Frits Vrijlandt

The Netherlands are called so for good reason. The highest “summit”, the Vaalserberg near the town of Aachen, is only 323 meters high. Nevertheless you find “Oranje boven” also on the highest mountains on earth. Frits Vrijlandt is not a blank slate in the climbing scene. In 2000, he was the first Dutchman to climb Mount Everest from the Tibetan north side, later he became the second mountaineer from the Netherlands who scaled the Seven Summits, the highest mountains of all continents. At the International Mountain Summit (IMS) in Bressanone in South Tyrol, the General Assembly of the International Climbing and Mountaineering Federation (UIAA) was held – and Vrijlandt was reelected as President for another four years.

Frits, a man from such a flat country is the head of all climbers worldwide. That sounds a bit strange.

(He laughs) Why? I have to be a friend of all countries who have mountains. This is important for my role to bring all countries together.

How is it for someone who has climbed the highest mountains of all continents to be an official for mountaineering?

I’ve been already doing this for four years. There are parallels to mountaineering. You want to achieve goals, and also the way to reach them can be beautiful.

Climbers often talk about freedom and independence, and to be honest, many are also egoists. How does this fit with a world federation that has to set up rules?

This is not our main task. We want to help the Alpine Clubs to make progress. We take care of safety, sports and environmental protection. This doesn’t always go together. Particularly environmental protection and mountain experience often create a tension field – all over the world.

Much traffic on Everest (in 2012)

The UIAA’s new strategy paper for the coming years does no longer provide a commission for expeditions. Isn’t there any problem in this field from the UIAA point of view?

The big “conquest” of the mountains, how it was said in former times, is over. But of course expeditions remain our task, even if we do not need to have a commission for this issue. We deal e.g. particularly with Nepal, because there is the highest mountain in the world. Today, with the commercial expeditions and with Sherpa support, it is almost possible for any well-trained, little experienced person to approach the summit of Mount Everest. But this is also an ethical question. We think Everest should remain a mountain for people who are experienced. They should be able to ascend on their own or with a partner – and not depend on ten or more Sherpas who decide everything for them.

Sport climbing will be part of the Olympics 2020 in Tokyo. What does this mean for mountain sports?

I think it’s great. This is a big task for our members who deal with sport climbing. I believe it will have only positive effects. For top sport climbers, the incentive to compete at the Olympic Games is perhaps the same as for alpine climbers to tackle the steepest wall or reach the highest summit.

South side of Mount Everest

Backing for the Nepalese authorities: The International Climbing and Mountaineering Federation (UIAA) “fully supports the decision to propose more stringent measures for climbers wishing to scale the world’s highest peak, Mount Everest (29,029ft / 8,848m)”, as it said. These measures will include individuals having to prove they have already scaled a peak higher than 6,500 meters, thus eliminating the possibility of novice climbers scaling the mountain. “Everest should become a mountaineers’ mountain again”, said UIAA president Frits Vrijlandt.

“Restore a sense of dignity and glory to Everest”

“We support the requirement restrictions on age (denying access to those under 18, and over 75) and the minimum requirements regarding physical and mental ability to assure you are able to climb by yourself or with a partner. If you have to be hauled up the mountain you don’t really belong on Everest.” Vrijlandt said that the Nepalese authorities “have Everest’s best interests at heart”. The UIAA president was in 2000 the first climber from the Netherlands who scaled Everest from the Tibetan North Side and in 2003 the second from his country who completed the Seven Summits.
The UIAA said that they and the Nepal Mountaineering Association (NMA) “believe implementing these measures will drastically improve safety on an increasingly overcrowded mountain, lessen pressure on guides who are often reduced to risking their lives assisting ill-prepared climbers and restore a sense of dignity and glory to Everest.”

Plea for self-responsible climbing

The new Everest rules have still to be implemented into the Mountaineering Expedition Regulation, which is part of the Nepalese Tourism Act. But I think, the country’s new government is currently facing more pressing problems that have to be solved than dealing with Everest climbing, for instance the still continuing blockade of Nepal’s border to India. Even in case the new measures on Everest come into force before the beginning of the next spring season, the question remains how to ensure compliance with the regulations. The Tourism Ministry will hardly establish training grounds where the Everest aspirants have to prove their climbing skills before granting them permits. Thus the expedition operators will have to ensure that their clients comply with the conditions to climb Everest. The operators would be well-advised to transfer the responsibility to the clients themselves, because in the end every climber who wants to scale Everest should be self-responsible for his decisions on the mountain. That would be a major step forward.