ThePiolets d'Or ([pjɔ.lɛdɔʁ], "GoldenIce Axe") is an annualmountaineering andalpine climbing award organized by theGroupe de Haute Montagne [fr] (GHM), and previously with co-founderMontagnes Magazine, since its founding in 1992. Golden ice axes are presented to the annual winners at a weekend awards festival based on their achievements in the previous year. It is considered mountaineering's highest honor and is referred to as the "Oscars of mountaineering".
The Piolets have progressed from being a competition-like single-award event (Le Piolet d'Or) into a broader celebration of mountaineering and alpinism, with several awards made (Les Piolets d'Or). After a crisis in 2008, the Charter for the awards was rewritten to focus on the style and innovation of the nominations, respect for the mountain, environment, and future climbing generations, and to increase the independence and transparency of the award process; the official name was also changed to the plural.
At the start of the 1990s, it was difficult to raise funds for major mountaineering expeditions in France. TheFrench Federation of Mountaineering and Climbing could no longer fund expeditions (as it had done since theFrench Annapurna expeditions). Alpinist Jean-Claude Marmier, then president of theGroupe de Haute Montagne [fr] (or GHM), suggested an annual prize for "outstanding achievement in the world of alpinism" might increase the public profile (and thus sponsorship) of French mountaineering. He won the support ofGuy Chaumereuil [fr], then editor of the Grenoble-based French monthly climbing and mountaineering magazine,Montagnes, and in 1992 GHM andMontagnes announced the first Piolet d'Or award for the best alpine ascent of 1991 at the Autrans Mountain Film Festival.[1][2]
From the outset, there was some concern over the ethics of rewarding and promoting the dangerous undertaking of modern extreme alpine climbing.[3][4] After a controversial 1998 Piolet was awarded to a Russian team of which two had died on the route, the rules were changed the following year so that nominees had to have completed their climbs safely.[3] TheNew York Times remarked on the proportion of Piolet d'Or winners who have subsequently died while mountaineering, but that the awards criteria had been further amended over time to emphasize "style" over pure "risk-taking".[3]
There was also a concern, particularly within the alpine climbing community, on the decision to select asingle winner from a list of alpine ascents.[4][5] The situation came to a head during the 2007 Piolet d'Or awards over accusations by then GHM president, Leslie Fuscko, that Chaumereuil hadimposed the shortlist, which led to the resignation of Jury PresidentAndrej Štremfelj.[2] Further controversy occurred whenMarko Prezelj, a 2007 Piolet d'Or winner, wrote a public article criticizing the premise of the awards, and whether it was possible, or ethical, to have a single winner.[5]
The 2007 controversy led to a fundamental re-think of the structure of the awards, a long process that required the 2008 awards to be canceled.[6] A new Charter was drawn up and the 2009 Piolet d'Or, the 17th awards, followed a very different format; multiple winners were announced (initially under different headings, but the headings were later dropped), a new "Lifetime Achievement Award" was announced (some awards were accused as being such an award in disguise),[4] and the first female winner was announced.[7][8] Jury PresidentDoug Scott heralded the post-2008 Charter, saying: "This edition signals the rebirth of the Piolets d'Or. For us there are no winners, no losers. The honored are the ambassadors of an art, a passion."[7]
In 2013, the jury embraced the new Charter awarding Piolets to all six shortlisted nominees, an act that drew criticism fromMontagnes.[9][10] Since 2015, the winners have been announced in advance of the ceremony to emphasize that the ceremony was "a not a competition, but a celebration".[5] In 2016, two of the award's biggest critics,Voytek Kurtyka and Marko Prezelj accepted their awards at the 2016 Piolets d'Or ceremony atLa Grave; where only GHM remained from the original founders.[1] In 2018, for the first time in its history, none of the award ceremony was held in France, when the Piolet d'Or ceremony was held at the Mountain Festival inLądek-Zdrój,Poland.[11] The awards in 2019 and 2020 were also presented at the festival in Lądek-Zdrój. The 2019 awards were overshadowed by the recent deaths of two of the three winners,David Lama andHansjörg Auer.[12][13][14]
Post 2008, a new Charter was drafted to clarify the basis and values for deciding awards:[1][15]
In modern mountaineering, questions of style and means of ascent take precedence over reaching the objective itself. It is no longer a matter of employing huge financial and technical resources (bottled oxygen, fixed ropes, high-altitude porters, so-called 'performance-enhancing' substances…) and large numbers of people to reach the top at all costs. The Piolets d’Or throw the spotlight on imaginative and innovative new routes, using a minimum amount of equipment, and building on experience.
