Abstract ID: 3.12228 | Accepted as Talk | Requested as: Talk | TBA | TBA

Climate change leads to an increase of the frequency and severity of extreme climatic events particularly in alpine regions. These extreme events have severe consequences and high impact on mountaineering and alpine infrastructure. Due to climate change alpine trails, hiking paths, and rock-climbing areas are highly affected. As a result, popular and well-known routes are becoming more hazardous due to rockfalls, melting glaciers, thawing permafrost, and unstable terrain. The Alpine Association is the leading organisation for mountaineering in Austria and provides knowledge and expertise for more than 720,000 members. The increased risk and the negative effects require foresighted and well-planned adaptions to local conditions. Therefore, various aspects are gaining importance to make mountaineering as safe as possible. The training and implementation of current mountaineering approaches become challenging considering the rapidly changing conditions. The various aspects of terrain, conditions, equipment and personal attention must be re-examined and evaluated.