2026 Awarded ascents

©Berman

The first ascent of the southeast pillar of Ultar Sar, Batura Muztagh, via Shooting the Moon (3,100m, M5 WI4), June 6-11. The climbers descended the same route, reaching the base of the mountain on the 13th.

Ultar Sar rises around 5,000m above the village of Karimabad in the Hunza Valley, Western Karakoram. Despite the highest point lying no more than 10km from the Karakoram Highway, there is no easy route to the summit. After approximately 15 attempts, this complex mountain was eventually climbed in the summer of 1996, when two separate Japanese expeditions pioneered different routes from the south. However, starting in the early 1990s, ambitious parties had also attempted the elegant 3,100m southeast pillar rising out of the so-called, and difficult of access, Hidden Valley. After more than half a dozen attempts, the highest point reached prior to 2025 was 6,500m, by two Japanese alpinists in 2011.

Ethan Berman (USA-Canada), Maarten van Haeren (Canada) and Sebastián Pelletti (Australia) had the southeast pillar as their goal in 2024, reaching around half-height on their best attempt. They returned in 2025, and after acclimatizing up to 6,500m above the Batokshi Col south of Batura I, they left a base camp placed at 4,400m below Ultar Sar and headed into the glacial cwm below the pillar. On June 6, they started up the route and on the following days would typically "wake" at 10-11 p.m. and climb till around lunchtime to avoid the main heat of the day. The crux was the rock pillar above 6,650m, which gave relatively sustained mixed climbing on largely good granite and led to a final campsite at 7,150m. The three reached the summit at 9 a.m. on June 11 and rappelled to their previous 6,650m bivouac the same day. Unfortunately, bad weather forced them to wait there a day before continuing down, making a total of more than 70 rappels to reach the cwm below the pillar.

The jury noted this to be a beautiful and much attempted line with hard climbing at high altitude. It exemplified a very high level of commitment, self-sufficiency, spirit of exploration and team effort, fundamental criteria for a Piolet d'Or.

Ethan Berman

Canada/USA

Born in India and looked after by a Tibetan nanny, it was only a matter of time before Ethan found his calling in high mountain landscapes. With climbing roots sewn between craggy outcrops in Thailand and granite monoliths in Yosemite, in recent years he has focused on alpinism, which has taken him to the Himalaya, Andes, Saint Elias, and Alaska Range, and kept him busy at home in the Canadian Rockies.

Ethan is a key figure in contemporary North American alpine style. He gained international recognition in 2021 when he was awarded a Piolet d'Or for a new line on the famous Emperor Face on Mount Robson with Uisdean Hawthorn, Running in the Shadows (2 300 m, US VI, M6 AI5 A0).

Ethan also connects to the landscapes that inspire him through his work researching changes to snow and vegetation dynamics using satellite imagery.

Maarten van Haeren

Canada

Maarten was born and raised in The Netherlands, allowing him to explore Europe through backpacking and bike touring. At the age of 18, he moved to Ontario with his family to enjoy Canada’s natural wonders and embark on a new adventure. He lives in Exshaw, Alberta in the Bow Valley with his wife Lin and their cat Freya Since moving there in 2013, he started his ACMG Mountain Stream program. He is currently certified as an ACMG Alpine Guide and enjoys guiding ice and mixed climbing throughout Alberta and British Columbia in the winter. During summer time, the mountains keep calling, through rock climbing and alpine adventures. He has pursued ice and mixed climbing throughout North America, and alpine climbing expeditions to Pakistan, Nepal, the Yukon Territories and Scotland, where he has established new alpine routes over the last decade. Maarten has opened 40+ multi-pitch ice, mixed, rock and alpine routes on 3 different continents.

Sebastián Pelletti

Australia

Sebastián’s dual Australian / Argentine Nationality enabled him to move to Patagonia at age 21. He fell in love with Torres del Paine and its surrounds. As an IFMGA Mountain Guide, he guided for 10 years throughout Patagonia and the Andes.