In addition, the Charter laid out the specific criteria under which all future nominees would be assessed:[1][15]
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 new Charter also underlined that awards, and the ceremony, should be a "celebration of mountaineering", and not a "climbing competition".[1][15] The term "winners", and even the term "award", was downplayed in favor of terms such as "nominees".[16] In 2014,National Geographic said of the revised Piolet charter: "The Piolet d’Or is about sharing our experiences as alpinists with a wider audience, trying to learn about the human experience through adventure. The era of the heroic warrior climber who climbs themselves literally to death in the high mountains is over."[17]
The Piolet d'Or is the highest honor in mountaineering and alpine climbing.[1][3][16][18][19][20] In 2021, theNew York Times described it as "Alpinism's biggest prize", and that even though it had some vocal critics, it had widespread support amongst the climbing community.[3] On receiving a Piolet in 2015,Alex Honnold toldNational Geographic, "I've always joked that if I won a Piolet d’Or I'd retire from climbing ... and I do think it’s appropriate to honor some climbs for pushing the sport in positive directions. Whether our ascent is deserving or not is open to debate, that’s fine. But people definitely climb inspiring things every year and I think it’s worth celebrating that in some way."[16] They are often called the "Oscars of mountaineering".[5][21][22]
Over the years, a number of climbers have openly criticized and even rejected awards/or asked not to be considered:[3][4]
In 2005, British climber Ian Parnell, who was nominated on several previous occasions, asked for his nomination to be withdrawn to allow what he considered to be superior American ascents to be shortlisted; in 2006, Parnell wrote a lengthy critique of the awards inAlpinist, and concluded "The Piolet d'Or is certainly here to stay; in fact, its recent controversy has elevated its profile ..."[1][4]
In 2006, Italian climbers Alessandro Beltrami,Rolando Garibotti, and Ermanno Salvaterra asked their ascent of the north face ofCerro Torre not be considered, saying: "It was the essence of the experience that interested us most. An award such as the Piolet d'Or tries to quantify this essence and attempts to judge the quality of the experience.... How could there be any real value to such a subjective judgment? How to judge elusive concepts like elegance and imagination?"[4] In 2008, Garibotti also asked the jury not to consider theTorre Traverse he completed withColin Haley.[3]
In 2007, multiple award winnerMarko Prezelj publicly rejected the award on stage to express his opposition to competition in alpinism;[5] Prezelj then wrote a brutal critique of the awards inAlpinist magazine,[5] that finished with the line: "I apologize if I have offended anyone who is addicted to Miss Fame; she gets around so watch out for STDs."[1] After the new Charter in 2009, Prezelj would later reconcile himself with the awards, and accepted his 3rd Piolet in 2015 in Chamonix, and his 4th Piolet d'Or in 2016 at the ceremony in La Grave.[1]
In 2010, Polish climberWojciech Kurtyka declined the invitation to accept the newly created "Lifetime Achievement Award" by GHM President Christian Trommsdorff, saying "I always had a sense of escaping to the mountains from everyday social bullshit, and now you propose to me to take part in it." Kurtyka was even more forceful in declining it in 2011 and 2012, saying: "Sorry. NO. NO! I will not be talking about Piolets d’Or anymore." However, in 2016, Kurtyka accepted the 8th "Lifetime Achievement Award" at the ceremony in La Grave.[1]
The 2024 Piolet d'Or winners were announced in October 2024 by a 7-person technical jury consisting of Lise Billon, Jack Tackle, Mikel Zabalza, Genki Narumi, Toni Gutch,Aleš Česen, and Enrico Rosso.[23]
Jordi Corominas won the 16th Lifetime Achievement Award.[24]
North face and northwest ridge (Round Trip Ticket) ofJannu (2,700m, M7 AI5+ A0, 5 days) in the Kangchenjunga Himal by Matt Cornell, Jackson Marvell, and Alan Rousseau.[26]
