IMMA International Mountain Museums Alliance

30/01/2026

IMMA GROWS AGAIN
The Internatonal Mountain Museums Alliance welcomes five new excellences and looks to Asia

The International Mountain Museums Alliance strengthens its network with the addition of five new institutions of primary importance in the mountain cultural landscape. The General Assembly, meeting in an ordinary session, has unanimously approved the applications of:

- Messner Mountain Museums (Italy)
- Slovenian Alpine Museum / Gornjesavski Muzej Jesenice (Kranjska Gora, Slovenia)
- Département de la Haute-Savoie (Annecy, France)
- Alpines Museum (Munich, Germany)
- Forte di Bard (Italy)

With this expansion, the Alliance confirms its appeal and its role as a key platform for cooperation, preservation, and the promotion of mountain cultures.

Pokhara 2026: IMMA in Asia
The next historic appointment for the association is set for March 2026 in Pokhara, Nepal. For the first time in its history, an IMMA meeting will be held outside European borders, hosted by the International Mountain Museum of Pokhara and the Nepal Mountaineering Association.
This step marks a clear intention for openness and dialogue with the museum realities and mountain cultural traditions of Asia.

The Statements
“Welcoming these five new institutions is a further fundamental moment of growth for IMMA, enriching our network with strong identities and unique heritages, strengthening the potential for exchange and joint project development,” stated Beat Haechler, IMMA President and Director of ALPS – Alpine Museum in Bern, and Daniela Berta, IMMA Coordinator and Director of the Museo Nazionale della Montagna in Turin. “We strongly desired and worked with determination for this expansion as a fundamental step towards a broader opening. Holding the next Assembly in Nepal indeed fulfills a strategic goal of ours: to build a bridge towards Asian countries, whose museum tradition and documentation of mountain culture is not well known in the West but is absolutely crucial for a global vision. The hospitality of Nepal offers us a historic opportunity to listen, learn, and lay the groundwork for future collaborations, taking that leap in perspective necessary for an alliance that aspires to be truly global.”

13/10/2025

The IMMA recently held a productive working meeting at the Musée Savoisien in Chambéry, bringing together institutions from across Europe and beyond.

This gathering focused on sharpening our mission towards mountain culture and our impact on mountain communities and environments, while reinforcing our commitment to preserving and promoting mountain heritage.
Together, we explored ways to expand our network, welcome new institutions, and prepare for the next General Assembly.

Thank you to all participating members:
• ALPS – Swiss Alpine Museum (Bern, Switzerland)
• Olympia - Museum of Sports and Mountain Tourism (Brasov, Romania) Muzeul Judetean de Istorie Brasov
• International Mountain Museum (Pokhara, Nepal)
• Museo Nazionale della Montagna (Turin, Italy)
• Musée Savoisien (Chambéry, France)
• Tatra Museums (Zakopane, Poland)
• MVSA – Museo Valtellinese di Arte e Storia / CAST – il Castello delle Storie di Montagna (Sondrio, Italy)

and a warm welcome to our guest institutions:
• Alpines Museum (Munich, Germany)
• Messner Mountain Museums (South Tyrol, Italy)
• Département de la Haute-Savoie (Annecy, France)
• Slovenian Alpine Museum (Mojstrana, Slovenia)

A special thank you to our hosts at for the warm hospitality and productive dialogue!

06/05/2025

Exciting updates from the Catalan Pyrenees!

Our annual assembly took place in Alp, hosted by Sgim Cda and Federació d'Entitats Excursionistes de Catalunya - FEEC, celebrating IMMA's 10th anniversary alongside the Setmana Internacional de la Muntanya.

We are pleased to announce Beat Hächler, Director of the Alpine Museum in Bern, as IMMA's new President, while Daniela Berta, Director of the Museo Nazionale della Montagna in Turin, continues her role as Coordinator for a third term.

"The topic of mountains is highly relevant, encompassing debates on climate change, mass tourism, green energy, and urban water supply. Mountain regions are vital for our future, and mountain museums serve as key platforms to highlight this. IMMA, as a global network, fosters collaboration to advance this mission. To achieve this goal by unlocking its full potential, the association has to work on its own strategy and the professionalization of its organizational form", says the new President.