He had previously climbed with Ethan Berman during a traverse of the Serra Peaks in British Columbia in 2023. In December 2024, together with Hernán Rodriguez, he pioneered Ultima Ronda (AI3, M4) on Trono Blanco (2,170 m), a peak in the Paine Massif. The following year, he opened Kundalini (700 m, 7a) with Nicolas Navarrete on the east face of Cuerno Norte, then Norteado (500 m, 5.11+) on its west face with Hernán Rodriguez.

"Paine seems to continue providing endless opportunity for creativity, and I’m super lucky to have awesome partners to get out there with and enjoy the whole experience..."

©Price

The first ascent of the northwest face of Aikache Chhok, Batura Muztagh, via Secrets, Shepherds, Sex and Serendipity (3,000m, M7 A2+ AI5), October 12-20. The climbers traversed the mountain, descending unclimbed ground to the west and then north to regain base camp on the 21st.

In 2025, George Ponsonby (Ireland) and James Price (UK & France) were members of the British Young Alpinist Group, which concludes a three-year programme with an expedition to the Greater Ranges. Individual members of the group pitch their plans to the rest, and the most popular idea is chosen. Price made a relatively reluctant presentation on a valley north of the Hunza River he had never seen. To his dismay, everyone liked the idea and he was chosen to organize it.

In early September the team reached a base camp at a grazing pasture in the accessible but rarely visited (by mountaineers) Baltar Valley, then spent the next 10 days in largely poor weather looking for a suitable objective. They eventually decided on the prominent spur splitting the northwest face of a mountain they could clearly see from base camp: Aikache Chhok. It had been climbed only once before, in 1983, from a glacier basin to the south. Ponsonby and Price started up this spur on October 12. Prior bad weather had restricted their acclimatization ascents to an altitude of no more than 4,500m.

The two reached the summit early on their eighth day after strenuous and difficult ice and mixed climbing. Late on day four, unable to find either a tent site or a route above the day's high point, they were forced to retreat to their previous bivouac site and try again the following morning: fortunately, they discovered a better line. Over those two days they gained no more than 250m in altitude.

With their route having never been a realistic option for descent, the two traversed the summit and started rappelling a west-facing couloir. Two days later, after a bivouac at 5,000m and intricate route finding, they returned safely to base camp.

The jury recognized this ascent as a long and highly committing outing in a little-known part of the Karakoram by two young and spirited climbers. The pair exhibited great persistence on a route with much technical difficulty and almost zero chance of rescue. Due to the exploratory nature and complexity of the descent, the adventure continued all the way to base camp.

George Ponsonby

Ireland

George started climbing at the age of 18 in Ireland, progressing from the small crags and sea cliffs of the country to larger routes in the Alps and beyond over the next few years. Moving to Utah in 2021, he dove into exploring as many obscure trad, ice, mixed and big wall areas as he could while juggling a career as an engineer and wind turbine technician, leading to many long nighttime drives, large hikes and tired Mondays.

Happiest on sea cliffs, desert walls and granite cliffs far into the mountains, he also dabbles in mixed and ice climbing around the American West and Canada. A couple of years ago he made an effort to refocus on alpine climbing, attempting new routes and repeating others in Canada and Montana, climbing No Siesta on the Grandes Jorasses and culminating in the ascent of Aikache Chhok in Pakistan during his first expedition to the Himalaya.

James Price

UK / FRANCE

Former endurance athlete now living in Flumet, France, James Price made a name for himself in 2021, at the age of 24, by completing three solo ascents in the Batura Range in Pakistan: the first solo ascents of Passu North (6,884 m) and the opening of new routes on Passu Diar (7,295 m) and Maidon Sar (6,090 m), leaving unsupported from the road side.

He had previously done a great deal of climbing in South America and in the Alps, where he has lived since 2020. For James climbing is ‘a form of expression' and he 'enjoy’s climbing aesthetic lines in a very simple style'. He has climbed 81 of the 4,000m peaks in the Alps, including winter ascents of No Siesta and the Walker Spur on the Grandes Jorasses and a solo ascent of the Schmid Route on the Matterhorn north face. When he is not climbing he works as an Assistant Nurse in his local hospital.

