Piolets d’Or winners announced – two ascents in Nepal and two in Pakistan recognised by the highest award in mountaineering
- The Piolets d’Or are due to take place in September and recognise climbs that are daring, technical and unique
Four winners of the Piolets d’Or have been announced and the recipients are Czech, American and Japanese climbers. The awards are considered the most prestigious in mountaineering and recognise climbs from the previous year.
This year’s winners are Marek Holecek and Zdenek Hak, both Czech, for climbing Chamlang (7,321m); Alan Rousseau and Tino Villanueva, both from the US, for climbing Tengi Ragi Tau (6,938m); Mark Richey, Steve Swenson, Chris Wright and Graham Zimmerman, all Americans, for climbing Link Sar (7,041m); and Kazuya Hiraide and Kenro Nakajima, from Japan, for climbing Rakaposhi (7,788m).
Also, Catherine Destivelle will receive a Lifetime Achievement Award, having made a name for herself in mountaineering in the 1980s, before switching to sport climbing. She then moved back to the mountains and cemented her place among the pantheon of greats in the 1990s by opening a new route on the west face of the Petit Dru, above Chamonix, spending over 11 days on the mountain.
Holecek and Hak climbed the northwest face of Chamlang, in Nepal, in May 2019. They traversed the mountain and made a round-trip back to base camp. Many had tried and failed to climb the face and even for this pair it proved harder than expected. Of their six days on the mountain, they spent the last two without food, trying to make it back to the valley floor.
In October, Rousseau and Villanueva climbed the west face of Tengi Ragi Tau, also in Nepal. The pair was familiar with the mountain, having made the first ascent of a nearby peak in 2012. It was during that trip that the west face caught their imagination.
After three days of ascent on Tengi Ragi Tau, they were faced with an ice crux high on the route followed by a steep slope of unpredictable snow. The Piolets d’Or said “this technical and elegant line on one of the most outstanding unclimbed faces … was just reward for the perseverance of two experienced alpine guides”.