North face (Tomorrow Is Another Day) ofFlat Top (1,400m, ED, 5c A2 WI4 M6) in theKishtwar Himalaya by Hugo Béguin, Matthias Gribi, and Nathan Monard.[27]
"Special Mention" for the first ascent of the west face (Diamonds on the Soles of the Shoes) on Kabru South by Romano Benet and Nives Meroi. Noted as 'most notable new route at altitude by a party involving a female alpinist.[28]
The 2023 Piolet d'Or winners were announced in October 2023 by a 7-person technical jury consisting of Lise Billon,Ines Papert, Nikita Balabanov,Ales Cesen, Martin Elias, Genki Narumi and Jack Tackle.[29]
North face (Phantom Line) of the Jugal Spire (1,300m, ED, 5-days) in theJugal Himal [de],Nepal, by Tim Miller andPaul Ramsden (5th Piolet).[29]
South face (The Crystal Ship) ofPumari Chhish East (1,600m, 5.10+ M7 A2, 5-days) in theHispar Muztagh by Christophe Ogier, Victor Saucède and Jérôme Sullivan.[29]
"Special Mention" for the first ascent of the East face (Via Sedna) of the Northern Sun Spire (780m, 6b to 7b+) inEast Greenland by Capucine Cotteaux, Caro North, and Nadia Royo; noted as 'minimal carbon footprint' expedition that used sailing boats.[29]
The 2022 Piolet d'Or winners were announced in October 2022 by a 6-person technical jury consisting ofConrad Anker, Alex Bluemel, Genki Narumi,Paul Ramsden, Patrick Wagnon, and Mikel Zabalza:[18][30]
Northwest face ofSaraghrar (7,340m, ED2 5.10 A3+ M5+, 8-days,alpine style) in Hindu Kush, Pakistan, by Georgians Archil Badriashvili, Baqar Gelashvili, and Giorgi Tepnadze.[18][30]
The 2021 Piolet d'Or winners were announced in October 2021 by a 6-person technical jury consisting ofInes Papert, Kelly Cordes,Victor Saunders, Valery Babanov, and Helias Millerioux:[31][32]
South face and southwest ridge (Revers Gagnant) of Sani Pakkush (2,600m, M4+ WI 4+, 2-days,alpine style) in the Tolltar Valley, Pakistan, by French climbers Pierrick Fine and Symon Welfringer.[31][32]
"Special Mention" for Catalan climberSilvia Vidal for her "cutting edge big wall solo ascents around the world".[31][32]
The 2020 Piolet d'Or winners were announced in August 2020 by an 8-person technical jury consisting of Kazuaki Amano, Nikita Balabanov,Aleš Česen,Gerlinde Kaltenbrunner, Helias Millerioux, Enrico Rosso,Victor Saunders and Raphael Slawinski.[33][34][15]
West face (Release The Kraken) ofTengi Ragi Tau (1,600m, AI5 M5+, 4-days,alpine style) in Nepal, by American climbers Alan Rousseau and Tino Villanueva.[33][34][15]
Southeast face ofLink Sar (2,300m, AI4 M6+, 8-days) in Pakistan, by American climbersMark Richey (2nd Piolet),Steve Swenson (2nd Piolet), Chris Wright, and Graham Zimmerman.[33][34][15]
The 2019 Piolet d'Or winners were announced in July 2019 by a 7-person technical jury consisting of Sandy Allan, Kazu Amano, Valeri Babanov, Jordi Corominas, Fred Degoulet,Ines Papert,Andrej Štremfelj; for a second time the awards were held at the Ladek Mountain Festival, but were overshadowed by the recent deaths of two of the winners,David Lama andHansjörg Auer.[12][13][14]
West ridge and the first ascent ofLunag Ri (1,500m, 2-days, solo) on the border ofTibet andNepal, by recently deceased Austrian climberDavid Lama; his award was accepted by his family.[12][13][14]
North ridge and South face ofLatok I (2,500m, ED+, 8-days) in theKarakoram, by Slovanian climbersAleš Česen (2nd Piolet) and Luka Stražar (2nd Piolet), and British climber Tom Livingstone.[12][13][14]
The 2018 Piolet d'Or winners were announced at the new later time of August 2018 by a 7-person technical jury consisting of Valeri Babanov, Kelly Cordes, Jordi Corominas,Mick Fowler, Yannick Graziani,Silvo Karo, and Raphael Slawinsky; it was also announced that the ceremony would be held at the Ladek Film Festival in Poland, the first time there was no French ceremony.[35][11]
"Special mention" for the southwest face ofNilkantha (1,400m, WI5 M6 A0, 5-days) inIndia, by American climbers Chantel Astorga, Anne Gilbert Chase, and Jason Thompson.[35][11]
"Special mention" toAlex Honnold for outstanding contribution to climbing throughout the 2017 year.[35][11]
The 2017 Piolet d'Or winners were announced in April 2017 by an 8-person technical jury consisting of Kazu Amano, Valery Babanov,Hervé Barmasse, Kelly Cordes, Andy Houseman,Thomas Huber, Sebastien Ratel, and Raphael Slawinski.[36]
