UKC

The Piolets d'or 2011 ceremony was held in Chamonix, France over the weekend of the 16th and 17th of April. The prestigious golden ice axe has been awarded to the Japanese 'Mount Logan' expedition and also the Belgian/USA/UK 'Greenland Big Walls' expedition.

Here we see the winners and the award ceremony in a gallery of photographs.

Read more at http://www.ukclimbing.com/news/item.php?id=61728

In reply to UKC News: You can get a piolet d'or for deep water soloing now? :-D Congrats.

In reply to UKC News: Very impressive ascents, but is it just me, or is the whole Villanueva/Favressse lets-do-some-folk-jamming shtick starting to wear a bit thin?

In reply to UKC News: They should have got Beth Ditto to sing! She's a big lass for a big waller!?

In reply to TobyA:

Yeh, dang hippies!

Is it true the Piolet d'Or has Dress Regulations? That everyone over 50 tucks their shirt into their pants (Bonington, Shepton, Child, Bonatti), whereas everyone under 50 has to look like they just woke up?

In reply to UKC News:
Fabulous. Very deserved.

In reply to Damo: Is your 2nd name Suzuki?

In reply to UKC News:

cool shots. like the big projection of scott. saw him talk when he still looked like that - changed me (especially my hair style).

saw okada a few times over winter. deserves an award for being such a nice guy.

that big wallin off a boat looks great doesnt it?

In reply to aln:

Mother Sky, baby...

In reply to UKC News: It's a shame UKc that you make no mention of the UK nominees, especially the fantastic achievement of Malcolm Bass and Paul Figg.

Jim

In reply to jameshiggins: See here http://www.ukclimbing.com/forums/t.php?t=450525

In reply to TobyA:


I think it's just you. I did a route with Sean at fairhead last year and it was awesome when he produced (a la Ron Burgundy) his tin whistle from up his sleeve at the belay and proceeded to play while the other two of us led and followed the next pitch.

In reply to UKC News: Did anyone notice the difference between the Alpinist report and the piolet site? - seems there might have been a bolt involved on the Greenland boat trip? Piolet site = "in excellent style, using neither bolts nor pitons, and traversing the peaks after the climbs. In the popular sport of big wall climbing, this showed that it is possible to make these ascents completely clean." Alpinist newswire = "The Greenland expedition placed one bolt over the course of their nine climbs. The team's written report stated the placement of a bolt, but when asked about it after the ceremony, several jury members said that they were unaware of that fact. -Ed."
More controversy for the piolets or just a bolt?

In reply to UKC News:
Kind of regret not taking up Bob's offer to go on a climbing trip to greenland now...