Piolets d'Or - Tribute to Hiraide and Nakajima

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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©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 in mystery. The steepest face on the world's second highest mountain is over 3,000m high and has only been climbed once before in 2007 by a Russian expedition led by Vikor Kozlov who spent over 70 days on it using a lot of fixed ropes. Intertwined with vertical cliffs and menacing seracs, it was bound to attract the best alpine-style climbers. It became the dream and main objective of two of the best Japanese climbers of the last two decades, Kazuya Hiraide and Kenro Nakajima.

The eldest, Hiraide, aged 45, is well known to the alpine community and more particularly to the Piolets d'Or. In 2001, he made the first ascent of Kula Kangri East Peak (7,381m) in Tibet and climbed Cho Oyu, his first of five 8,000m summits, and then skied back down.  Hiraide also won an award at the Asian ski-mountaineering championships. He went on to form an emblematic mixed-rope party in alpine style with his female compatriot Kei Taniguchi with first ascents on the northwest Ridge of Spantik (7,027m), the east face of Lila Peak (6,200m), Pakistan (2004), the east ridge of Mustagh Ata (7,564m), China (2005), first ascent on the north face and northwest ridge of Shivling (6,543m), India (2005), first ascent of the southeast face of Kamet (7,756m), India (2008). This last one, called Samurai Direct (1,800m, M5+ AI5), was recognised with a Piolet d'Or in 2009, the first awarded to Japanese climbers and also to a woman. They continued in 2011 with the southwest Ridge of the South Summit (7,200m) of Naimonanyi (7,694m) in China, then the west ridge of Jul Diran (7,266m) in Pakistan in 2013. Taniguchi's tragic death on Mount Kurodake in Hokkaido (Japan) in 2015 was the only blow to their partnership.

Nakajima, 39, has been making his mark in the Himalaya since 2006 (first ascent of Panbari Himal (6,905m) and then the south face of Mar Dingjung Ri (6,196m)). From 2014, he teamed up with Hiraide: "We often climb together but we are different climbers. Hiraide has more experience, whereas I'm technically stronger, although that's just my opinion of course. This means that I'm usually in the lead, while Hiraide follows me and keeps an eye on me. When I make a mistake, he tells me. It's difficult to be in the lead, but he also has a big responsibility behind me."

In 2015, the team (with Takuya Mitoro) climbed the north face of Api (7,132m) in Nepal. Then in 2017, the two men hit it big in Pakistan. Shispare (7,611m) is one of the highest peaks in the Batura Muztagh above the Hunza valley, an Ismaili enclave in northern Pakistan. While its name may only familiar to specialists, the beauty and purity of its immense 2,700m unspoilt northeast face are striking. Since 2007, Hiraide has already attempted Shispare three times, including once via this northeast face but only twice in all. They chose a line on the left-hand side of the face that skilfully avoided the large central seracs and the pyramid of the final rock bastion. Hiraide and Nakajima went up to bivouac at 5,450 metres at the foot of the face and, the following day, climbed vast glacial and mixed slopes up to 6,500m. It then took them a whole day to climb 350 metres, including some very steep ice traverses (M6 WI5). Bad weather then stopped them for a day and Nakajima began to show signs of altitude sickness. Nevertheless, they continued in deep snow and reached the summit before retracing their steps by compass. In memory of Kei Taniguchi, Hiraide buried her photo at the summit. For this ascent, they receive one of the Piolets d'Or 2018, the second for Hiraide.

In 2019, the duo was back in Hunza country on Rakaposhi (7,788m) on the south face and southeast ridge, an immense route, 4,000m high. While the technical difficulties are not exceptional, the adventure is total, on an isolated and little-frequented face. A new Piolet d'Or has been awarded in recognition of the values set out in the Piolets d'Or charter. In 2023, still in Pakistan, they reached the summit of Tirich Mir (7,708m) via a new route on the hitherto unexplored north face. Nakajima points out: "The north face, as if surrounded by a fortress, remained silent. To stand at its base, you have to climb from an unknown valley to a pass at 6,200m, then descend through an unknown valley to finally stand on the starting line. I love this kind of exploratory climbing! "

 In 2017, after their ascent of Shispare, they walked to K2 to study its west face and identify a possible line. As Hiraide noted at the time: "By accumulating experience and taking small steps, I can turn the impossible into the possible. I’ve always tried to climb mountains like this so, even if it takes me 20 years to accomplish the impossible, it’s still fun. That’s what the west face is all about." In the summer of 2024, they were finally ready to take up their challenge: "The probability of succeeding is low. Our first goal is not to reach the summit, but to discover a world we don't yet know." On 27th July, having already reached 7,500m, the team fell more than a thousand metres. A helicopter managed to spot them, but the two climbers gave no sign of life and their bodies remained motionless. Their position and the weather conditions meant that they could not be approached either by air or by land, and it soon became clear that they would not be returning from their ultimate dream. As Hiraide had said before their departure: " In my heart, I have expectations, hopes, worries, fears…I can’t narrow it down to just one word."

 Takuya Mitoro was their friend : " Until recently, climbing with expedition style was almost exclusively a Japanese domain. As the alpine style gained popularity, Kazuya and Kenro were pioneers and leading figures in Japan. They continually sought out climbs that no one had attempted before, dreaming of mountains that no one had seen. They strived for climbs that only they could accomplish. They achieved their pioneering challenges, earning high acclaim worldwide. They were truly heroes of the Japanese mountaineering community.

As mountaineering photographers, they were also artists who expressed "their extreme climbing". Balancing high-level climbing and photography is extremely difficult. Yet, they demonstrated advanced photographic techniques in extreme conditions in the mountains. Through their videos, they shared a harsh yet precious world with many people.

Even in the self-satisfying pursuit of climbing, they were also grateful to the people who supported them.They felt it was their mission to give back to those who supported them by climbing mountains. They have many fans and supporters, even those who have never climbed a mountain."

 At a time when mountaineering had become less popular in Japan, "There is no doubt that they contributed to its revival. And they loved their families. If they had continued to climb higher and harder, would they have gone on to this end? Neither of the two great mountaineers could have eliminated that possibility. But we should remember that they loved mountaineering and made people happy through it.

I pray that these two outstanding mountaineers and friends of mine may rest in peace."

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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