Noted

We are proud to welcome the Freeride World Champions of 2012: Sweden´s Reine Barkered and Christine Hargin. They are coming to show their skills on their home ground and they will accompany skiers and snowboarders from all around the world.

The Tor des Géants is the first and only race to combine long distance with the individual style of runners: the organisation does not impose any compulsory stages, and the winner will be the runner who completes the race in the shortest time, making his or her own decisions on when and how long to stop for rest and refreshment.

The Tor des Géants is the first race of this kind to cover an entire region, running along its spectacular paths at the foot of the highest Four-Thousanders in the Alps and through the Gran Paradiso Natural Park and the Mont Avic Regional Park. All of these particular features help make this such a unique, inimitable race. This trail is more than just a competitive sports event; it is also a way to promote tourism in the Valle d’Aosta, through the municipalities the race runs through.

Over a four-year construction period the glass and steel colossus, which is set to cost over EUR 100 million, is to replace the installation built in the 1940s and 1950s - and showcase the Mont Blanc even more magnificently.

The Alps are to have their own multilingual media platform. This ambitious idea was launched by the Rhaeto-Romanic department of Switzerland's public radio broadcaster. Las-Alps-Infoteca is to become "a competence centre for media in the Alps, providing news and information from the Alps and about the Alps".

Climate Change challenges the alpine tourism. On the one hand it has to adapt to climate change, simultaneously it has to become more climate neutral. Especially the sectors of traffic and energy offer huge potentials to CO2-reduction. Authorities have to direct the development into a sustainable direction.

Andrea Bionaz is the soul of the organization behind the Conference, and he is one inhabitant of the small village, who wanted to find a way for his village to stay alive and not to become a sort of dormitory for people working in the big tourist industry somewhere else in the valley.

For more than half a century the “Commission Internationale pour la Protection des Alpes” (CIPRA) has been working in support of sustainable development in the Alps. This commitment is worthwhile: the Alpine arc, which is 1100 kilometres long and passes through eight different countries, is home to about 13 million people.

It is in this diverse living space that CIPRA is active, searching for ways and means to reconcile the calls of the natural environment, the business community and social issues. CIPRA bridges the gap between research and practice: “Disseminating knowledge, networking people” – that is the motto of all CIPRA projects. In this sense, CIPRA presently focuses on the topic of climate change, which strongly impacts the Alps, more than certain other areas in Europe. With the project “cc.alps”, CIPRA wishes to contribute to bringing climate mitigation and adaptation measures in accordance with the principles of sustainable development.

Not having to depend on energy imports: this vision holds great fascination for many regions. Self-sufficiency is “in.” There are already many very positive approaches and examples of attempts to go down this road.

At the heart of all the concepts is the idea of meeting demand through regional renewable sources of energy, saving energy and using energy more efficiently. Anyone who systematically takes this approach in an attempt to create an energy self-sufficient region changes the face of their region and its structures – to the benefit of their own economy, society and the environment.

The Albula and Bernina lines of the Rhaetian Railway offer one of the most spectacular ways to cross the Alps. A particular high-point of the ride is the panoramic view from the Bernina Express, as it passes mighty glaciers on its descent from Chur to the swaying palms of Tirano.

The train makes short work of the 55 Tunnels, 196 bridges and slopes of up to 70 millimetres per metre of incline that are found along its route.

The Bernina Express is the classic among the premium trains of the RhB. It travels along the highest railway line in the Alps. It connects northern and southern Europe, providing a bridge between various language regions and cultures. Since summer 2008, the section between Thusis and Tirano has been classed as a UNESCO World Heritage site. A milestone in our history.

Sightseeing attractions: The UNESCO World Heritage route, with the Landwasser Viaduct and the winding tunnels between Bergün and Preda, Ospizio Bernina, Alp Grüm, Palü and the Morteratsch Glacier, the old town of Poschiavo, the Circular Viaduct at Brusio, Veltlin, Lugano.

The Logar Valley is to be relieved of the burden of motorised tourism - a sensible traffic-calming measure in the Landscape Park and the first association of residents for the self-administration of a protected area.

Innovative ideas for implementing climate response measures are now available online at http://www.cipra.org/en/cc.alps/results-and-products (de/en/fr/it/sl). There anyone with an interest in the subject and municipalities in particular can draw inspiration from the many adaptation and mitigation measures for climate change. The measures stem from the six topic areas which also underpin the cc.alps project: Energy, Nature Conservation, Construction and Renovation, Transport, Spatial Planning and Tourism. The catalogue of measures was drawn up and compiled by cc.alps in co-operation with the Alliance in the Alps network of municipalities. The measures will prove particularly useful to communities keen to take part in the recently launched competition by the dynAlp-climate promotion programme: http://www.alpenallianz.org/en/projects/dynalp-climate-1 (de/fr/it/sl).

Source: www.cipra.org/cc.alps 

A host of new initiatives to make travelling in mountains safer and more environmentally friendly were discussed at the UIAA General Assembly (GA). The 2010 GA was held in Bormio, Italy on October 9, and hosted by the Italian Alpine Club (CAI).

It was preceded by a meeting of the members of the UIAA Management Committee, as well as a special event assessing mountain huts. “Many of our federations operate mountain huts. By providing a place on our website we can create an electronic resource centre which will allow our Federations to provide or seek information regarding best practices in the management of facilities,” says UIAA President, Mike Mortimer. “We can all learn from our fellow Federations.”
The number of new initiatives launched this year are “unprecedented”, adds UIAA Executive Board member, Silvio Calvi.

In this digital age, one cannot but wonder at the achievement of the valiant photographer-mountain climber 140 years ago. Jules Beck – who grew up in Biel, Berne, Vevey and Strasbourg – was the first Swiss mountain photographer to take photographs in the Alps.

As of 1866 and several times a year over a period of 24 years, Beck undertook his almost 20-hour-long excursions up as far as the highest Alpine summits. It was rare that he was able to take more than a dozen successful photographs a day. The mountain weather conditions often played tricks on him, especially as in those days the new dry plates required very long exposure times.

This is the first time that the life’s work of this important photographer, a total of 1,200 photographs, is being exhibited. Beck’s photographs enchant us by their beauty and at the same time show how the alpine world has changed since his day. Beck’s humorous commentaries are a further source of delight. Atmospheric elements tangibly render both the era and the high mountains. The two figures of the “jackdaw” and the “tripod” bring the perils of photography at that time home to a younger public.

The major objective of establishing an ecological network in the Alps is the preservation of biodiversity and ecosystem functions.