Jeff Lowe won the 9th Lifetime Achievement award.[36]
The 2016 Piolet d'Or winners were announced in April 2016 by a 9-person technical jury consisting of Valeri Babanov,Hervé Barmasse, Seb Bohin, Simon Elias, Yasuhiro Hanatani,Silvo Karo,Michael Kennedy,Victor Saunders, and Raphael Slawinski.[37][38] After several years of lobbying,Wojciech Kurtyka agreed to accept a "Lifetime Achievement Award".[1]
Northwest pillar (Hasta las Webas) ofCerro Riso Paron (1,000m, ED-, AI5+ M5, 3-days) inPatagonia, by French Jerome Sullivan,Lise Billon [de], and Antoine Moineville, and Argentine Diego Simari.[37][38]
East face (Light before Wisdom) ofCerro Kishtwar [de;uk] (1,200m, ED+, 5.11 WI6 M6 A2, 3-days) in the Indian Himalayas, by an international climbing team ofMarko Prezelj (Slovenia; 4th Piolet),Hayden Kennedy (USA; 2nd Piolet ), Manu Pellissier (France), andUrban Novak [de] (Slovenia).[37][38]
The 2015 Piolet d'Or winners were announced in March 2015 by a 9-person technical jury consisting of Kazuki Amano, Valeri Babanov,Hervé Barmasse, Stephane Benoist, Andy Houseman,Michael Kennedy,Ines Papert, Raphael Slawinski, andAndrej Štremfelj; in a departure from previous years, the winners were announced before the ceremony so the event was "not a competition, but a celebration".[5][16][39]National Geographic noted thatAlex Honnold's Piolet was the first to a climber who had never previously led an ice climb.[16]
Southwest face (Shy Girl) ofThamserku (1,620m, M4/M5, A2, 8-days,alpine style) in Nepal, by Russian climbers Aleksander Gukov and Aleksey Lonchinskiy.[16][5][39]
The 2014 Piolet d'Or winners were announced in March 2014 by a 6-person technical jury consisting ofGeorge Lowe,Denis Urubko,Catherine Destivelle,Erri De Luca (the Italian writer), Karen Steinbach, and Lim Sung-muk;[40] in a compromise, the jury decided to award two Piolet awards out of the six shortlisted ascents.[41][42]
The 2013 Piolet d'Or winners were announced in April 2013 by a 4-person technical jury consisting ofStephen Venables,Silvo Karo, Katsutaka Yokoyama, andGerlinde Kaltenbrunner;[44] in an unprecedented move, the jury announced that the entire short-list of six nominated ascents would receive a Piolet d'Or.[45]Montagnes magazine issued a statement condemning the decision saying that it: "weakens the event and its status, blurs the image of mountaineering in the eyes of the public and does not reflect the true personality of mountaineers who make history".[9][10]
South face (The Torch and The Brotherhood) ofOgre I (5.9X AI5 M6R) in Pakistan, by American climbersHayden Kennedy and Kyle Dempster.[10]
Southwest face (Spicy Game) ofKamet (2,000m, ED-: 5.10-,alpine style),Uttarakhand, India, by French climbers Sébastien Bohin, Didier Jourdain, Sébastien Moatti, and Sébastien Ratel.[10]
"Special recognition" was made ofHayden Kennedy and Jason Kruk's fair-means ascent ofCompressor Route onCerro Torre, andDavid Lama and Peter Ortner's first free ascent of the line.[10][46]
The 2012 Piolet d'Or winners were announced in March 2012 by a 6-person technical jury consisting ofMichael Kennedy, Valeri Babanov,Alberto Iñurrategi,Ines Papert, Liu Yong, and Alessandro Filippini (Italian journalist).[47] The event was held in France and Italy and two Piolets were awarded from the short-list of 6 ascents, as well as a "Special mention".[48][49]
Southwest face (The Old Breed) and the first ascent ofSaser Kangri II East (1,700m, WI4 M3, 4-days) in Eastern Karakoram in India, by American climbersMark Richey,Steve Swenson, and Freddie Wilkinson; at the time, it was the second highest unclimbed peak in the world (afterGangkhar Puensum, which is closed to climbing).[48][49]
Northwest face (Sanjači zlatih jam) of K7 West (1,600m, VI/5, M5, A2, 6-days) in theKarakorum, by Slovenian climbers Nejc Marcic and Luka Strazar.[48][49]
The 2011 Piolet d'Or winners were announced in April 2011 by a 6-person technical jury consisting ofGreg Child (Jury President), Enrico Rosso, Yannick Graziani, Simon Anthamatten, Michael Pause (German journalist), and Hiroshi Hagiwara (Japanese journalist); underlying the "new post-2008 Charter" for assessing ascents, the winners were very diverse expeditions underlining the "spirit of Alpinism".[50][51]
