Mark Diggins is new IFMGA Director

Congratulations to British Mountain Guide Mark Diggins who has just been elected by the International Federation of Mountain Guide Associations (IFMGA) to become a Director. There are twenty three Guide Associations around the world and for almost fifty years IFMGA Directors have been drawn exclusively from the founding four countries of Austria, France, Italy and Switzerland. It was therefore a momentous decision on Saturday in the town of Tonsberg in Norway not only to appoint Mark but also to agree that a Swedish Guide, Mike Wright, was also appointed as an IFMGA Director.

Mark is a member of the Board of Mountain Training UK and in the last few years has been a key contributor to the collaboration work that has gone on between BMG, the Mountain Training Association, the Association of Mountaineering Instructors and the British Association of International Mountain Leaders. At the IFMGA General Assembly Mark spoke about the success of this collaboration in the UK and the benefits that IFMGA could derive from closer relations with other international bodies including the UIAA, UIMLA and others.

The photo shows many of the new Board of IFMGA: From left to right, Hanno Dönz (president), Mark Diggins, Christian Trommsdorff, Mike Wright, Reiner Taglinger and Kurt Walde (Urs Tinner and Armin Oehrli are the other two members)