We’re also thrilled to welcome EMMOA Fundazioa as our newest member - already a valued permanent guest!

Muzeum Tatrzańskie w Zakopanem, Museo Nazionale della Montagna, Musée Alpin (Chamonix), Muzeum Karkonoskie w Jeleniej Górze, Musée Savoisien (Chambéry), Muzeum Karkonoskie w Jeleniej Górze, ALPS - Alpine Museum (Bern), International Mountain Museum (Pokhara), Mountain Partnership, METS - Museo Etnografico San Michele (Trento), MVSA - Museo Valtellinese di Arte e Storia (Sondrio), Whyte Museum of the Canadian Rockies (Banff).

08/04/2025

Waiting for our General Assembly to be held in Sabadell (Spain) at the end of April, a delegation of IMMA members met in beautiful Transylvania on the occasion of the first anniversary of the Museum of Mountain Sports and Tourism in Brasov.

Thanks to Pepene Nicolae, Director of Olimpia - Muzeul Sportului și Turismului Montan, to Ioana Schiopu and their staff for hosting our coordinator, Daniela Berta, Director of Museo Nazionale della Montagna; Beat Hächler, Director of ALPS - Alpines Museum der Schweiz; Julita Zaprucka, Director of Muzeum Karkonoskie w Jeleniej Górze in Jelenia Góra; Michał Murzyn, Anna Jarząbek and Emilia Pomiankiewicz from Muzeum Tatrzańskie w Zakopanem.

01/11/2024

Mountain issues get more and more relevant in contemporary society: climate change and its impact on mountain and urban regions, demographical developments in mountain areas, mountain tourism, sports and sustainability, etc.

Cultural institutions can play a key role as facilitator for reflection and discussions for connected mountain and urban issues.

Mountain museums are hubs for collecting, researching, documenting and communicating relevant contents about mountain nature and culture.

IMMA is the only global network of mountain museums.
It makes visible what its members do and enables cooperations among them, trying to strengthen common activities.

In the last IMMA meeting - held in Bern at ALPS, the Swiss Alpine Museum - we focused on this topic, in order to figure out how the collaboration could be further expanded.

International Mountain Museum, Pokhara, Muzeum Karkonoskie w Jeleniej Górze, Museo Nazionale della Montagna, Muzeum Tatrzańskie w Zakopanem, Musèe Savoisien, Chambèry
Musèe Alpin, Chamonix, Olimpia - Muzeul Sportului și Turismului Montan, Mountain Partnership, EMMOA Fundazioa, Servei General d'Informacio de Muntanya, Sabadell, METS – Museo etnografico trentino, San Michele, Trento, MVSA – Museo Valtellinese di Storia e Arte, Sondrio

07/05/2024

IMMA held his annual general assembly in Turin at Museo Nazionale della Montagna with International Alliance for Mountain Film - IAMF. The two associations were together for the first time, on the occasion of Museomontagna 150th anniversary

In the first part of the day, dedicated to the assembly, two applications where approved: Karkonosze Museum in Jelenia Góra (Poland) and Museo Valtellinese di Storia e Arte in Sondrio (Italy).

In the afternoon we had a joint meeting among the representatives of the Alliances members, a guided tour of the new permanent exhibitions of the Museum and a preview of the docu-film "States of Grace", produced by Petzl.

«IMMA and IAMF create synergies among institutions and and exchange chances for professionals from all over the world who share a single mission: to document, enhance and promote the culture of the high lands» say Carles Capellas and Daniela Berta, IMMA's president and coordinator.

EMMOA Fundazioa
Messner Mountain Museum
Mountain Partnership
Muzeum Tatrzańskie w Zakopanem
MUSEE ALPIN Chamonix
International Mountain Museum - Pokhara
OLIMPIA Museum of Sports and Mountain Tourism - Brasov
METS Museo Etnografico trentino San Michele - Trento
Musèe Savoisien - Chambery
Servei General d'Informació de Muntanya
ALPS Alpines Museum der Schweiz - Berna
International Alliance for Mountain Film - IAMF
Petzl

01/06/2023

Our general assembly and annual meeting in Rome, 25-26 May

with the founding partners
Museo Nazionale della Montagna
Muzeum Tatrzańskie w Zakopanem
MUSEE ALPIN Chamonix
Servei General d'Informació de Muntanya

the permanent host
EMMOA Fundazioa / Museo del Montanismo Basco

the 5 new museums admitted as ordinary members
International Mountain Museum, Pokhara (Nepal)
Alpines Museum der Schweiz, Bern (Switzerland)
Musée Savoisien Chambery (France)
METS - Museo etnografico trentino San Michele, Trento (Italy)
Brașov County Museum of History / OLIMPIA - Museum of Sports and Mountain Tourism, Brashov (Romania)

and new honorary member Mountain Partnership, who hosted the event at its headquarters at .

