m). We all came back with mutual respect for each other enhanced and looked forward to further climbs together, especially with Balwant.
Santokh Singh Sandhu, a Sikh farmer living near Lahore, in what is now Pakistan, had five sons and the eldest was Balwant Singh Sandhu born 1 October 1934. Since the Sikhs are traditionally warriors it was not unusual for at least one member of the family to enter the Army. In 1957 Balwant was commissioned into the Mahar Machine Gun Regiment. Five years later he volunteered for the Parachute Regiment. He later taught at the Army College of Combat for three years and then went on to command the Sixth Parachute Battalion with distinction from 1971 to 1976. In 1980 he became Principal of the Nehru Institute of Mountaineering at Uttarkashi for five years. By this time Balwant had become one of the most experienced Indian mountaineers, a fact recognised by his peers who invited him to become Honorary Member of the Alpine Club. He was later elected on to the Governing Council of the Indian Mountaineering Foundation for six years. He was also an Honorary Secretary of the Central Himalayan Environment Association and represented India on the UIAA for four years. He was also president of the Himalayan Club from 1983-1985.
In 1981 he was given the Arjuna award for excellence in mountaineering as a result of a lifetime of walking and climbing in usually remote and little known regions of the Himalaya. There is only space to mention the highlights of his climbing career, the first being the first ascent of the North Peak of Bancha Dhura solo (ca 6,000 m) in 1962. Other first ascents included Shinkun (6065 m in Lahaul, 1968), Changabang (6864 m, 1974), Phawarar ang (6349 m, 1979), Mamostong Kangri (7516 m) in the East Karakoram (1984), Kabru Dome (6600 m) via a new route (1985), West Face of Kamet (7756 m, 1985), Chombu East Peak NE Sikkim (5745 m, 1996). In 2001 Rudugaira (5816 m) and in 2002 Jogin III (6116 m)were climbed during Doon School Expeditions to the Gaarhwal Himalaya.
This list represents only part of his lifetime love of climbing. He could not, however, as he said, put himself “through so much torture as to go to Everest” but he did help others to go through organising various training camps for young Indian climbers. He also took part in a variety of expeditions as leader or co-leader with foreign climbers, schools, colleges, the IMF and with his beloved “Paras”.
In 1973 he led the Indo-British Expedition that put Chris Bonington and Nick Escourt on the summit of Brammah (6416 m) in the Kishtwar. In 1975 he was deputy leader of an Indo-French Nanda Devi Traverse expedition. Balwant with French climbers and also with his great Indian friends Prem Chand and Dorje Lhatoo climber the main peak. The expedition also climber Nanda Devi East (7434 m) but bad weather prevented the expedition achieving its main objective which was to link the two summits by a high level traverse. Balwant broke a leg making the descent something of an epic but then not for the first time. He had injured himself on several occasions previously from rock fall in 1961 and again in 1964 surviving a 1000 m avalanche but breaking a leg. Later on the Indo-New Zealand expedition to Rataban (6166 m) he was again injured by rock fall. There may be some truth in the saying “old soldiers never die”.
Balwant was physically as well as mentally, tough and one who could move easily and naturally through the mountains, acclimatising well and able to cope with all the usual frustrations without irritation. If ever a man lived his life to the full it was he. Apart from his love of mountaineering and Army life and the thrill of making over 150 parachute drops he enjoyed shooting, fishing, horse riding and riding his Bullet motorbike, usually at considerable speed, not always successfully but did survive several accidents.
My appreciation of Balwant increased with every meeting – after Changabang, on Shivling (6543 m) in 1981 then North East Sikkim with Suman Dubey and other English and American friends in 1966 and then on our attempt to reach Takpasiri on the Indo-Tibetan border with Greg Child and Akhil Sapru in 1999. Balwant had already agreed to reconnoitre the route through the jungles of Arunachal Pradesh the year before which was a considerable achievement at age 65 since he was alone but for the local Nishi people. Our expedition after an 18 day “rumble in the jungle” arrived below our mountain but unable to climb it – only Akhil was fit since I had torn a tendon in my knee, Greg had blood poisoning and Balwant was struck down with malaria. We retreated to recover but never had a chance to climb together again.
