Monday 25 November 2013

A documentary to watch out for

This is BBC production is a review of last winter and contains some very good information about avalanche hazard and how we interact with it. 

Filmed with advice from (and endorsed by) the Scottish Avalanche Informaiton Service, it gives a refreshingly unsensational and balanced view of the harsh winter of 2012-13. 

Its focus is the winter that we have just experienced in Scotland and draws on experiences and knowledge from further afield which helps illustrate the challenges of hazard evaluation, human factors and the  impact of avalanche tragedy..

It is a very powerful programme and I would recommend you take the opportunity to watch it



Upskill Climbing Blog by Lee Cujes

Upskill Climbing Blog by Lee Cujes

This is an useful contribution to safe practice for bolting climbs. I would like to make use of this material or something similar within the UIAA Training Standards recourses.

Sunday 10 November 2013

At last I have in my hand one of the first 2 copies of the Englishlanguage version of this long standing collaborative project!

The main consignment is still being shipped, but thankfully my colleague from the Petzl Foundation, Philippe Descamps, was able to bring one o the first 2 copies he received. This is another milestone achievement for the UIAA Trainng Standards and we already have advanced orders from many countries as well as requests to translate the book into other languages.

I'm writing this update from Brussels as I await an evning flight home after yet another very busy but rewarding month. At the UIAA Mountaineering Commissoin Training Standards Panel meeting this year's valdiation reports were all approved. This means that now the following countires have new Training Standard accreditations: Serbia, Portugal, Russia, Chile, UK (JSMTC) and Turkey and we have a whole new round of applications to service.

Meanwhile we are working on a complete overhaul of the UIAA website along the lines of what UK readers will be familiar with on the MTUK's site, which is now driven by a very powerful online database - I am convinced that this will completely revolutionise the UIAA and the way that it serves the federations, and just in time too as the 2 biggest federations (DAV and OeAV) rejoin! I don't think we are going to be getting bored in 2014!

Thursday 7 November 2013

Filming a Dream of White Horses

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Dream filming, a set on Flickr.

Well! what can you say about this one? What a day! This job came out of nowhere but for me it really was a dream as I have enjoyed this climb for so many years in all conditions, day and night. I could write about the time that John Silvester and I motorbiked straight over from a disco to climb it at night, or finishing up Dream after an epic traverse from the far end of Main Cliff.

But this was a very enjoyable day, all the more remarkable for fine weather in early November. Watch out for this episode when it gets broadcase on BBC Coast.

Climbing in San Gabriel

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Climbing in San Gabriel, a set by SteveMLT on Flickr.
I've had to reload all my photos because Flickr dropped one of its partner organisations. Here goes"

During the accreditation visit to Chile I also delivered an advanced ropework session to the FEACH rock climbing instructors. I was also lucky enough to get out for a day of multi-pitch climbing with my friend Felipe Gonzales on a deligtful series of jamming pitches culminating in an impressive overlap breached by a bottomless groove and guarded by a rope-grabbing crevice.

ski mountaineering in Chile

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In October I visited the Chile to accredit the qualifications delivered by FEACH for ski mountaineering and winter mountain leadership. Both courses were run at a high standard and I was impressed with the organisation. The courses were delivered in relatively serious and remote mountain territory within surprisingly easy reach from Santiago.

Its always very satisfying to observe well-run courses and to exchange ideas and techniques with fellow instructors and coaches.