Nepal gets presidency of UAAA’s Asian Council

Kathmandu, October 16:

Nepal will chair the presidency of the Asian Council of Union of Asian Alpine Association (UAAA) for two years.

The decision to this effect was taken in the recently concluded general assembly meeting of

the UAAA held from October 3 to 7 in Matsumoto of Japan.

A Nepal Mountaineering Association (NMA) delegation, which is still in Japan, informed this daily in an e-mail query.

“It is a matter of prestige for Nepal to bag the presidency this time,” Divas Bikram Shah, general secretary of Nepal Mountaineering Association, told this daily.

Nepal is a founding member of UAAA and has held the position of vice-presidency since 1995 when the UAAA was formed.

“For almost 12 years, no significant effort was made for the highest post. Now that we have got to the top, it will bring fruitful results to Nepal in general and in the mountaineering field in particular,” Shah added.

The union is an international body that deals with environmental issues and focuses on

generating awareness and educating people on mountaineering related activities.

Meanwhile, the plenary assembly of the International Federation of Sports Climbing (IFSC), held on October 5 in Matsumoto, Japan, a pproved the membership of Nepal.

“Getting into the IFSC is another big achievement for Nepal. Any Nepali can now onwards participate in international sports climbing event,” Shah told THT.

He further said: “It was important to get into IFSC as Nepal has a huge potential in adventure sports.” The other countries that got admitted to IFSC this year include Kirgyz Republic, Uzbekistan, Peru, South Africa and Cameroon.