The entry of new qualified institutions is an important step that broadens the geographical horizons of IMMA and opens up promising prospects for synergies for the development of documentation, conservation, enhancement and promotion of the cultures of the mountains of the world.

The Assembly was organized by Daniela Berta and Veronica Lisino from , IMMA headquarters and coordinator,
in collaboration with the IMMA president, Carles Cappellas from Servei di Sabadell
and with Rosalaura Romeo and Antonella Sorrentino (Mountain Partnership).

The next meeting will be held in May 2024 in Turin at , on the occasion of its 150th anniversary!

14/03/2023

Museo Nazionale della Montagna has a new permanent exhibition area dedicated to the great Italian mountaineer and explorer WALTER BONATTI, based on his personal archive conserved by the Turin institution ⭐️

dedica al grande alpinista ed esploratore WALTER BONATTI una nuova sezione espositiva permanente.
Venite a visitarla da venerdì 3 marzo!

Walter Bonatti (1930-2011) è un personaggio unico nella storia dell’alpinismo.
Lo è per le imprese realizzate, certo: dalla Nord delle Grandes Jorasses scalata a 19 anni fino alla solitaria invernale sul Cervino, passando per il Grand Capucin, “l’impossibile” Dru, le spedizioni verso il Karakorum e le Ande.
Ma unica e vincente è stata anche la sua battaglia per la verità sul “caso K2”, combattuta fino a rimarginare pubblicamente la ferita che lo aveva segnato.
E Bonatti è unico per come ha saputo trasfondere lo spirito dell’alpinismo nella sua “seconda vita” di reporter-esploratore, per come ha intuito il legame tra le asprezze della montagna e i luoghi primordiali della Terra, spingendosi ai suoi confini per poi tornare a raccontarli.
Per decenni ci ha accompagnato tra ghiacciai e foreste, deserti e vulcani; con le sue parole e immagini ha davvero “fermato le emozioni”, permettendo a tutti di condividerle con lui.

L’archivio di Walter Bonatti, donatoci dai suoi eredi, è ricco quanto la sua esperienza: materiale alpinistico, appunti e dattiloscritti, interviste e filmati, onorificenze e documenti, sessant’anni di corrispondenza e di ritagli stampa. E circa 110.000 fotografie.

Impossibile esporre integralmente un tale tesoro: in questo spazio abbiamo scelto di raccontare, per suggestioni, la continuità delle “due vite” di Bonatti e la sua capacità di coinvolgerci in entrambe.

I suoi non sono mai semplici ritratti, ma istanti vissuti, partecipati: anche nelle foto – immagini ferme per definizione – sembra sempre in movimento verso una meta o una meraviglia, immerso nei suoi entusiasmi e fatiche. Non è mai distaccato: prende sul serio i propri sogni e sfida i propri limiti con consapevolezza. In lui emergono sempre lo stupore e il rispetto del piccolo uomo al cospetto della grande natura.
Questa sua dedizione, e quel suo riempirsi i polmoni di libertà, sono parte di ciò che riesce a trasmetterci, e di cui ancora sentiamo l’attualità e il fascino.

L'allestimento della nuova sezione permanente è realizzata con il sostegno di Città di Torino, Regione Piemonte, Banca di Asti, Lions International e Alpine Lions Cooperation
e con la partnership tecnica di Petzl e Leroy Merlin Italia.

03/10/2022

Another Virtual Hasior's Run has just started!🏃‍♀️
Come and join us between 2nd and 16th October, anywhere in the world!🌍
➡️Sign in: https://sport-timing.pl/pomiar-czasu/wydarzenie/wirtualny-bieg-hasiora-2022/