UIAA
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| Sport |
Mountaineering Climbing |
|---|---|
| Jurisdiction | International |
| Abbreviation | UIAA |
| Founded | August 1932 |
| Headquarters | Bern, Switzerland |
| President | Frits Vrijlandt |
| Official website | |
| www |
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The International Climbing and Mountaineering Federation, commonly known by its French name Union Internationale des Associations d'Alpinisme (the UIAA, lit. 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". The UIAA safety Label was created in 1960 and was internationally approved in 1965 and is now recognised and used by 68 countries.
The UIAA is today the international governing body of climbing and mountaineering and represents climbers and mountaineers around the world on a wide range of issues related to mountain safety, sustainibility and competition sport.
The UIAA Safety Commission develops and maintains safety standards for climbing equipment. These standards are implemented world-wide by the manufacturers who also participate in annual Safety Commission meetings. The Commission works with nearly 60 manufacturers world-wide and has 1,861 products certified.
Dynamic Rope UIAA fall count rating
The test to determine the fall count uses a 5.1m rope and drops a weight (80Kg single rope / 50Kg double rope) so that it falls 4.8m before experiencing a reaction force from the rope. This means that the weight is falling below the fixed end and there is minimal rope to stretch and absorb the force. The fall count rating is the number of times the rope can undergo this test before breaking. For the dynamic rope to be able to be UIAA certified it requires a fall count rating of 5 or more.
This number does not indicate that the rope needs to be discarded after this many falls since a fall would usually not have the climber fall beyond the belayer and there is usually more rope to stretch and absorb the fall. There has been no recorded accidents of a UIAA certified dynamic rope breaking without there being damage from a sharp edge or chemical.
Mountain Medicine Diploma
Together with the International Society of Mountain Medicin (ISMM) and the International Commission for Alpine Rescue (ICAR), the UIAA Medical Commission has established and developed a joint Diploma in Mountain Medicine that establishes minimal requirements for courses in mountain medicine in August 1997 (Interlaken,Switzerland). Many course organizers adopted these standards and the Diploma in Mountain Medicine (DiMM) has become a widely respected qualification.
The Medical Commission was founded in 1981. Its history dates back to an earlier time when there were only a few doctors representing the largest mountaineering federations. The commission has grown to include 22 delegated doctors from 18 different mountaineering federations, as well as 16 corresponding members from all over the world. The UIAA Medical Commission has worked very closely with the Medical Commission of the International Commission for Alpine Rescue (ICAR). The current presidents of the UIAA Medical commission and the MedCom ICAR are always on the advisory board of the ISMM.
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Wikipedia