Nominations for the 2010 Piolets d'Or Announced

Two years after it was cancelled due to an ethical backlash from many of the worlds best Alpinists, the Piolet d’Or is well and truly back. The five nominations this year reflect the new spirit of the award and its focus on style, commitment and self-sufficiency.

The award aims to raise awareness about the year’s greatest ascents from around the world and 'celebrate ‘the taste for adventure, the bravery and the sense of exploration that lie behind the art of climbing in the world’s great mountain ranges’. One route/climb is selected in the end as the pinnacle of excellence for that year. The criteria that are examined by the two juries (one made up by the climbing press and one international jury of experienced alpinists) is below and is looked at on a point by point basis.

- Style of ascent.
- Spirit of exploration: original (previously unclimbed) route and/or mountain, creative and innovative approach.
- Level of commitment and self-sufficiency.
- High level of technical ability required.
- Suitability of route in light of objective dangers.
- Efficient and sparing use of resources.
- Transparency regarding the use of these resources.
- Respect for people, climbing partners, members of other teams, porters and local agents.
- Respect for the environment.
- Respect for future generations of mountaineers by leaving them the possibility of enjoying the same kind of experiences and adventures.

The Lifetime Achievement Award will this year go to Reinhold Messner. He will receive a golden ice axe for his remarkable contribution to mountaineering. There will also be the Spirit of Mountaineering award that recognizes those who ‘forsake their objective to help others in danger'.

Voting and the award ceremony will take place in the afternoon of April 10 in Chamonix, France. Festivities in Chamonix and Courmayeur, Italy, will run April 7-10.

The five nominations this year are:

Cho Oyu, 8201 m - Nepal
Kazakhs Denis Urubko and Boris Dedechko opened a new route on the South East Face in May (Nepalese side). With this ascent, Urubko becomes the fifteenth man to have successfully climbed all fourteen 8000ers, and the ninth person to do it without oxygen. At 36 years of age, the Kazakh has taken nine years to accomplish this feat. He did not choose the easy option when opening a new route, alpine-style, on three 8000ers including this one, an ascent which won him a Piolet d’Or Asia.
Climbers: Kazakh Dedechko-Urubko
Length: 2600m
Difficulty announced: M6, 6b, A2/A3
Date of the ascent: from 11th to 15th May 2009

Chang Himal, 6750 m - Nepal
At the beginning of November, Brits Nick Bullock and Andy Houseman successfully completed a first on the central pillar of the North Face of Chang Himal, not far from Kanchenjunga. The two men took five days to climb this technical route of 1800 metres of mixed difficulty evaluated at M6. The route had previously been attempted without success in 2007 by Slovenian climbers.
Climbers: Bullock-Houseman
Length: 1800m
Difficulty announced: M6
Date of the ascent: from 29th October to 2nd November 2009

Gongga North-West Peak 6134m - China
The first ascent of this summit, situated in Sichuan province, was successfully completed in May by Russians Mikhail Mikhailov and Alexander Ruchkin. They climbed the 1100 metre rock pillar over five days. It presented mixed difficulty on the lower section and a fabulous free-climb on the upper section. These two alpinists, members of the expedition to the North Face of Jannu in January 2004, specified that they used no bolts to open this route. They were awarded the Russian Piolet d’Or for this ascent.
Name of the route: Carte Blanche
Length: 1100m
Difficulty announced: 6c free climbing, mixed climbing with an ice passage of 75°
Date of the ascent: April 2009

Xuelian West, 6422 m China
Over five days, Americans Jed Brown and Kyle Dempster along with Scotsman Bruce Normand completed the North face of the Xuelian West (Chinese Tien Shan). This climb is long, complicated and technically difficult. The summit had never been climbed.
Name of the route: The Great White Jade Heist
Length: 2650m
Difficulty announced: ice 5, rock 5, mixed M6.
Date of the ascent: from 26th to 30th August 2009

Pic Pobeda, 7439m Kirghizstan
At the end of August, Russian climbers Vitaly Gorelik and Gleb Sokolov opened a difficult new route on the North Face of Peak Pobeda, the highest summit in the Tien Shan massif. The two men climbed a difficult 2400 metre buttress alpine-style in seven and a half days, in bad weather conditions, until they reached a minor peak along the long summit. They then took one and a half days to descend. They encountered numerous passages of black ice and delicate zones of mixed terrain which slowed their progress. Sokolov, 56 and Gorelik aged 42 are both experienced Russian alpinists. They were both members of the victorious K2 expedition in 2007.
Name of the route: Sokolov/Gorelik
Length: 2400m
Difficulty announced: ED
Date of the ascent: from 20th to 29th August 2009

To read more about the Piolet d’Or nominations, criteria and the judging process visit the Piolet d’Or Website.

To read an excellent article summarising the trials and tribulations of the award in 2008 and to see how it has changed visit www.alpinist.com

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