Claude, in fairness to Eric Vola I should point out that the suggestion that you and Manu Rivaud were under pressure from your bosses was in the first place made by me, on the Himalayamasala website. Of course I don't know what discussions took place between you and Niveales. That's why I confined myself to pointing out that the situation at Niveales would be likely to make editors feel under pressure.

I must say that I would find it surprising if your resignation from the Piolets d'Or Committee, with potential implications for Niveales' funding of Piolets d'Or, took place without consultation with Niveales. Since you say that the resignations were your own decision, it would be interesting to know what discussions you had with Niveales about the consequences.

If you wish to argue that editorial freedom is fully respected at Niveales, I think you need to address the issues raised by Niveales' announcement earlier this year of re-structuring, and its various proposals over the years to do away with editor-in-chief posts at some of its titles - a strategy that SNJ has criticised strongly.

I'm sure that Eric Vola can speak for himself, but please don't accuse him of talking about "things he doesn't know" just because he expresses cautious agreement with something I've written.

If you would like to provide a response on any of the issues relating to the Piolets d'Or, I would be happy to publish it on HimalaMasala. You can either message me through SP, or use http://www.himalayamasala.com/contact

Richard Haley