He stayed at my home in 2004 with his wife Helga, where I was able to reciprocate the whole-hearted hospitality laid on four years before at their home in the Shimla Hills of Himachal Pradesh. We did have plans to visit Arunachal Pradesh again and also Nepal but too late.
On 3 December Balwant Sandhu was struck by a speeding car near the Indian Mountaineering Foundation building in New Delhi. He was immediately taken to the Army Research and Referral Hospital in New Delhi where he failed to regain consciousness. On 10 December Balwant passed away leaving Helga and their son Cornelius (Muki) grieving at his bedside and for all of us who knew him everywhere to grieve for a courageous climber and loyal friend.
UIAA Training Standards and attempts to find a global consensus on bolting were two of the highlights discussed at the meeting in Moscow of the Mountaineering Commission. The following report is from Phil Wickens, commission secretary:
The UIAA Mountaineering Commission met in Moscow, Russia, in November 2010. The meeting was hosted by the Russian Mountaineering Federation (RMF) and was very well attended by 20 delegates from 14 different countries, and the UIAA President, Mike Morrtimer, again highlighting the increasing strength and value of the Commission’s work on a global scale.
The group were welcomed by Andrei Volkov, who also arranged for a number of parallel meetings between the mountaineering federations from countries of the former Soviet Union, all of whom are very interested in strengthening their ties with the UIAA and in developing their own national mountain training systems.
Russian advance
The RMF has re-instated a national training and guiding school, and has put a lot of work into developing a modern mountaineering infrastructure. The Mountaineering Commission is very pleased to be working with the RMF and are excited to be involved with the development of climbing in the former Soviet states.
Training
The Mountaineering Commission is pleased to announce that the UIAA Training Standards Working Group has now come of age, having demonstrated that it provides a service that is highly valued by the member Federations. In order to cope with the increasing demand for its services, three working parties were created to streamline its structure, standardise its procedures and allow for sustainable development. The group also investigated expansion of its programme in order to provide UIAA training standards to non-Federation organizations. Advice on the business aspect of the group was provided by Jean-Jacques Eleouet, General Secretary of the Petzl Foundation charity, whose involvement with the group has added enormous value to the development of mountain leader training in India and Nepal.
To bolt?
The Mountaineering Commission Bolting Working Group is in the process of compiling policies and statements from the member federations regarding the placement of fixed equipment. By understanding the different approaches and views to this emotive issue, the group aims to develop a UIAA Bolting Policy that will be adopted by all member federations. The group then aims to establish guidelines, based on existing policies, to assist federations in developing their own policy and guidelines for the placement of fixed protection.
Accident statistics
At present there is no way of analyzing mountain accident statistics from around the world, even though the results would be of great importance for understanding mountain safety, and would have numerous applications, such as the development of insurance programmes. Chiaki Aoyama (Japan) has been investigating the feasibility of an international system for acquiring mountain accident data and presented this to the Mountaineering Commission. He is now looking at how such a system can be implemented so that accurate and reliable information can be collated and compared.
In partnership with the Petzl Foundation charity, the Mountaineering Commission held courses and meetings in Leh and Manali to help develop mountain leader training in India. These courses were enthusiastically attended, and follow-up work is being carried out to ensure that a training structure and training courses that meet UIAA standards are organized and held in India.
Phil Wickens (BMC), Secretary, UIAA Mountaineering Commission
Leading members of the global climbing community have discussed the concerns of climbers and challenges of undertaking expeditions to high and remote mountain ranges.
The frank and open debate took place on the sidelines of the 2010 UIAA General Assembly in Bormio, Italy on October 8. Sometimes just getting to the base of a mountain is a hurdle as great as climbing the peak itself, the well-attended meeting heard.
Mark Richey of the American Alpine Club (AAC) led the discussion and outlined the aims of the Expeditions working group set up by the UIAA. He said some of the pressing issues are the following: opening new and closed areas for climbers; developing a consistent and appropriate permit and fee model; reducing fees for young climbers and ensuring fair treatment of local guides and Sherpas.
