And the winner is....

Canadians Ian Welsted and Raphael Slawinski, along with Swiss alpinist Ueli Steck, have won the 2014 Piolets d’Or.
The Piolets d’Or jury has come to a decision based on the Piolets d’Or charter. The technical committee of the Piolets d’Or provided a list of over 70 significant ascents completed around the world in 2013 that more or less met the Piolets d’Or criteria for ethical climbing. The jury and the technical committee spent many days trying to choose the most representative of those 70, and finally narrowed the list down to five nominees plus one special mention. Because there are many facets of exploratory mountaineering, it was very difficult to choose the final nominees. There were a least 10 more ascents that might well have made the final list. A different jury might have made different choices for the final nominees, and indeed different choices for the final awards.



K6 West Northwest Face
Altitude 7,040 m, 1,800 metres of climbing, WI 4+, M6+, six days of climbing.
K6 West was a previous unclimbed summit and the target of several earlier attempts. Raphael Slawinski and Ian Welsted were confronted with difficult technical climbing including an overhanging ice crux. On the fourth day they realized they couldn’t continue on the ridge as it turned out to be a knife edge of smooth granite. After careful consideration they found another possibility, rappelling to a glacial bench on the south side and climbing back up the ridge above the unclimbable section to continue to the summit.

The 2014 Piolets d’Or winners, Ueli Steck, Ian Welsted and Raphael Slawinski

Annapurna South Face Solo
Altitude 8,091 m, 2,500 metres of climbing, M4/M5, up to 85 degrees, 28 hours of climbing.
After reaching the bergschrund, Ueli Steck had to accept that his climbing partner thought the risk too high. In climbing the face alone, Steck subjected himself to maximum exposure. Despite not knowing what was awaiting him above 6,500 metres, he managed to complete the unfinished route of Pierre Béghin and Jean-Christophe Lafaille (of 1992). Achieving a first ascent on this wall, climbing alone, in very rapid alpine style seems to be a new dimension in high altitude climbing.

Piolets d’Or 2014

Throughout the world 2014 has seen impressive climbs, from which an International Jury, representing all trends in mountaineering, has made its nominations..... Cool stuff :-)

Piolets d’Or 2013

Last year, jury awarded the Golden Ice Axe to all six nominated climbs. Everyone was a winner (or as critics argue, no one was a winner). Some called it controversial; others termed it as “in the best interests of alpinism.”


The 2013 Climbs

2013 was an extraordinary year. It was dominated by an unprecedented sequence of calamities and controversies, but there had also been plenty of incredible climbs. Seasoned journalists Claude Gardien and Lindsay Griffin compiled the ‘Super Big List’ of important climbs from all around the globe, from which the jury selected the five nominees.


The Nominations

1. Talung (7439m) - First ascent of North Face of the mountain by Czech duo Zdenek Hruby and Marek Holecek (Zdenek Hruby, sadly, died while attempting a new route on Gasherbrum-I in Summer.)

2. Mt. Laurens (3052m) - New route on the Northeast Buttress by American climbers Graham Zimmerman and Mark Allen

3. Kunyang Chhish East (7400m) - The first ascent by Swiss Simon Anthamatten and Austrian brothers Hansjorg and Matthias Auer, via Southwest face

4. K6 West (7040m) - First ascent by Canadians Raphael Slawinski and Ian Welsted

5. Annapurna I (8091m) - Ueli Steck's 28 hours (round-trip) ascent, completing a new route (Beghin-Lafaille route) on mountain’s South Face

Special Mention
French alpinists Stephane Benoist and Yannick Graziani received a ‘Special Mention’ for eight-day alpine style ascent of Beghin-Lafaille route on Annapurna South Face. Stephane suffered severe frostbite on descent.

The Jury

The panel of experts which will be selecting the winners for Piolets d’Or 2014, consists of :-

George Lowe (USA)
Erri de Luca (Italy)
Catherine Destivelle (France)
Denis Urubko (Russia)
Sungmuk Lim (Korea)
Karin Steinbach (Germany)

Nanga is over...for now

The mountain forced some people to quit even before reaching Camp 1, however, one person made it to 7850m. It had been explored by men led by Maciej Berbeka, by Andrzej Zawada and by Krzysztof Wielicki. It had been attempted by Artur Hajzer, Simone Moro, Darek Zaluski and by Denis Urubko. Some attempted it once, others twice or thrice and few even four times. It has been the winter-dream-home of Tomek Mackiewicz and Marek Klonowski since 2010.

Despite all the efforts by Poles, Italians, Germans, Brits, Americans, Hungarians, Russians and French, Nanga Parbat stands unclimbed after 26 seasons and 21 expeditions.

This Season

The western face of Nanga Parbat receives little sun in winter and is often packed with hard ice. However, the major cause of concern, this season, has been the seracs near 6000m in the middle of Diamir face. Ralf Dujmovits and Daniele Nardi couldn’t launch their ‘light and rapid’ attempts on Messner 1978 and Mummery Rib lines, respectively, due to dangerous conditions.

Unfortunately, 2013 was a terrible year for Polish winter climbing. Maciej Berbeka and Tomasz Kowalski were lost on Broad Peak. Artur Hajzer, the head of Polish Winter Himalaism project (which receives funding from PZA and Polish government), died on GI. Consequently, there wasn't any PZA team on 8000ers, this winter. However, another Polish team - Justice for All - made the fourth consecutive attempt on Nanga Parbat.

Simone Moro also returned to Nanga Parbat. Denis Urubko didn’t accompany him because of security concerns. But Simone and German David Gottler blended perfectly. Both Polish and Italian-German teams worked on Schell route. There had been multiple summit attempts, but the bad weather halted their progress well below the top, every time. In final attempt, Tomek Mackiewicz and David Gottler retreated from 7200m.


Next winter

The next winter climbing season is still far away, but the climbers have expressed their intentions to return to the mountain.
I hope there do so...and I hope that there all will be safe

Winter on Nanga: Still no success..The Poles are waiting

The weather window over the past weekend also didn’t prove to be good enough for a summit push. David Gottler and Tomek Mackiewicz went up from C4 (7000m) to 7200m and were able to view the route on Diamir side. Although, as per Tomek the route wasn’t in particularly bad condition, the strong wind and intense cold forced the duo to turn back!

End of The North Face Expedition

David Gottler (left) with Simone Moro

 Simone Moro, David Gottler and Emilio Previtali are expected to leave the Nanga Parbat BC soon. Due to multiple factors like unpromising weather forecast, the historical pattern of excessive snow in March and personal commitments of team members, the team decided not to wait further at Base Camp.
I´m so sorry for that - I really hoped that is was this year that Nanga in Winter was on! Next time.....Next time.

The Poles Wait

Their visa and climbing permissions were about to expire and food supplies were diminishing. It was being considered that Poles would also quit after third summit attempt. However, they have decided to hang on till March 21st

Nardi Quits

Apart from the fear and anxiety at BC, the conditions on Diamir Face were also not fair enough for climbing this season. Ralf Dujmovits returned home without launching his solo attempt on Messner 1978 route due to serac fall risk and now Daniele Nardi also leaves because of dangerous conditions on Mummery Rib.

An avalanche coming down the center of Diamir Face

Daniele climbed above C1 on Kinshofer route a week ago, and narrowly escaped an ice avalanche. Keeping in view the weather pattern, the hazardous conditions and his climbing style (solo and alpine style), the Italian climber has decided to return home.