The winners of the 2010 Piolet d'Or were announced inChamonix (France) andCourmayeur (Italy) from 8–10 April 2010 by a 6-person technical jury consisting ofAndrej Štremfelj (Jury President), Jordi Corominas, Lindsay Griffin (British journalist), Anna Piunova (Russian journalist), Robert Schauer, andKei Taniguchi.[52][53] In a break with tradition, Christian Trommsdorff, chairman of Piolets d'Or organizer Groupe de Haute Montagne, said at the ceremony that the winners exemplified the new post-2008 Charter, while the other nominees did not make the cut.[53] Also at the ceremony,Reinhold Messner was supportive of the new Charter, saying: "Alpinism starts where tourism stops. Today's trade routes on the 8000-meter peaks—climbed by commercial expeditions using fixed ropes, camps and Sherpas—are pure tourism that has nothing to do with alpinism. The Piolet d'Or celebrates alpinism."[53]
North face ofXuelian (2,650m, M6 WI5 5.7 R) in ChineseTien Shan, by American climbers Jed Brown and Kyle Dempster, and Scottish climber Bruce Normand.[52][53]
The Piolet d'or 2009 took place in Chamonix-Mont-Blanc (France) and Courmayeur in the Aosta Valley (Italy) on the 24th and 25 April 2009 by a 6-person technical jury consisting ofDoug Scott (Jury President), Dario Rodriguez, Dodo Kopold,Jim Donini,Peter Habeler, and Yong ImDuck.[7][8] Jury President Doug Scott heralded the new post-2008 Charter, saying: "This edition signals the rebirth of the Piolets d'Or. For us there are no winners, no losers. The honored are the ambassadors of an art, a passion."[7] Jury member Peter Habeler added: "It is not a question of reaching success at all costs, by using financial or technical means (such as oxygen, fixed ropes, Sherpas, doping products etc.…). What counts is the style. Today even if the summit hasn't been reached, the expedition can be honoured if it is innovative."[7] In a new departure, three winners were announced under the headings of "Spirit of Exploration", "Commitment", and "Technical Difficulty" (this explicit sub-categorization would not be repeated in the future), a new "Lifetime Achievement Award" was created with Bonatti as the first recipient, and the first female Piolet winner, Kei Taniguchi, was announced.[7]
North face (Checkmate) or Tengkampoche (2,000m, M7, WI5 5.10 A0) in the Khumbu Valley inNepal, by Swiss climbersUeli Steck andSimon Anthamatten [de]; for "Technical Difficulty" award.[7][8]
Southwest face (Samurai Direct) ofKamet (1,800m, M5+, WI5+, 12-days) in India, by Japanese climbersKazuya Hiraide andKei Taniguchi (first female winner); the "Spirit of Exploration" award.[7][8]
North face ofKalanka (1,800m, M5) in India, by Japanese climbers Fumitaka Ichimura, Yusuke Sato, and Kazuki Amano; the "Commitment" award.[7][8]
After the controversy of the 2007 awards, Philippe Descamps, the editor ofMontagnes, looked for a wider opinion on how to improve the awards.[54] The three co-founders of the awards, the GHM,Montagnes and Guy Chaumereuil (the editor ofMontagnes when the awards were founded), produced a new "Charter", and decided to hold the 2008 ceremony not exclusively in France, as in the past, but south of the border in the Val d'Aosta, in Italy. Concern still lingered over the need for stronger independent jury panels in deciding a winner, and whether there should be just asingle winner. These issues could not be resolved easily, and in January 2008, it was announced that the 2008 Piolet d'Or would be canceled while these debates were still in process.[6]