Legendary British climber Doug Scott, a member of the working group, said climbers in Europe take for granted that there are no regulations in the Alps and said the goal was to “get as close to alpine conditions as we can”. Scott also said it was absurd that mountaineers were willing to pay huge sums of money to launch an expedition and cover fees, and then try to save by underpaying local guides and porters. He recommended the introduction of guide/porter minimum wages.
Nepal concerns
Ang Tshering Sherpa, immediate past president of the Nepal Mountaineering Association, reminded the gathering that the Nepal government had declared that certain areas were “free” of fees for five years (2009-2014). These are the Mid Western and Far Western Mountains of Nepal. Also all previous summiteers of Everest and Dhaulagiri are eligible for a free entry visa this year and in 2011 as a way of honouring them as good will ambassadors. He also emphasised the importance of mountain tourism for the Himalayan nation, and that without it illegal activities with devastating consequences would increase, such as logging and poaching.
Tshering said the UIAA must do more to address environmental issues in the Himalayas. He said the use of personal toilet bags are helping expeditions reduce the amount of human waste left on the mountains.
Colonel Neeraj Rana, the Principal of India’s Himalayan Mountaineering Institute, said a goal had to be to lessen the burden on the region’s most frequently climbed peaks. Clare Bond, president of the UIAA Access Commission, responded by saying that it could be the role of the UIAA to raise awareness of lesser known mountains.
Commercial guiding companies should be given a voice in the UIAA’s work on improving access since this will lend the process greater credibility, added John Nankervis of New Zealand.
The head of the defunct UIAA Expeditions Commission, Renato Moro, said a main challenge of the UIAA is to find reliable partners in Asian nations to work with on these issues.
In conclusion, Richey said creating a forum for international discussion in itself was important. To be effective, he added, any future expeditions commission would need to be small but have corresponding members representing all countries.
Editor of the American Alpine Journal, John Harlin III, is attempting to become only the second person to encircle Switzerland, following its largely mountainous border.
“According to simple map-distances, I’ll cover roughly 800 kilometres by bicycle and kayak and 1,000++ kilometres on foot—including lots of technical climbing over difficult mountains (for example, the hardest ridge on the Matterhorn),” said Harlin who began his journey on June 22. He is first tackling Switzerland’s alpine border with Italy, heading east from Lake Geneva.
“In real life, two-dimensional map distances mean little; the vertical relief tremendously increases the actual kilometres on the ground, as well as the difficultly of walking them. But the physical adventure is merely a personal challenge, good for a few stories (especially when things go wrong). The real depth of this journey will be its window into the borderlands.”
Harlin hopes to complete the adventure in three months. He is posting pictures and videos daily to swissinfo.ch, the international website of Switzerland’s public broadcaster. His journey is being tracked in real time thanks to an interactive Google map.
The UIAA welcomes China’s decision to ban people under 18 years of age from climbing Mount Everest.
According to press reports and climbing and trekking agencies in Nepal, the decision was taken on June 10 by the Lhasa-based Chinese Tibet Mountaineering Association (CTMA) – a branch of the Chinese Mountaineering Association, which is a UIAA Member.
The move was welcomed by the Nepal Mountaineering Association (NMA).
“While concerned about the restrictions on the freedom for exploration and human endeavour, the UIAA Access Commission applauds the actions of the CTMA and the NMA to protect minors by placing a lower age restriction on summiting Everest,” said commission president Clare Bond.
UIAA President, Mike Mortimer, also greeted the Chinese decision, saying young mountaineers lacked not only climbing “experience”, but also maturity.
However, Mortimer is critical of the maximum age of 60 set by the CTMA.
“The issue of an upper age limit would seem to be very arbitrary and should be of concern,” Mortimer said. “Many climbers over the age of 60 have safely climbed Everest and other high peaks. Although medical considerations might present problems, the older climber often has a wealth of experience missing from younger people.”
Climbing for all ages
For her part, Bond emphasises that the UIAA continues to “encourage the active participation of all ages and members of society in climbing and mountaineering and the freedom to participate in the sport and enjoy the mountains”.
