OITAF meetings at the Innsbrück Interalpin trade show, 18 to 21 April 2023

OITAF (Organizzazione internazionale trasporto a fune) is the International Organisation for Transportation by Rope, bringing together professionals involved in the ropeway industry: supervisory authorities, operator associations, manufacturer associations, organisations or individuals involved in operation, construction, maintenance, engineering, inspection, expert analysis or studies, and notified bodies.

The association was founded in Milan in 1959 by French and Italian civil servants, with the primary aim of promoting ropeway transport. Its effectiveness depends directly on the contribution of its members, and STRMTG plays a major role in this, alongside French operators and manufacturers. The organisation currently has 155 members from 35 countries.

To find out more about OITAF, please visit their website

Its work is organised into committees, which generally meet twice a year.
STRMTG is actively involved in several of these committees.

On 20 April 2023, Committee II, in charge of ropes, organised the annual OITAF seminar at the Interalpin trade fair in Innsbrück, which brings together all mountain professionals every two years*.

Attended by almost 200 participants, the seminar provided an opportunity to present the state of rope ageing monitoring.
Matthieu Weiss, from STRMTG, gave a very interesting presentation on methods for improving rope service life.
The trade show was also an opportunity for the steering committee to meet, particularly to prepare for the next conference, to be held in Vancouver in June 2024 (OITAF conferences are held every six years).

Note that Committee IV, which met in Toulouse in May 2022 and is responsible for legal affairs, met this year in March in Val Gardena, Italy.

*On intervening years, the show is held in Grenoble as Mountain Planet. Read the article on this 2022 event held in France

Article written by STRMTG management.