2018 International Technical jury

• gb

Mick was born in 1956. Since putting up a hard new route on Taulliraju in Peru in 1982, he has been on more than 20 expeditions to mountain ranges all over the world. All of his first ascents have been made in good style and without the use of bolts. His most significant first ascents include the Golden Pillar of Spantik, the north buttress of Tawache, the north face of Changabang, the northwest face of Siguniang, and the Prow of Shiva. Mick and his partner Paul Ramdsen were awarded the Piolet d'Or for the latter two ascents. Mick works for the British Tax Office. He is married with a son and daughter. He was president of the Alpine Club from 2011 to 2013.

• France

Yannick Graziani is the holder of an impressive list of Himalayan successes: the South East arête and the East Face of Makalu, Chomo Lonzo, Annapurna, Chaukhamba II and Pumari Chisch. In short, he has forged himself an eclectic range of experience. An important member of the TGW (Trommsdorff-Graziani-Wagnon) climbing team, he comes from the generation which did not experience big expeditions. Instead he takes on the high commitment and risk levels of alpine style climbing. The daring yet appealing nature of his attempt with Stéphane Benoist to climb the South Face of Annapurna in alpine style, drew the gasps of fellow climbers.

• Spain

...

• Russia

Awarded two Piolets d’Or, he stormed onto the alpine scene in 1998 with the first ascent of a route on the West face of the Drus. Following that were the first ascents of Eldorado (solo) on the Grandes Jorasses, a route in Meru (solo, 2001), the South-East pillar of Nuptse, and the North-West pillar of Jannu. Valeri moved the world of alpinism by his kindness and his energy.

• Slovenia

52 years old, is one of the best Slovenian alpinists. He has solved some of the great alpine “problems”, such as Bhagirathi III (India, Garhwal, 1990). In 1986, together with his Slovenian friends, he opened a new route on the East face of Cerro Torre in Patagonia, called The Directissima to Hell. He has been very active in this south part of the Andes, where he did a first ascent on Torre Egger and on Fitz Roy. With Rolando Garibotti, he experimented with the non-stop style of climbing by doing a 30hour push up the Slovak route on the southwest face of Fitz Roy. In 2005, he climbed the southeast ridge of Cerro Torre, which starts by ascending the Aguje Medialuna: 1700m of climbing. In Pakistan in 2006, he climbed Eternal Flame on Trango (Pakistan) in a day. Silvo is a particularly fast climber with a long and prolific career. He is also an activist for the mountains through Mountain Wilderness. He was a member of the jury of the Piolets d’Or in 2006, under Stephen Venables’ presidency.

• Canada

This professor of physics at the University of Calgary was, naturally, very active in the Rockies, carrying out some very hard winter climbs. He has also climbed in Alaska, with some non-stop ascents of the Cassin route on Denali or Common Knowledge on the same mountain. In 2013 he succeeded in the 1st attempt on the NW face of K6 West, with Ian Welsted. This route earned them a Piolet d’Or in 2014.

• USA

Kelly Cordes hails from Estes Park, Colorado, from where he climbs and writes. His first major new routes were made in Alaska, but he has continued to climb fine new lines in the Karakoram, Patagonia, Peru, the Canadian Rockies and Lower 48 states, and Scotland. Perhaps most notable are his first ascents of the Azeem Ridge on Great Trango Tower, one of the longest alpine rock climbs in the world, and the first enchainment of Los Tiempos Perdidos and the upper West Face of Cerro Torre. Now an ambassador for Patagonia, Kelly was once Senior Editor of the American Alpine Journal, has written many articles that have been published in magazines and on the web, produced an award-winning book, The Tower, and has recently co-written another highly-praised book, The Push