Mike Mortimer

Mike Mortimer (born October 15, 1950 in Manchester , England ) is an English- Canadian alpinist . From 2005 to 2011 he was President of the Union Internationale des Associations d'Alpinisme (UIAA).

Life and activities

Michael Kenneth Mortimer grew up in Manchester with his older brother Tony. At the age of six he went to the Potterspury Lodge boarding school, a Waldorf school that placed great emphasis on camping, hiking and other outdoor activities. Here he got to know the mountains. Mike's mother joined a hiking club and took her two boys with her.

In the late 1950s, the family moved to Cape Town , South Africa, where Mike and other teenagers and in nail shoes went secretly climbing the 200-meter-high Table Mountain cliffs . He became a member of the Mountain Club of South Africa .

From 1971 to 1974 he traveled the world and financed himself with odd jobs: he was a dishwasher at the mountaineering hotel The Hermitage near Aoraki / Mount Cook (New Zealand), in 1973 he camped at the foot of the Eiger and climbed the surrounding mountains ( Schreckhorn , Mönch , Jungfrau , Eiger etc.).

In Canada he met the teacher Heather Roddick, whom he married in 1974 and who became his rope mate. The Mortimers went on a world tour together until they settled in Calgary in 1977 because of the nearby mountains and studied at the university there, where he graduated in economics in 1982 . They became members of the Calgary section of the Alpine Club of Canada (ACC) and began to expand the club's activities there: They organized social events and volunteered to renovate shelters.

In 1980 Mike became President of the Calgary Section. A tragic mountain accident prompted him to professionalize mountaineering. From 1982 he organized conferences on accident prevention, route planning, avalanche protection, etc. In 1982 Mike was Founding President of the Calgary Area Outdoor Council (CAOC).

In the same year he became manager of the hostel shop of the Southern Alberta Hostelling Association , which formed the starting point for many of his initiatives and activities such as events with international elite mountaineers. For many years he was Master of Ceremonies at the Banff Mountain Film Festival (BMFF) that he initiated . In 1983 he became Ortovox's general agent .

In 1984 he joined the hut committee of the Alpine Club of Canada, later became its president and laid the foundation for the modern Canadian hut system (financing, renovation, expansion and operation of the ACC huts: Bow Hut, Lawrence Grassi Hut, Lloyd MacKay Hut, Abbot Pass Hut, Wapta Icefield Huts, etc.).

From 1994 to 2001 he was President of the Alpine Club of Canada. He resumed the historic partnership with the Canadian Mountain Guides Association and the American Alpine Club (AAC). In 1997 he represented the ACC in Japan during the 75th anniversary of the first ascent of Mount Alberta by the Japanese Maki Yūkō and dined with the Crown Prince and the Prime Minister.

As the first director for external relations of the ACC, he represented North America at the UIAA (International Mountaineering and Climbing Federation). From 2005 to 2011 he was UIAA President .

Honors

• In 1986 he received the ACC Distinguished Service Award for excellent volunteer service
• In 2001 he was awarded the Alpine Club of Canada's AO Wheeler Legacy Award awarded
• In 2005 he became an honorary member of the Alpine Club of Canada

literature

• Chic Scott: The Book of Mortimer. Celebrating a Life of Volunteerism. Alpine Club of Canada, Canmore (Alberta) 2014

Web links

• Mountain books by Chic Scott

Individual evidence

1. ^ Banff Mountain Film Festival: about
2. ^ Chic Scott: The Book of Mortimer. Celebrating a Life of Volunteerism
3. ↑ 80 years of UIAA, review and outlook by Claude Eckhardt
4. ^ ACC: Distinguished Service Award
5. ^ Alpine Club of Canada: Mike Mortimer
6. ^ Alpine of Canada: The Book of Mortimer: Celebrating a Life of Volunteerism