International Climbing and Mountaineering Federation
 |
 | |
| Sport |
Mountaineering Climbing |
|---|---|
| Jurisdiction | International |
| Abbreviation | UIAA |
| Founded | August 1932 |
| Headquarters | Bern, Switzerland |
| President | Peter Muir |
| Official website | |
| www | |
The International Climbing and Mountaineering Federation, commonly known by its French name Union internationale des associations d'alpinisme (UIAA; French for 'International Union of Alpine Clubs'), was founded in August 1932 in Chamonix, France when 20 mountaineering associations met for an alpine congress. Count Charles Egmond d'Arcis, from Switzerland, was chosen as the first president and it was decided by the founding members that the UIAA would be an international federation which would be in charge of the "study and solution of all problems regarding mountaineering".[1] The UIAA Safety Label was created in 1960 and was internationally approved in 1965 and currently (2015) has a global presence on five continents with 86 member associations in 62 countries representing over 3 million people.[2]
History
[edit]The UIAA was founded in Chamonix in August 1932 by twenty mountaineering associations with the aim of "studying and solving problems related to mountaineering". One of these problems was the lack of an international scale of mountaineering difficulty, which led to the formalization of the "UIAA scale" over thirty years later.
Shortly before the outbreak of World War II, the last congress took place in Zermatt, Switzerland, in the summer of 1939. Due to the war, contact and exchange between member organizations took place only by mail.[2]
In 1947, the first post-war UIAA congress took place, again in Chamonix, France.[3] There, the scale, which provides information on the degree of difficulty in mountain climbing and was last revised by Wilhelm "Willo" Welzenbach, was further developed; this would later become the generally accepted UIAA scale. By 1950, the UIAA already represented half a million alpinists, a number that grew to over two and a half million in the following decades.
In 1968, the delegates in London, England, elected the Swiss Albert Eggler as the new president, succeeding Edouard Wyss-Dunant of Geneva, thus expressing their desire to keep the UIAA headquarters in Switzerland. Because Eggler was a Bernese, the UIAA headquarters was relocated to Bern, Switzerland, where he has shared offices with the headquarters (Central Board) of the Swiss Alpine Club since 1999.
In the 1960s, the UIAA began its commitment to environmental protection, opposing the construction of cable cars on Mont Blanc (Aiguille du Midi, Col du Géant) and Mount Pilatus, managing to block similar projects on the Matterhorn and Jungfrau.
In 1965, the first document relating to the UIAA safety label was approved, a list of technical characteristics that mountaineering equipment and materials had to have in order to be considered safe. Products that respect these characteristics bear the UIAA mark as a guarantee of safety for the user.
In 1967, at the UIAA General Assembly in Madrid, the Spanish delegate Félix Mendes-Torres, with the help of the American Fritz Wiessner, proposed adopting and improving the Welzenbach scale, a scale of mountaineering difficulty, devised by the Austrian mountaineer Willo Welzenbach. Thus the UIAA scale was born.
The Kathmandu Declaration, a call against mountain degradation, was published in 1982 following years of reflection on the impact of mountaineering and sports activities on the mountain environment.
IOC and UIAA
[edit]In 2008, the German Alpine Club (DAV), the Austrian Alpine Club (ÖAV), and the Association of Austrian Alpine Clubs (VAVÖ) withdrew from the UIAA.[4] As a result, the UIAA lost half of the alpinists it represented. The reason for this was that the three clubs were beginning to establish sport climbing as an Olympic sport and therefore needed recognition as sports federations. The UIAA declined to become a sports federation itself, while the IOC refused to recognize the UIAA or the individual Alpine Clubs in their current organizational form.
In 2013, the conflicts between the UIAA and the IOC were resolved. Since then, the DAV, ÖAV, and VAVÖ have been members of the UIAA again.[5]
In 2018, the UIAA and the EUMA agreed to cooperate.[6]
The UIAA recognizes the following as the umbrella organization responsible for each continent:[7]
Continent Umbrella organization Abbreviation
Asia Union of Asian Alpine Associations UAAA
Europe European Union of Mountaineering Associations EUMA
Latin America Pan-American Union of Mountaineering and Climbing UPAME
As a competitive sport
[edit]This federation did not hold any sports competitions for 56 years from 1932 to 1988. In fact, its initial goals were mountaineering and related issues, not a competitive sport. Sport climbing as a competitive sport was followed by rock climbing in 1989, and then ice climbing and ski mountaineering. Currently, rock climbing and ski mountaineering have been separated from this federation, and only ice climbing is under the supervision of this federation.
