Report on the 13th International Hypoxia Symposium. Banff, Canada, February 19-22, 2003.

Abstract

AFTER TWO SYMPOSIA at Jasper, Hypoxia returned to Banff, the town in the front ranges of the Canadian Rockies where Charlie Houston started the meetings 24 years ago. We were not, however, at the Edwardian Banff Springs Hotel, where the first conferences were lodged, but at the Banff Conference Center on the opposite bank of the Bow River. This is a campus of buildings including lecture theaters, dining hall, accommodation blocks, and leisure center. The facilities were excellent, especially the lecture room allotted to us with adjacent rooms for poster presentations, coffee lobby, and the like. The ski slopes of Sunshine and Norquay were a 20-minute bus ride away, and we had the use of the swimming pool and gym in the Center. Access to Banff is much easier than to Jasper, with direct flights to Calgary from many cities in North America and Europe and a transfer from the airport of only about 90 minutes. However, some 40 registrants were delayed by a very severe storm affecting New York, Boston, and other U.S. East Coast airports and arrived up to 2 days late. There were a total of 190 people registered from 32 countries, including about 40 students. It is good to see so many younger participants as they bode well for the future of our specialty. There was the usual mix of people from Europe and North America, though we would like to see more from other countries.