James’ connection to Pakistan began in 2020 when he was confined in the Valley of Hunza during the COVID lockdown. He spent 4 months living with a local family and passed his time working in the fields or carrying loads up to the water channel. He has since returned on multiple occasions: notably in 2022 he made the 3rd ascent of Passu Sar (7,478m) but would suffer frostbite to both feet on descent and in 2024 when he climbed Spantik (7,027m) with a few friends, leaving unsupported from the village of Arandu.

©Thom95

The first complete ascent of the east spur and east ridge via The Essence of Commitment (1,400m, 6c+ M6+ 95°) to the main summit of Yerupajá, Cordillera Huayhuash, followed by a traverse to Yerupajá Sur and descent of the southeast face (1,000m at an average angle of 65°). August 4-8 for the full traverse.

Yerupajá is the second-highest independent peak in Peru and the highest of the Cordillera Huayhuash. Although first climbed in 1950, due to the difficulty of any route the summit has seen few successful ascents; before 2025 the last known ascent was possibly as far back as 2014.

Spanish Catalans Bru Busom, Rubén Sanmartín, and Marc Toralles planned an ascent of the east spur and east ridge, followed by a ca 600m traverse south along the narrow, corniced ridge to Yerupajá Sur and descent of its southeast face.

The three first acclimatized in the Cordillera Blanca and then once at their 4,900m base camp below Yerupajá, reconnoitred the descent route on the southeast face by climbing up to 5,400m on the extremely crevassed glacier below, using a drone to show the safest line.

The upper part of the east spur, reached via glacier slopes to the northeast, was climbed in 1968 by Austrians, who continued up the east ridge to the summit. The 600m rock wall at the base of the spur had been climbed a few times by lines toward the right side but not continued up the ridge above. The Spanish alpinists started near the left side of the face and climbed a rightward slanting line, which involved a couple of pitches of 6c+ and then four of WI5 M6+. More pure rock to 6c+ took them to the east ridge and their first bivouac. From there, it would take the best part of three days to reach the summit, overcoming largely ungradable terrain – hanging glaciers, mushrooms, snow and ice overhangs - all with little in the way of meaningful protection. On reaching the east ridge, they knew that their eight snow stakes would not be nearly enough to rappel the ground already ascended. Their only "retreat" was over the summit.
On their fifth day, the climbers navigated the ca 600m-long mushroomed connecting ridge and reached Yerupajá Sur (6,480m) by midday. From there, they were able make numerous rappels of the southeast face via Abalakov and snowstake anchors, gain the glacier they had previously reconnoitred, and reach base camp that same day. They had made the first full traverse of the mountain from the east.

The jury was impressed that this team continues to pioneer audacious lines in the Southern Hemisphere, showing that top-quality adventures are still achievable outside the Himalaya. The traverse, which featured a high level of commitment, with no realistic possibility of retreat once on the upper ridge and a slim chance of external rescue should something go wrong, was completed in excellent style, with thorough preparation undoubtedly contributing significantly to their success.

Bru Busom

Spain

Born in 1992 in Terrassa, at the foot of the Montserrat massif, the Catalan Bru Busom went on his first hikes with his parents in the Sant Llorenç del Munt massif. At the age of 13, his father introduced him to rock climbing and from that moment on, he knew exactly where he wanted to focus his energy. A UIAGM-certified mountain guide, he is now one of the most experienced and renowned mountaineers, both in Catalonia and throughout the rest of Spain. He lives with his partner and their two children in Terrassa, near the Sant Llorenç del Munt Natural Park, an ideal setting for family hikes and for training on the many sport climbing routes found there.

He has completed difficult ascents on most of the rock faces and ice falls in the Pyrenees and the Alps. Particularly noteworthy are his major ascents, whether completed in a single day or in winter, such as the south face of the Marmolada, the south face of the Meije, the north face of the Grandes Jorasses, the north face of Les Droites, the north face of the Eiger, and the ‘Super Intégrale’ of Peuterey on Mont Blanc.

Bru has led expeditions to mountain ranges all over the world, notably in South America, always in search of highly challenging routes that have rarely been repeated and climbed in alpine style, such as Cerro Torre via the Ragni route, Fitz Roy, the Agujas Mermoz and Guillaumet, Jirishanca (6,126 m), Alpamayo solo (5,947 m), Ranrapalca (6,162 m), Tocllaraju (6,032 m) and Chopicalqui (6,354 m).

