Our ITEC 2016 was held in the Bavarian Capital, Munich City, Germany. Over the course of the event our committees presented their work undertaken over the past year and their plans for the year ahead. Meetings were held at the Munich Hilton Conference Center and our Technical Day in the picturesque mountain town of Bad Tölz. The event was closed with our AGM, Annual Dinner and awards ceremony.

Exhibitors put on a fantastic display of their wares and demonstrate their products in action during our Technical Day at the quite remarkable Bergwacht Bayern Bavarian Mountain Rescue Training Centre. A special thanks goes to the Bergwacht Bayern Bavarian Mountain Rescue Training Centre who donated their facility free of charge and to all of our exhibitors:

• ActSafe Systems AB
• Anthron d.o.o
• C.A.M.P. S.p.A
• DMM International Ltd
• English Braids Ltd
• Fall Safe On Line Lda
• ISC Wales
• Latchways
• Lyon
• Marlow Ropes
• Max Gear
  
• Petzl
• Portable Winch Co.
• Skylotec GmbH
• Teufelberger Fiber Rope GmbH
• Bornack
• Edelrid GmbH & Co. KG

Our ITEC welcomed a variety of guest speakers covering a range of engaging topics, providing members with further insight into our industry. Guest speakers included:

• IRATA RAC Chairmen
  
• Dr Chris Robbins - WASA report
  
• Sven Drangeid - European Committee For Rope Access (ECRA)
  
• Karl Raby (High Q) - ‘Plan Do Check Act’
  
• Alan Forrest (Fall Factor Zero) - ‘RAMS’
  
• Mick Hawkes QCB (SBM Group Security) - ‘Personal Security’
• Sandy Allan (Team Ascent) - After dinner speaker

Our Equipment & Standards Committee meeting was chaired by Jonathan Capper and covered a variety of issues including the RAMRASS scheme and the BS 8610 Anchor Standard.

Our Health & Safety Committee meeting was chaired by Paul Bingham and featured additional speakers covering matters such as the Work & Safety Analysis Report (WASA), Risk Management and Edge Protection

Our Training Committee meeting was led by Rob Benton and covered topics including the fine tuning of Annex P, the IRATA Edge Management poster and the review of the Direct Entry procedure.

ELECTION RESULTS

The following candidates were elected to their respective committees:

HEALTH & SAFETY COMMITTEE

• Paul Bingham (Chair)
  
• Graham Burnett
  
• Jonathan Birch
  
• Barri Marshall
  
• Deborah Chick
  
• Allan Davies
  
• Andrew Misfeld
  
• Chris Edmondson
  
• Mark Lea
  

EQUIPMENT & STANDARDS COMMITTEE

• Jonathan Capper (Chair)
  
• Graham Burnett
  
• Allan Davies
  
• John Pilling
  
• Jonathan Birch

TRAINING COMMITTEE

• Rob Benton (Chair)
  
• Adam Long
  
• Leigh Greenwood
  
• Connor Turley
  
• Peter Wood
  
• Steffan Bailey
  
• Andrew Johnston
  
• Bas den Neijsel
  
• Marcin Rosa
  

EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE

• Graham Burnett (Chair)
  
• Charles Cooper (Vice Chair)
  
• Adriano Peixoto
  
• Mark Stephen
• Barri Marshall
  
• Ivor A’lee
  
• Allan Davies
  
• James Falchetto
  
• Connor Turley
  
• Rob Benton
  
• Jonathan Capper
  
• Ian Somers
  
• Paul Bingham
  
• Andrew Johnston
  
• Leigh Greenwood
  

To bring our ITEC to a fitting close we finished the week with our eagerly awaited Annual Dinner. Guest speaker Sandy Allan, a highly qualified mountain climber known worldwide for his vast experience in mountain guiding, gave a gripping account of the “last great problem of the Himalayas”. This was followed by our Annual Awards.

Images for the event can be found in our gallery