The UIAA began to operate in the field of competitive sports in 1989, when it organized the first Climbing World Cup. This was followed in 2000 by the Ice Climbing World Cup and in 2002 by the Ski Mountaineering World Championships and the Ice Climbing World Championship. In 2006, the UIAA concluded that it was no longer able to manage sport climbing, which therefore organized itself into an autonomous federation. Ski mountaineering followed the same path in 2008. Ice climbing, however, remained within the federation.
- 1932-1988: No Competitive Sport
- 1989: Sport Climbing
- 2000: Ice Climbing
- 2002: Ski Mountaineering
Russia
[edit]After the 2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine and in accordance with the IOC recommendations, the UIAA suspended all UIAA officials from Russia, and delegates from the Russian Mountaineering Federation (RMF) and Russian officials and athletes were excluded from all UIAA-sanctioned activities and events.[3]
UIAA-Organisationen
[edit]| Years | Organisation | Name |
|---|---|---|
| 1991 bis 1999 | Comité International du Ski-Alpinisme de Compétition | CISAC |
| 1999 bis 2008 | International Council for Ski Mountaineering Competitions | ISCM |
| Seit 2008 | International Ski Mountaineering Federation | ISFM |
| 1997 bis 2007 | International Council for Competition Climbing | ICC |
| Seit 2007 | International Federation of Sport Climbing | IFSC |
UIAA-President
[edit]| Year | Nationa | President | Association |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1932–1964 |  Switzerland |
Charles Egmond d’Arcis | SAC |
| 1964–1968 | Switzerland |
Edouard Wyss-Dunant | SAC |
| 1968–1972 | Switzerland |
Albert Eggler | SAC |
| 1972–1976 | Switzerland |
Jean Juge | SAC |
| 1976–1984 | Switzerland |
Pierre Bossus | SAC |
| 1984–1989 | Switzerland |
Carlo Sganzini | SAC |
| 1990–1995 | Switzerland |
Pietro Segantini | SAC |
| 1995–2004 |  United Kingdom |
Ian McNaught-Davis | BMC |
| 2004–2005 | United Kingdom |
Alan Blackshaw | BMC |
| 2005–2006 |  Belgium |
Pierre Humblet | CMBEL |
| 2006–2011 |  Canada |
Mike Mortimer | ACC |
| 2011–2012 |  Spain |
Jordi Colomer | FEDME |
| 2012–2020 |  Netherlands |
Frits Vrijlandt | NKBV |
| Since 2020 | Canada |
Peter Muir | ACC |
Sports
[edit]Present Sports
[edit]- Mountaineering (No Competitive Sport)
- Alpine Climbing (No Competitive Sport)
- Rock Climbing (No Competitive Sport)
- Ice Climbing (Competitive Sport)
Past Sports
[edit]Events
[edit]No events since 1932 to 1988 in any sports. Sport climbing (1989-2006) and Ski Mountaineering (1991-2007) was in UIAA.
- UIAA Ice Climbing World Championships since 2002
- UIAA Ice Climbing World Youth Championships since 2013
- UIAA Ice Climbing World Cup since 2000
Related Events
[edit]Competition Climbing
[edit]UIAA since 1989 - 2006 / International Federation of Sport Climbing since 2007
- IFSC Climbing World Cup since 1989
- IFSC Climbing World Championships since 1991
- IFSC Climbing World Youth Championships since 1992
- IFSC Paraclimbing World Championships since 2011
Ski Mountaineering
[edit]UIAA since 1991 - 2007 - Comité International du Ski-Alpinisme de Compétition (CISAC) 1991-1999 (Under UIAA) - International Council for Ski Mountaineering Competitions (ISMC) 1999-2007 (Under UIAA) / International Ski Mountaineering Federation since 2008
- ISMF Ski Mountaineering World Cup since 2004
- World Championships of Ski Mountaineering since 2002
References
[edit]- ^ "UIAA Foundation & Early years". theuiaa.org. Retrieved 24 November 2016.
- ^ Apollo, Michal (2017). "The true accessibility of mountaineering: The case of the High Himalaya". Journal of Outdoor Recreation and Tourism. 17: 29–43. doi:10.1016/j.jort.2016.12.001.
- ^ "UIAA | UIAA Statement on Climbing Restrictions and the Ongoing Situation in Ukraine UIAA". 31 March 2022.
External links
[edit]
| International | |
|---|---|
| National | |
| Other | |
- 1932 establishments in France
- Competition climbing organizations
- International sports organisations based in Switzerland
- Organisations based in Bern
- Sport in Bern
- Sports organizations established in 1932
- Association of IOC Recognised International Sports Federations
- Climbing and mountaineering organizations