Before Yerupaja, he had often shared a rope with Marc Toralles, notably for a repeat of the famous Slovak Direct on the south face of Denali in Alaska in 2019 and the first ascent of Ànima de corall (1,100 m, 7b A3 AI 5 M6) on the east face of Siula Grande (6,344 m, Huayhuash Range in Peru) in July 2022.

Passionate about challenging alpinism, involving long ascents on major rock faces, he believes “that challenges must be tackled with humility, without artifice, and in a pure and light style.”

Rubén Sanmartin

Spain

Based in Binéfar and originally from Huesca, Rubén is also a high-mountain guide (IFMGA). As a child, he went hiking in the mountains with his parents, but it was when he took up rock climbing at the age of 21 that he realised what he really enjoyed was applying the challenges of rock climbing to high-altitude mountaineering and big walls: “From that moment on, my priorities in life began to change, as did the people with whom I shared this world and these adventures.” He was a member of the Aragon Mountaineering Training Centre for six years and a member of the Spanish mountaineering team for four years.

As much a sport climber as a mountaineer, his natural playground is, of course, the Pyrenees and the Pre-Pyrenees: the first repeat of the ‘Three Walls of Gavarnie’ in a single day, starting with Thanatos (WI6) and finishing with Aliento del Diablo (M7, 6b WI5+). First free ascent of Ilusiones (7b+ RS4) on the Vignemale.

In the Alps, highlights include the second free repeat of No Siesta (M7) on the north face of the Grandes Jorasses, followed by a paragliding descent, and the Lesueur route (M8+) on the north face of the Drus, as well as the ‘Super intégrale’ of Peuterey on Mont Blanc in three days. He also opened six routes in Greenland whilst guiding the Spanish women’s mountaineering team.

He sees paragliding as a logical evolution of extreme alpinism: “In the future, alpinism will be closely linked to rapid descents, enabling climbers to avoid risks and save time.”

Marc Toralles

Spain

Marc Toralles, a Catalan, was born in Barcelona in 1982. Now a UIAGM-qualified guide, his notable ascents in the Alps include the north faces of the Grandes Jorasses, Les Droites and the Eiger; the first winter traverse Flammes de Pierre to the Aiguille Verte; and the first ascent of Le Grand Charme on the west face of the Grands Charmoz (650m, ED M6+ 6b) with Bru Busom and Martin Elias in January 2020.

Marc is always on the lookout for highly challenging routes, rarely repeated and climbed in alpine style. In Patagonia, notable ascents include Cerro Torre via the Ragni route, Cerro Mocho, the Media Luna, the Aguja Guillaumet and Cerro Colorado (Aysén, Chile). In Peru: Alpamayo (5,947 m), the Sphinx, Huantsan (6,369 m), Jirishanca (6,126 m) and an attempt to open a route on the east face of Siula Grande (6,344 m). In 2018, he attempted to climb the south spur of Gasherbrum IV then in 2019, he completed the first alpine-style repeat of the south pillar of Tengi Ragi Tau (6,660 m), Nepal, with Roger Cararach and Alberto Fernández.

He did the first ascent of Punta Guillem Aparicio, 5,700m (India, Ladakh) via Txoria Txori (740m, 7a+) in alpine style in 2022 then in 2023 he attempted a new route on Saraghrar (and climbed later the Catalans Spur on this mountain). In 2024, he attempted to open a new route on K7.

The 2022 ascent of Siula Chico with Bru Busom, amidst relentless rockfalls, had made a particular impression on him: “This is the first time I haven’t felt like returning to a route I’ve climbed… It’s the most demanding ascent we’ve undertaken so far, due to the difficulties and the constant exposure.”

©Marot

The first ascent of Jannu East, Kangchenjunga Himal, via Le Sommet des Pieux (2,300m, M6 WI5) on the north face and east ridge, October 12-15. The climbers rappelled and downclimbed the route to reach the base of the mountain on the 16th.

