Hauptversammlung 2019, Saturday 19th October
by Janet Britnell
The 2019 Hauptversammlung (HV – AGM) was held in the old mining town of Schladming, in the Upper Enns valley in Styria, nestling between the southern slopes of the Dachstein and the Schladminger Tauern. Although it was officially ‘low season’ between the summer walking and the important winter ski-ing seasons, the surrounding hills were bathed in glorious Autumn sunshine when about 550 representatives from Alpenverein (AV) sections from all over Austria, and beyond, converged on the town. As usual the 2019 HV weekend was a time of intense activity, starting on Thursday afternoon, with a special Hütten und Wege Ausschuss (Huts and Paths Committee) meeting and supper held in the Austria Hütte, situated above the Ramsau plateau, under the Dachstein wall, in recognition of the retiring Chairman, Vice-President Helmut Ohnmacht. The Bundesausschuss (BA - Federal Committee) met all day Friday and there were workshop discussions on topical AV themes on Friday afternoon, including ‘Nature Conservation and Mountain Sport’, attended by Tony Cooper and Diana Rayner. Meanwhile many departments of Alpenvereinshaus in Innsbruck were setting out their stalls in the modern Congress Hall in Schladming, where the HV itself was held all day Saturday. On Friday evening, many Landesverbände (provincial associations) meetings were held in local restaurants, including the rather more informal Ausland meeting of S. Flandern and S. Britannia representatives and friends.
Many of the meetings on the fringes of the HV are as important to the sections as the HV itself. In 2019, as well as a long list of questions and people to be consulted, the Sektion Britannia team needed to introduce our new President Jacky Brown, and prospective new Officers: Tony Cooper, the Chairman elect (and Nature Conservation Representative), Tim Morley, the Vice-Chairman elect, and Diana Rayner, Secretary elect. The other members of the team were Mike Garrett (Acting Chairman and IT representative), Graham McIntyre (Treasurer), Alex Gymer (Alpine Team member), Cat Mittins (AAC(UK) Office), Mark Ryder (High Peaks) and myself (Hut Fund Representative and Ausland Representative on the BA).
At the HV itself, the list of new section Presidents and Chairmen were announced, including Jacky Brown, who was presented with a bouquet of flowers. 4 Green Cross medals were awarded for outstanding service to mountain rescue. Two huts were awarded the Environmental ’Seal of Approval’: the recently rebuilt, state of the art, Seethaler Hütte, 2740m in the Dachstein, belonging to S. Austria; and the Lilienfelderhütte, 956m on Muckenkogel in Lower Austria (belonging to ÖGV) that was renovated in 2018 and run since then by two volunteer wardens, also awarded the status of ‘So schmecken die Berge’ for good, local and environmentally friendly food. Other reports included the allocation of funds for hut maintenance; the AV’s internal hut insurance fund and the need for sections to regularly revalue their huts and not rely on automatic indexing; one hundred years of Alpenvereinsjugend (AV Youth); a guest lecture on a sustainable economic model; biodiversity monitoring and protection; the new Sicher am Berg (mountain safety) video on Klettersteigs. President Andreas Ermacora’s report emphasised the importance of the AV in the protection of the alpine environment, and the balance between conservation and alpine sports; the development of safety guidelines: the encouragement of social engagement with programmes for young people and families, and for senior citizens. He also drew attention to the dependence of the Alpenverein on voluntary work in the sections, saying without an estimated 25,000 volunteers the AV would not exist. The proceedings ended with the elections to the Präsidium and the BA, including the re-election of Andreas Ermacora as President for a further 4 years. Later, on Saturday evening most of our group attended the Festabend in the mountain village of Rohrmoos for more networking, while two members enjoyed the alternative entertainment: a lecture and film presented by the renowned South Tyrolean mountaineer Hans Kammerlander.
View across Schladming to the Dachsteingebirge Photo by Tim Morley
Congress Schladming Photo by Janet Britnell
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