The 2020 UIAA General Assembly (GA) was held on 23-24 October. Owing to the Covid-19 pandemic, the annual meeting took place online for the first time in the federation’s 88-year history. A record number of delegates – 130 representatives fro...
On 14 and 15 November, the Access Fund is organising its annual Climbing Advocacy Conference. For the first time the event will be exclusively online and open to international attendees. The theme this year is “A Global Perspective on Local Sol...
Ahead of next month’s online UIAA General Assembly (GA), the UIAA Management Committee (MC) and Commission Presidents held a virtual session on Saturday 26 September with a focus both on preparing for the GA and the federation’s strategic plans f...
The months of May and June are traditionally busy with UIAA Commission meetings. Despite the restrictions placed on travel during Covid-19, the UIAA has been able to host a number of important online meetings throughout the past six weeks. In fact ma...
Setting up working groups to resolve access issues can be an issue by itself. Here are some access and conservation strategies for climbing areas which involve setting up good communication systems to public access agreements and good practices.
The late Stefano Tirinzoni, a member of the UIAA Management Committee and Italian Alpine Club (CAI), was instrumental in creating the Argeos Charter, a simple set of guidelines for sustainable mountain tourism in countries where mountain tourism is still in its infancy.
The UK is internationally recognized for its wintering, migratory and nesting birds and for over 30 years the BMC has worked with conservation bodies to produce this informative climbing restrictions leaflet. There is a general acceptance amongst conservation bodies and landowners. Restrictions can change during the breeding period, and the BMC’s Regional Access Database (RAD) plays an important role in providing up-to-date information for climbers. The RAD is a searchable database of all the crags with special access and conservation considerations, including all the agreed nesting restrictions for England & Wales – why not log-on and check it out?
A fun poster by the British Mountaineering Council (BMC) which lists the 10 commandments to follow while bouldering. Includes “Leave vegetation in place – no gardening please.”
The Access Fund is the only national advocacy organization whose mission keeps climbing areas open and conserves the climbing environment. A 501(c)3 non-profi t supporting and representing over 1.6 million climbers nationwide in all forms of climbing—rock climbing, ice climbing, mountaineering, and bouldering—the Access Fund is the largest US climbing organization with over 15,000 members and affiliates.
Some sound advice from the Swedish Climbing Federation. They hope you have a great day in front of you but remind you that you climbing is an activity that comes with great responsibility. The ground rule is: don’t disturb – don’t destroy.
The British Mountaineering Council (BMC) has produced a series of policies such as the ones on Environmental Policy, Climate Change Policy while the Scottish Mountaineering Council has produced an explanation on how climbing is conducted in Scotland.
The work of the British Upland Footpath Trust is to provide the highest standard of footpath work. This booklet draws together the expertise of craftsmen skilled in footpath construction and restoration in many different mountain settings across Britain.
Experts from the UIAA member federation FEDME (Federación Española de Deportes de Montaña y Escalada) have collaborated with a number of bodies, notably Europarc-Spain, in producing a document which underlines the good practices for holding mountain running competitions in protected natural areas. The document is available to download in English here.
The UIAA Access Working Group, part of the Climbing & Mountaineering Development Commission, works with international associations, and supports UIAA member federations and others to facilitate access to areas while being sensitive to environmental, social, legal and other considerations.
The WG:
Juan JESUS IBANEZ MARTIN (President), Spain (FEDME)
Lode BECKERS, Belgium (CMBEL)
Hank HWANG, Chinese Taipei (CTMA)
Sudhir KRISHNANKUTTY, India (IMF)
Milosz JODLOWSKI, Poland (PZA)
Mehdi SOHEIL FARID, Iran (I.R.ISMF)
Hussein BAGIROV, Azerbaijan (FAIREX)
Jack BERGIN, Ireland (MI)
Nelson BRUGGER, Brazil (CBME)
Esteban DEGREGORI, Argentina (FASA)
Hamidreza IZADI, Iran (IMSCF)
Hitoshi ONODERA, Japan (JMSCA)
Boyan PETROV, Bulgaria (BCMF)
Joao Paulo QUEIROS, Portugal (FCMP)
Richard Grant SHERRY, South Africa (MCSA)
Brian STEPHENSON, New Zealand (NZAC)
Mahmout HASHEMI, Iran (IMSCF)
