The Piolets d’Or committee has revealed the winners of the coveted mountaineering awards for 2023. Sadly, one of the prizes will be posthumous.
Kazuya Hiraide and Kenro Nakajima won recognition for their new route Secret Line on Tirich Mir. Tragically, the two Japanese perished this past summer while attempting the West Face of K2. This is the fourth Piolet d’Or for Hiraide and the third for Nakajima.
The American expedition’s line on the north face of Jannu. Photo: Climbing team/American Alpine Journal
Three teams awarded
As usual in recent years, the jury singled out not one but three climbs. Americans Jackson Marvell, Matt Cornell, and Alan Rousseau also won for their alpine-style climb of the formidable 2,700m north face of Jannu in Nepal’s Kangchenjunga region.
Finally, three young Swiss climbers were awarded for a little-publicized but impressive new route up 6,100m Flat Top in India’s Kishtwar Himalaya. Hugo Beguin, Matthias Gribi, and Nathan Monard made the second ascent of the mountain via a new 1,400m route graded as ED, 5c A2 WI4 M6, which they called Tomorrow is Another Day. The team descended via the previously unclimbed west face of the mountain.
Topo of the new Swiss route to Flat Top, in India. Photo: Timothy Elson/AAJ
The jury of Lise Billon (France), Ales Cesen (Slovenia), Toni Gutsch (Germany), Genki Narumi (Japan), Enrico Rosso (Italy), Jack Tackle (U.S.), and Mikel Zabalza (Spain) selected these three outstanding climbs among a not-so-short list of nearly 60 finalists.
Nives Meroi wins at home
This year, the organizers promoted female alpinism with an award to Nives Meroi of Italy in the Special Mention category. Meroi was part of a team with her husband, Romano Benet, and Peter Hamor of Slovakia. The threesome opened a new route up Kabru South in Nepal’s Kangchenjunga region.
Nives Meroi. Photo: Meroi/Benet
Meroi has always done her climbs with partner Romano Benet. She was working on her 14×8,000m challenge when Benet fell seriously ill while climbing Kangchenjunga. Meroi stopped her climb and waited until Benet recovered from a long illness. The couple returned to high-altitude climbing in 2014, summited Kangchenjunga, and then completed all the 8,000’ers together on the summit of Annapurna in 2017. They didn’t use bottled oxygen or sherpa support on any of the peaks.
The Piolets d’Or ceremony will take place in San Martino di Castrozza in the Italian Dolomites from December 8-10. In addition to the awarded climbs, there will be a tribute to the climbers who perished this year, including many past award winners. Jordi Corominas of Spain will also receive a Lifetime Achievement Award.
Read more on the climbs and the ceremony here.
