Outdoorsmen to gather for International Mountain Summit
Calling upon experts in all fields of mountaineering including climbers, doctors and tour operators, the sixth annual Kiku International Mountain Summit (IMS) will take place in Brixen, Italy from October 16 through 21.
The presence of major brands such as BMW and Marmot is highly anticipated and Gore-Tex is to sponsor the IMS Walk Day on Sunday, October 19.
Here, experts and enthusiasts from all over the world will go on an actual hike on the nearby Plose Mountain to its Rossalm hut, giving them the chance to test their gear and exchange ideas.
Gore-Tex will be allowing participants to test its collection of hiking boots for the spring season which feature their Surround technology and Komperdell will allow testing of their latest trekking poles. Marmot will be showcasing their latest tents and jackets.
Also on the docket is IMS Fly Day, in which hang gliders and paragliders will show off their talents, and GPS experts will take part in a specialized day devoted to geocaching. Nova will be allowing users to test their latest wings.
Frenchman Alain Robert, also known as "Spiderman," will share his experiences climbing the highest buildings in the world, giving the event a suprising urban perspective.
The panel "WillPOWER to Will," which focuses on mountaineering for the handicapped, will feature a variety of speakers including New Zealander Mark Inglis, who will describe his experience climbing Mount Everest after having lost both of his legs below the knees.
So far, founders are pleased with the high demand for tickets they are seeing and have logged a record number of nearly 2,600 entries in the IMS Photo Contest.
The contest is open to professional and amateur photographers who have reached a minimum age of 16 and who are only allowed to submit one photo. A gallery of featured works is available on the IMS webpage.
The three finalists have been determined and the winner of the €3,000 grand prize will be announced in an awards ceremony on Sunday, October 19.
For more information, to view the work of the finalists in the photo contest, or to reserve tickets: http://www.ims.bz/en/home/
A smaller, more research-oriented conference of the sort will be held from November 20 to 23 at Charles University in Prague. For more information on the International Mountain and Outdoor Sports Conference: http://www.imosc.org/
