Piolets d'Or - Latok I (7,145M)

We are very delighted to announce that the 2024 edition of the “Piolets d’Or” will be held

in San Martino di Castrozza, in Trentino (Italy), on December 8th to 11th.

2024 International Technical jury

Jack Tackle USA - age 70 A true legend of North American mountaineering, Jack has been climbing mountains all over the world for almost 50 years. In particular, he has left his...

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©Alessandro-Gruzza

San Martino di Castrozza, 8th-11th Decem…

We are very delighted to announce that the 2024 edition of the “Piolets d’Or” will be held in San Martino di Castrozza, in Trentino, on December 8th to 11th.

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2024 - Significant ascents

This is a representative list of significant, innovative ascents from most mountain regions of the World. It is not a list of “nominated” ascents for the Piolets d'Or and should...

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Portraits & Tributes

Tribute to Hiraide and Nakajima

©Piotr Drożdż “For me, climbing is about carving out my own path, not following somebody else’s route.”Kazuya Hiraide The west face of K2 (8,611 m) is one of those legendary walls shrouded...

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Tribute to Sergey Nilov and Dmitry Golov…

This summer of 2024 will go down as one of the cruellest for the alpine community. We learned of the disappearance of the famous Japanese climbers Kazuya Hiraide and Kenro...

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Tribute to Archil Badriashvili

©Piotr Drożdż Georgian Archil Badriashvili died on 10 August 2024 at the age of 34. He was with some companions on Shkhelda (4,388 m), not far from Ushba, in the Caucasus...

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Seen from the north,
(A) Latok I (7,145m) and (B) Latok II (7,108m).
(1) The 2018 Russian attempt on the north ridge, reaching the summit ridge at approximately 7,050m.
(2) Anglo-Slovenian route to make the second ascent of Latok I, passing through the west col to finish via the southern slopes.
©Sergey Glazunov/American Alpine Journal

NORTH RIDGE/FACE AND SOUTH FACE 2,500M, ED+,
ALEŠ ČESEN - LUKA STRAŽAR (SLOVENIA) - TOM LIVINGSTONE (U.K.), AUGUST 5–9

In 1978 four Americans attempted the "Walker Spur of the Karakoram", the north ridge of Latok I from the Choktoi Glacier. Jim Donini, Michael Kennedy, George and Jeff Lowe spent 21 days climbing over 100 pitches and had probably surmounted all the difficulties, when a combination of wind, cold and Jeff Lowe’s rapidly deteriorating condition due to altitude sickness forced a retreat. It remains one of the finest and most notable near misses in the history of alpinism. Despite literally dozens of subsequent attempts over the next 40 years, no one came close to reaching their high point of nearly 7,000m. The first and to date only ascent of the mountain was made in 1979, when a Japanese team reached the summit from the south.

Tom Livingstone met Luka Stražar at an international winter gathering in Scotland. Together with Aleš Česen they travelled to the north side of Latok I, where Česen confided, "we think there is a better way to the summit than the full north ridge". American Josh Wharton, who travelled to the Choktoi four times to attempt the north ridge, envisaged a line that would climb the right flank of the ridge, then slant up to the (west) col between Latok I and II. From there his proposed route crossed onto the south side of the mountain, where easier terrain would lead to the top. This was the route eventually followed by the Anglo-Slovenian trio, who climbed generally good ice runnels and névé on the right side of the ridge to around 6,400m, at which point they angled up right to reach the west col at 6,700m. From there they followed south-facing snow slopes in generally stormy weather to the summit, which they reached on their fifth day. Descending approximately the same line, the team regained base camp three days later, having made only the second ascent of this prestigious mountain in the Panmah Muztagh, and the first from the north.

What are the "Piolets d'Or" ?

A celebration of mountaineering

The purpose of the Piolets d'Or awards is to raise awareness about the year's greatest ascents across the world.  They aim to celebrate the taste for adventure, the bravery and sense of exploration that lie behind the art of climbing in the world's great mountain ranges. The Piolets d'Or draw their inspiration from mountaineering's rich history.  They are a celebration of a sense of partnership and solidarity, of shared experiences, and reward individual or collective achievement.

The Spirit of Modern Alpinism

More than just the recognition of a performance, the Piolets d'Or celebrates passion, spirit and values. The spirit of the Piolets d’Or draws its inspiration from the history of alpinism and the authenticity of true team spirit. The style should take precedence over the conquest of an objective.  Success is no longer about getting to the summit at all costs, employing all possible financial and technical means, (oxygen, fixed ropes, doping products, etc) or large-scale human resources (high-altitude porters or sherpas). The Piolets d’Or event encourages imagination in searching for innovative routes using a maximum of economy of means, making use of experience and respecting man and nature. The Piolets d’Or is attached to making climbing a shared and valued richness all over the world, capable of attracting the best of human ambitions whilst encompassing moral values and edifying behaviour. The Piolets d'Or event is therefore a celebration of an ethical alpinism, rich in emotion.

 

 

Les Piolets d'Or

Piolets d’Or Lifetime Achievement Award

In 2009, the first Lifetime Achievement Piolet d’Or was awarded to Walter Bonatti.  His style of mountaineering perfectly reflected the spirit of thePiolets d’Or.  He became a sort of godfather to those who would receive this award after him. In honour of the man and his spirit, it has been renamed the “Piolet d’Or Lifetime Achievement, Walter Bonatti Award”.

The Career Piolets d'Or was created to reward a career where the spirit has inspired the following generations, in the sense of criteria set down by the convention.
Recipients of the Piolet d'Or Career :
2009 : Walter BONATTI
2010 : Reinhold MESSNER
2011 : Doug SCOTT
2012 : Robert PARAGOT
2013 : Kurt DIEMBERGER
2014 : John ROSKELLEY
2015 : Chris BONINGTON
2016 : Wojciech KURTYKA
2017 : Jeff LOWE
2018 : Andrej ŠTREMFELJ
2019 : Krzysztof WIELICKI
2020 : Catherine DESTIVELLE
2021 : Yasushi YAMANOI
2022 : Silvo KARO

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2024 Organizers