The 2007 Piolet d'Or was awarded on 26 January 2007 inGrenoble, France. The awards were marked by controversy from the outset, with accusations by GHM president Leslie Fuscko that the shortlist was imposed byMontagnes magazine, making it a "journalist award".[2] GHM and the president of the jury, Slovenian climberAndrej Štremfelj, resigned from the awards.[2] Further controversy occurred whenMarko Prezelj, the co-winner of the 2007 Piolet d'Or, rejected his award and wrote a scathing article criticizing the whole premise of the awards, and whether it was possible, or ethical, to have a single winner, saying: "I don't believe in awards for alpinism, much less trophies or titles presented by the public or the media," and "At the ceremony, I could see and feel the competitive spirit created and fueled by the event's organizers. Most of the climbers readily accepted this mood without understanding that they had been pushed into an arena where spectators thrive on drama, where winner and loser are judged."[5]
The winners were:
Slovenian climbersMarko Prezelj (2nd Piolet) and Boris Lorencic, for the first ascent ofChomolhari's north-west pillar (2,000m, M6+, 6-days).[55]
The other four shortlisted ascents were:
Kazakhstan climberDenis Urubko and Sergey Samoilov, for a new route in alpine style on the northeast face ofManaslu; won the 2007 Asian Piolet d'Or.[55]
Slovenian climberPavle Kozjek, for a new route, and in 1-day, onCho Oyu, and for submitting images of theNangpa La killings; won the 3rd "People's Choice Award".[55]
Ukrainian climbers Igor Chaplinsky, Andrey Rodiontsev, and Orest Verbitsky for a first ascent on the north ridge ofShingu Charpa (1,500m, elements of 5.11d).[55]
British climbers Ian Parnell andTim Emmett for the southeast pillar ofKedarnath Dome (1,500m, elements of 5.11c).[55]
2005 Russian team led by Alexander Odintsov for the first direct ascent of the north face ofJannu; a controversial decision given the "heavy-style" siege tactics employed by the Russians, and the initial absence of some major American ascents (Ian Parnell withdrew to enable one through); the audience booed the decision at the ceremony and gaveSteve House's "ultra-light" solo ofK7 40% of their vote, in the newly created "People's Choice Award" (they gave Russians 5%); later that year, House wrote a strongly critical piece inVertical Magazine of the jury's decision.[1][4]
2004Valery Babanov [fr] (2nd Piolet) and Yuri Koshelenko for an ascent on the south face ofNuptse.
2001 (10th awards)Thomas Huber and Iwan Wolf for the first ascent of the direct north pillar ofShivling (6543m).
2000 Lionel Daudet and Sébastien Foissac for the ascent of the south-east face of theBurkett Needle; the jury controversially passed overTomaž Humar's attempt to solo the south face ofDhaulagiri, calling it "a step too far" in risk and "heavily slanted toward media coverage", ex-juror Jean-Claude Marmier called Daudet and Foissac's ascent as something seen "two or three times a year in The American Alpine Journal for the last fifty years". The jury defended their choice as "a kind of philosophy of mountaineering, where the [physical] performance is not the only criterion ...".[1][4]
1999 Andrew Lindblade of Australia andAthol Whimp of New Zealand for the first direct ascent of the north face ofThalay Sagar
1998 Russian team fromEkaterinburg led by Sergey Efimov for the first ascent of the coveted west face ofMakalu; GHM President Jean-Claude Marmier resigned from the jury calling the decision "a real disaster", as the Russians had used "heavy-style" siege-tactics (unlike other unsuccessful "light-style" teams, adhering to the Piolet's ethos), and two of the Russian team were killed.[1][4]
1996Andreas Orgler [de], Heli Neswabba, and Arthur Wutsher Germany for numerous new routes in theRuth Glacier area of theAlaska Range and especially a new route on the south face of Mount Bradley; this award drew some criticism as being akin to a "lifetime achievement award" for Orgler, and not for the specific climbs in 1995.[4]
1995François Marsigny [fr] of France and Andy Parkin of England for the new ice and rock route up the Esperance Col onCerro Torre.
1994 The youth high altitude expedition of the French Alpine Club (median age 20 years) for ascents in thePamir Mountains.
1993Michel Piola [fr] and Vincent Sprungli for the ascent of the east face ofTorre South del Paine in Patagonia (the name of the route is "Dans l'Oeil du Cyclone").
Chambre, David; Gardien, Claude (November 2021).Piolets d'Or: 1991-2021 30 ans d'exploits extraordinaires sur les montagnes du monde. Les Éditions du Mont Blanc.ISBN978-2365451154.