The highest of the peaks awarded a Piolet d'Or this year, Jannu East is connected to the main summit of Jannu (7,710m) by a narrow, two-kilometre ridge. Jannu East has little prominence above the col with the main peak but has been a much-coveted objective for decades. Until very recently, most attempts had taken place on the east face, where the first, as long ago as 1991, reached above 7,000m. In 2022, Americans were the first to make a serious effort on an ambitious direct route up the steep and technical north face, and they would return for subsequent attempts in 2023 and '24. In 2024, French alpinists Léo Billon, Nicolas Jean and Benjamin Védrines also attempted the north face, but by a line further left that would reach the east ridge. They descended from 6,700m.

In 2025, Jean and Védrines returned, and in early September established a base camp at 4,700m in the valley below the north face. From here they acclimatized by ascending a 6,000m subsummit of Merra and making a one-day first ascent of Anidesh Chuli (6,808m), a nearby peak that had also rebuffed previous parties. Their ascent of the north ridge (1,140m, TD) took more than seven hours.

The pair planned a route on Jannu that would play to their proven ability to climb light and fast. On October 12, they camped at 5,100m on the glacier below the face and fixed the first pitch. Next day, they climbed 1,100m through hanging snowfields, steep snow, WI5 and a tenuous mixed pitch of M6. Much of the terrain was poorly protected. From a bivouac at 6,200m, they slanted left to reach the east ridge at 6,900m, where they spent the night. Next day, precarious climbing along the narrow and heavily corniced ridge above led to the summit. Descending their line over the next one and a half days required around 50 rappels and downclimbing.

Jannu East is a high mountain with much history, and the north face consistently steep with few opportunities for secure protection. Jury members felt it was climbed in perfect lightweight style, demanding a high level of technical competence for a successful completion. It is an excellent example of the athleticism achieved by today's modern professional mountaineers, executed in a remote and committing location.

Nicolas Jean

France

Originally from Gap (where he was born in 1998), Nicolas spent his childhood in the Ubaye valley, where he discovered the mountains, rock climbing and skiing. At just 17 years old, he climbed all 63 3,000-metre peaks in the Ubaye massif in 20 days. He also specialises in steep-slope skiing when he isn’t paragliding to go back down. A carpenter by trade but soon to become a ski instructor and mountain guide, he made a name for himself in the 2020s alongside Benjamin Védrines, both in the Écrins massif (ski traverses featuring steep slopes, or day trips up the Pelvoux, the Barre des Écrins and La Meije via technical routes) and in the Himalaya and the Karakoram. First came the first ascent of the north-east couloir (1,500 m, M3/M4, 65°) of Chamlang (7,321 m) in Nepal in 2019, followed by a speed ascent of Broad Peak (8,051 m) without oxygen in 2022. Accompanied by Léo Billon, Amaury Fouillade and Enzo Oddo, he made the first ascent of Basique (V+ A2+ M5) on Pointe Whymper on the north face of the Grandes Jorasses last winter and then this summer broke Benjamin Védrines’ record for the ascent of La Meije in 4 hours 11 minutes (there and back from La Grave).

Benjamin Védrines

France

Now aged 34, Benjamin is the most prominent French alpinist of recent years: as well as opening and repeating iconic routes in record times in the Alps, he has applied his technical skills and extraordinary stamina to the highest peaks on the planet.

Among his most notable achievements are: the first trilogy of the three great north faces of the Alps via direct routes (with Léo Billon and Seb Ratel): the Harlin Route on the Eiger, the Directe de l’Amitié on the Grandes Jorasses and the Gogna Route on the Matterhorn. Or three major north faces in the Mont Blanc massif over three consecutive days with Léo Billon: the north face of Les Drus via the Voie des Guides (M8+) in around 10 hours, the Sermon-Slavik/Rhem-Vimal route on the north face of Les Droites (M7+) in 7 hours 14 minutes, and No Siesta on the north face of the Grandes Jorasses (M8 WI6) in 12 hours. Or a solo ascent of the Peuterey Integral on Mont Blanc in 6 hours 51 minutes.

