Erasmus_MountainSafER

Coordinator:

Hungarian Ski Mountaineering Association
(HSMA, Magyar Síalpin és Túrasí Sportegyesület, www.sialpin.hu, 1053 Budapest, Kecskeméti u. 2., Hungary, info [atty] sialpin [dotty] hu )

Partners:

Asociatia Club Sportiv Linx Climbing Club
(Romania)

Alpine Division of Hrvatsko planinarsko društvo “Željezničar”
(Croatia, AO HPD ZELJEZNICAR ; http://www.hpdzeljeznicar.hr)

Meetings:

1. Kick-off Meeting, 4-6. April, 2024, Börzsöny, Hungary
2. Training Meeting on Improving safety in the mountains in non-winter month, 22. – 29. 9. 2024, Starigrad Paklenica, Croatia
3. Training Meeting on Improving safety and knowledge in the mountains in winter, 9. 2. – 3. 3. 2025, Fogaras mountains, Romania 
4. Final Meeting, September 2025, Budapest, Hungary
   

Description:

As mountain landscapes have become more accessible, there is a constant increase of people engaging in mountain sports activities all over Europe. This trend was further enhanced by the COVID pandemic in the last years. These sport activities are ranging from hiking, trail running, mountaineering, rock climbing, alpine skiing, snowboarding to backcountry skiing (where both uphill and downhill travel  is made on skis without the use of any motorized equipment e.g. without the use of lifts, and which  usually also includes a number of techniques from classical alpinism, e.g. glacier traverse, also called  ski touring and ski mountaineering or skimo). Although these activities are all associated with health benefits, they also come with a higher risk of injury or even death. Preventive measures that would decrease these risks include the improvement of sport-specific skills and fitness, the use of protective gear, well-targeted and intensive training programs concerning hazards related to these activities, and sports-medical counseling for elderly and those with pre-existing diseases. While the Alpine areas have a long tradition and experience in providing educational programs in mountain safety, in the region of the project countries, Croatia, Hungary and Romania (referred to as Region in the rest of the Project Proposal) -that still houses significant mountainous areas, like the Dinaric Alps or the Carpathiens- that skill level is much lower and educational programs are rather limited to specific and often closed  groups within alpine climbing association/clubs and high quality, systematic training is usually only available at really high price, such that many who participate in these activities can’t afford.

The main objectives of the current project are:

Main Objective 1.

The number one objective of the current project is to raise health and safety awareness for outdoor sports done in a mountainous environment, close the gap between amateur, hobby athletes and mountain professionals, develop and spread the necessary safety training concepts for trainers, put an emphasis on accident prevention and continue the work on developing a network of European organizations centering on these goals. The project focuses on mountaineering, outdoor climbing and ski alpinism sport activities (backcountry skiing, where both uphill and downhill travel is made on skis without the use of any motorized equipment e.g. without the use of lifts, and which usually also includes a number of techniques from classical alpinism, e.g. glacier traverse, also called ski touring and ski mountaineering or skimo) (will be collectively labelled Mountaineering activities in the rest of the Project Proposal), as these are some of the most dangerous outdoor sports done in a mountainous environment. However the concepts formulated within this project have a much wider audience, including any people visiting the mountains for outdoor activities (i.e. freeriders, hikers, snowshoers, trail runners, mountain bikers), as the general basic safety guidelines are very similar for all these disciplines (called ‘associated sports, associated activities, related activities’ within the project).


Main objective 2.

Furthermore another important objective of the project is to raise awareness related to climate change for outdoor sports done in a mountainous environment, and teach and work out environmentally conscious ways and ecologically sound practices relating to these. This especially is a relevant issue for people living in the Region, as the knowledge and awareness of these topics is still lower than for those living in Western Europe.

Main objective 3. Networking

This project builds on the already created alliance between Hungary, Romania and Croatia founded during the MountainSafe Erasmus+ sport project (2019-2020) with the objective of further widening this strategic cooperation, continued growth and engagement of all targeted actors into a strong alliance in the Region. Furthermore, crossborder networking and learning opportunities are still sparse in the Region, isolating the different communities from each other, while valuable knowledge and information could be easily shared (especially that mountaineering is a really cross border activity in the Region, with people traveling to neighbouring countries often to carry out such activities).

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Disclaimer:

Funded by the European Union. Views and opinions expressed are however those of the author(s) only and do not necessarily reflect those of the European Union or the European Education and Culture Executive Agency (EACEA). Neither the European Union nor EACEA can be held responsible for them.