On September 11, 2004, in the Santa Maria Church in Pontresina, the King Albert I Memorial Foundation presented the golden King Albert Mountain Award to Professor Lawrence Hamilton for his outstanding contribution to the worldwide conservation of mountain areas. His tireless support for creating and managing mountain protected areas are unparalleled and his enthusiasm inspired a caring network of scientists and managers for conservation of mountain areas. His conferences and publications are proof of his commitment to preserve the mountains as biological and cultural treasures for future generations.
The Foundation, which honours the Belgian King Albert I who died while climbing in 1934, has presented four additional King Albert Mountain Awards: to Professor Lawrence Hamilton of Vermont (USA) for his lifelong dedication to the protection of mountain regions and their networks, especially the protection of mountain forests and drainage systems tied to sustainable development in mountain regions; to Professor Peter Rieder from ETH Zurich for his studies of primary production in the Alps and his concern for the mountain farming community in a time of rapid change, with regard to economic, social, cultural and demographic conditions in mountain regions; to publisher Michel Guérin of Chamonix for his commitment, enthusiasm and great care for alpine literature, from which his Editions Guérin have published over 50 titles since 1995; to Stephen Venables for his outstanding literary achievements on the subject of mountain sport and for his great success in climbing the enormous Kangshung Face of Mount Everest in 1988 without supplementary oxygen and finally to the Swiss Alpine Museum in Bern for its effectiveness as a singular centre for the culture and nature of the alpine environment, which brings the fascination and importance of the mountain world closer to a broad public.
The King Albert I Memorial Foundation, registered in Zurich, was founded by Walter Amstutz in 1993 in honour of the Belgian King Albert I (1875-1934), a great alpinist and fervent mountain climber. The foundation’s aim is to honour individuals or institutions which, through their efforts in any area pertaining to the mountain regions of the world, have made outstanding and lasting achievements.
In 2002, the International Year of Mountains, the Foundation presented the King Albert Mountain Award to five individuals and organizations who all distinguished themselves through their outstanding achievements for the protection and development of mountains. In 2000, the five photographers Jürgen Winkler, Germany, Shiro Shirahata, Japan, Walter Niedermayr, Italy, Didier Ruef, Switzerland, and Simon Carter, Australia, were honoured. Previous award ceremonies were held for Lord Hunt, Great Britain, Wanda Rutkiewicz, Poland, from the USA Dr. Bradford Washburn and Dr. Charles Houston, and from Switzerland Professor Augusto Gansser, Silvia Metzeltin Buscaini and Erhard Loretan. Additional achievement medals were handed out to Elisabeth Hawley, Kathmandu, Pit Schubert, Germany, to the team of the TV documentary series Land der Berge of the Austrian television network ORF, as well as to the Belgian charity organisation Intersoc, which has made it possible since 1949 for more than two million Belgian children and adults to take vacations in the Alps.
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