President of the UIAA Youth Commission, Anne Arran, added: “Climbing Everest is a great challenge but not without risk and young climbers should not be pushed to undertake it.”
The UIAA co-ordinates around 10 youth events in the world’s mountains each year, and in 2011 plans to run a youth project in Nepal, which, according to Arran, will “focus on an exchange of mountain skills between countries and supporting environmental and sport development challenges relevant to youth in Nepal”.
China and CTMA
The CTMA is the official channel through which climbers must apply for permission to attempt peaks in Tibet.
According to Lindsay Griffin of the British Mountaineering Council (BMC) writing on the BMC website, it is not yet unconfirmed if these age restrictions will also apply to other high peaks on the Himalayan divide.
Griffin says “the decision has been made in the aftermath of (May’s) Everest ascent by 13-year-old Jordan Romero”.
“Nine years ago Nepali schoolboy Temba Tshiri became the youngest Everest summiteer at the age of 16 (and 17 days) but lost several toes and fingers to frostbite. This put pressure on the Nepalese government to ban young climbers, and in 2003 it set a minimum age of 16. However, there is currently no upper limit,” Griffin added.
“There do seem to be loopholes in the Chinese regulations. In exceptional circumstances the CTMA may issue a permit to a mountaineer outside the declared age range. Applications will be considered from climbers outside this age span if they can provide a medical certificate showing they are fit enough to make the ascent, though it is believed that this is most likely aimed at climbers over 60.”
The UIAA Medical Commission has released a new recommendation to improve the reporting of mountaineering injuries.
In the past, the expert panel says, “objective reporting of the injury site and its severity varied according to the injury definition and methodology used”. This led to different conclusions making “inter-study comparisons difficult or impossible”.
The newly published paper describes the common protocol developed by the Medical Commission to report injuries in studies. It uses a single climbing grade reference that converts UIAA climbing grades into a standardised metric form.
Spanish translations
Also added to the comprehensive list of recommendation papers that can be downloaded from the Commission’s page are translations into Spanish of the documents on health rules, altitude sickness, portable hyperbaric chambers, nutrition, traveller’s diarrhoea and water disinfection. Many of the English-language documents have already been translated into German and Japanese.
All of the documents provide essential tips on issues of importance to mountaineers or anyone going to high altitude.
The UIAA Medical Commission is a global forum of doctors who meet regularly to up date information on medical issues related to the mountains.
The UIAA’s Mountaineering Commission is reviewing its international training assessment and accreditation programme, due to the large demand from national federations.
The work of the Training Standards Working Group (TSWG) was in the spotlight at a recent meeting of the Mountaineering Commission in Montserrat, near Barcelona, Spain.
The meeting was hosted by the Spanish federation, Federación Española de Deportes de Montaña y Escalada (FEDME), and was very well attended by 21 delegates and guests from 14 different countries.
Steve Long, Chairman of the TSWG, proposed a new, more structured process, with a professionalized moderation and assessment process and a system of regularly re-evaluating national schemes. Long and his colleagues are discussing these plans with the IFMGA (also known as the UIAGM) to ensure that the two schemes continue to complement each other.
Strategic Plan
Commission members also discussed a new Strategic Plan for the Mountaineering Commission. A revised set of goals and objectives were agreed, and a modern Mission statement was adopted: ‘To promote best practice by identifying and addressing ethical, technical & training, and legal issues of international importance.’
The Mountaineering Commission’s collaboration with the charity Petzl Foundation was also on the meeting agenda. Following its success in Nepal, the foundation is now working with the Mountaineering Commission to develop mountain training in India. At the end of the summer (2010) two training sessions will be held in India, and it is hoped that this partnership will lead to the creation of a UIAA-accredited mountain training scheme.
Issues: bolting, legal, accident statistics
The Montserrat meeting saw the creation of a Bolting Working Group to review the bolting policy in different federations, from which a UIAA bolting policy will be developed.
The meeting also heard from the Legal Experts Working Group which now has 54 cases in its Mountain Legal Database.
Finally, the Mountaineering Commission is continuing its work to create a system for collating international mountain accidents statistics, and to review its international climbing grade comparison table.