The 20th edition of the annual mountaineering award The Piolets d’Or will be held on the 21^st – 24^th March in both Courmayeur and Chamonix. The jury presided over by Michael Kennedy has shortlisted 6 routes from a long list of 88 ascents completed in 2011. Their selection was made on the basis that the routes ‘best illustrate explorative alpinism at a high technical level in minimal style undertaken with consideration for the environment.’ Here is this year’s shortlist including comments by the organisers

Pik Pobeda (7,439m), Kyrgyzstan

Kazakhs Gennadiy Durov and Denis Urubko added a fourth route to the central and highest part of the 2500m high North Face, Dollar Rod is a committing and technical route undertaken in alpine style, a modern feat. Last November it was awarded the sixth Asian Piolets d’Or.

Saser Kangri II (7,518m), India

During a two month expedition, Americans Mark Richey, Steve Swenson and Freddie Wilkinson’s summited the second highest, previously unclimbed mountain in the world, Saser Kangri II, in the Indian Karakorum. The team climbed the steep 1,700m south-west face, with the technical difficulties are concentrated in the higher part of the climb.

See Climb 83 (Jan 2012) for a detailed report.

K7 West (6,615m), Pakistan

Young Slovenians Nejc Marcic and Luka Strazar, 26 and 23 years old respectively, reached the west summit of K7 in a three-day alpine style ascent of the previously unclimbed north-west face via a 1,600m sustained mixed route. Exploration, technical difficulty, minimalist style and commitment are the characteristics of their ascent. It was their first Himalayan expedition.

See Climb 85 (March 2012) for a detailed report

Xuelian North-East (6,249m), China

Slovenians Ales Holc, Peter Juvan and Igor Kremser climbed Xuelian Feng in pure alpine style, taking the long and aesthetic north-west ridge over four days, and then descending on the south-east side in a day and a half. The technical difficulty and length of this route, climbed in minimalist style, caught the attention of the jury.

Meru Central (6,310m), India

Attempted by many expeditions since 1986, this incredible route on the east pillar of Meru Central – the Shark’s Fin – was climbed in its entirety for the first time by Americans Conrad Anker, Jimmy Chin and Renan Ozturk. This particularly aesthetic route has all the difficulties of modern alpinism; rocky terrain involving difficult free climbing and committing aid climbing, and delicate mixed terrain in the upper section.

Torre Egger (2,850m), Argentina

The Patagonian spires have always lured the best technical climbers on the planet. Rime and ice can cover the walls of these polished rocks, and sometimes coat them completely, depending on the wind direction. At the end of December the entire wall of Torre Egger’s south face was covered in ice. Norwegians Bjorn-Eivind Aartun and Ole Lied climbed this vertical tower taking the alpine community by surprise with their opportunism.

See the next issue of Climb (86-April 2012) for a detailed news report.

For more information on the Piolets D’Or www.pioletsdor.org