In 2022, he climbed his first 8,000-metre peak, Broad Peak, with Nicolas Jean. He returned to set a speed record on the normal route in 7 hours 28 minutes, followed by a paragliding descent. He achieved the same feat on K2 in 2024: in 10 hours 59 minutes from the advanced base camp (5,350 m) to the summit without supplementary oxygen, followed by the first paragliding descent from the summit.

He received a Special Mention in 2025, with the Piolets d’Or recognizing “the array of innovative, multi-discipline achievements over the last few years. In the context of what he has accomplished in the Alps alone, these are ground-breaking, very high performance, and strong pointers towards the future of modern alpinism”.

Tiphaine Dupérier

In 2025, arguably one of the most significant ascents – and descents – at altitude by a female alpinist was the first alpine style ascent of the Schell Route on the Rupal flank of Nanga Parbat followed by the first ski descent from the 8,125m summit.

Tiphaine Dupérier is a mountain guide and ski patroller originally from the Bauges and now living in the Haute Tarentaise. She was a past member of the Groupe Excellence Alpinisme National (GEAN) – the elite training programme run by the French Alpine Club. She is now probably best known for extreme ski descents at high altitude in the Greater Ranges.

Dupérier, with her long-time partner Boris Langenstein, first attempted Nanga Parbat in 2019. On their first summit attempt via the standard Kinshofer Route, deteriorating weather forced them down, Dupérier from just below 8,000m and Langenstein from 8,040m. On the subsequent attempt Langenstein reached the summit and skied from 8080m, rejoining Dupérier who had stopped around 7,800m.

In 2024 they returned to try the Rupal side of the mountain and with the German, David Goettler, were forced to retreat from 7,524m on the 1976 Schell Route, which had received less than 10 ascents.

All three returned in 2025, after previously acclimatizing in Nepal. From June 21-24 they made the first alpine style ascent of the ca 3,500m Schell Route. Dupérier and Langenstein skied off the summit: Goettler hoped to paraglide, but it was too windy. He accompanied them to 7,700m, where he deployed the wing and was able to reach base camp in around half an hour. Lack of snow at one point on this section meant that Dupérier and Langenstein had to remove skis for a short distance; they also made a 30m rappel. The rest was skied. The two spent the night at 7,600m, having carried a tent, mattress and stove (but no sleeping bag), as well as skis, to the summit.

The following evening, they camped at 7,400m, and on the 26th reached 6,000m, having skied almost all the way. Due to the heat, the terrain below this point looked like a battlefield and by a combination of skiing in survival mode, some rappels, and a bit of downclimbing, they reached 4,500m, from where they walked to base camp.

Dupérier and Langenstein had completed a seven-year dream, which all three climbers felt might be the highlight of their mountaineering careers to date.

Naturally, in the Alps, Dupérier has achieved many significant ski descents as well as a number of ascents as part of an all-female team, such as the Ratti-Vitali on the west face of the Aiguille Noire de Peuterey (Mont Blanc), a winter ascent of the south ridge of the Aiguille Noire de Peuterey, a winter ascent of the Innominata Ridge (Mont Blanc), Beyond Good and Evil (Aiguille des Pélerins), and the north face of the Matterhorn. Of the many steep ski ascents, notable is the new combination on the north face of the Aiguille Blanche de Peuterey, descended without any rappels, with Vivian Bruchez, Tom Lafaille, Boris Langenstein and Guillaume Pierrel.

Below is a list of Dupérier's achievements, mostly in the Greater Ranges. Nearly all have been with Boris Langenstein, who describes their relationship:

"I was lucky enough to cross paths with Tiphaine at high school and since then we have shared a big part of our adventures. Our relationship is much more than simply that of being climbing partners.

Even in school, her charm and personality rarely left people indifferent. She already had that strong body and steel mindset that are made for big expeditions.

However, what I value most about Tiphaine is the person she is with me: she worries about me, takes care of me, and is always attentive. I know I can count on her. In expeditions as in life.

After all these years, maybe that’s what matters most to me: knowing that she’s there.

Tiphaine, even if your ego probably didn’t need it, I’m really happy that you’re getting this recognition."