History

The SGGM: How it all began - or a great "beer idea"

 

Urs Wiget

How the idea of a Swiss Society for Mountain Medicine came about is quickly explained:

Bruno Durrer was sent to the congress on "High Altitude Deterioration" (Rivolier, Cerrettelli, Foray, Segantini) in Chamonix in 1984 by his mentor Pietro Segantini, then a senior surgeon at Zurich University Hospital. At the time, Pietro was the president of the UIAA (Union Internationale des Associations Alpines) - an eloquent speaker who was able to captivate the audience with his many languages and imposing appearance. Bruno subsequently took over all these skills and developed them even further.

Gregoire Zen Ruffinen was also present as a student at the aforementioned beer in Chamonix. He accompanied his father André, an active member of GRIMM (Groupe Romand d'Interventions Médicales en Montagne), which at the time was already a loose association of mountain-loving doctors. The discussion revolved around mountain medicine, which at that time was practiced by various small groups in a rather amateurish manner and with almost no exchange between them. There was a lot of enthusiasm without much influence - but everyone cooked their own soup.

That's how the idea of an SGGM was born over a beer! Just like several other ideas - including the mountain medicine courses for doctors, where Hans Jacomet joined the two of us as the third member of the group. These mountain medicine courses were then launched in 1990 under the patronage of the Swiss Alpine Club SAC. The first SGGM course was held at the Hotel Tiefenbach, where participants were able to listen to impressive lectures by speakers such as Peter Bärtsch and Oswald Oelz.

After its birth in 1984, however, it was to be another 9 years before the society was officially founded...