UKC

Last weekend saw the 2013 Piolets d'Or (Golden Ice Axe) ceremony in Chamonix (France) and Courmayeur (Italy). In an unprecedented move, all six of the nominated ascents were awarded an ice axe this year.

But by giving all the ascents a golden ice axe, some say the judges may have devalued the award itself...

Read more at http://www.ukclimbing.com/news/item.php?id=67985

In reply to UKC News:

Just like what happened on Masterchef last year.

It really annoys me - it's their job to pick a winner and what do they do? They shirk their duty. They need to stick their sodding necks out and choose...

In reply to Calder: Just to set the records straight, the Piolets d'Or was abandoned a few years ago because people felt that giving just a first prize was promoting competition and not in the spirt of alpinism. Since it has started up again there have been multiple prizes given out on the same year. More interestingly who would you have left out this year and not given an award too?

In reply to Calder: so...... You are annoyed that a team of rather proficient judges couldn't differentiate between 6 ascents that were cutting edge. It isn't dancing on ice or X factor. What's the difference between the 6. I would be glad to hear your opinion having a number of Himalayan/ alpine feats to your name.

In reply to smithaldo: also, what a surprise that the French editor chose to single out the British ascents. Why not say he kamet ascent v the mazeno ridge. Did mick and Paul not do the classic climbing thing of doing a route, getting home and not even bragging about it? If that isn't what the awards are about I don't know what is?

+1 mazeno ridge

In reply to smithaldo:


I just don't know what awards like this are about.

And that's not to disrespect any of the achievements, especially the Mazeno Ridge (not least because I've climbed with Rick Allen and I'd be extremely surprised if he did it for an award).

In reply to Calder:

'Just like what happened on Masterchef last year.'

haha that's genius!

In reply to UKC News:

"this act is a snub to who we are and to the history of mountaineering. All in all, it represents a total disregard for the art of climbing the highest summits in the world and for the artists who climb them, going as far as to make a mockery of each and every ascent nominated over the past twenty editions"

Seems a bit OTT to me. Is it really that big a deal that they couldn't pick a winner? Seems like there must be some internal politics going on that we don't know about....

From the Alpinist website I tried to put a URL link in but no joy.

Several people criticized me for participating in the Piolet d'Or ceremony this year. None of them were in Grenoble.

Joining this circus gave me the opportunity to present my opinion about the award publicly. Time will tell if doing so was a mistake.

I don't believe in awards for alpinism, much less trophies or titles presented by the public or the media. At the ceremony I could see and feel the competitive spirit created and fueled by the event's organizers. Most of the climbers readily accepted this mood without understanding that they had been pushed into an arena where spectators thrive on drama, where winner and loser are judged.

It is not possible to judge another person's climb objectively: each ascent contains untold stories, influenced by expectations and illusions that develop long before setting foot on the mountain. In alpinism, even the most personal judgments are extremely subjective. When we return from the mountains we remember moments differently than they were—there and then—in the moment when we had to make decisions under the pressure of many factors.

Comparing different climbs is not possible without some kind of personal involvement and even then it is difficult. Last year I climbed in Alaska, Patagonia and Tibet. I cannot decide which expedition was the most... the "most what" in fact?

To illustrate this I asked (during the first part of ceremony) the father of several children to decide which is the most-best and which one is the worst? He could not answer.

I might choose which wine, food, song, book or movie I like the most, in a certain moment but a jury cannot decide which is the best, worst or most for everyone in one year. If a jury does choose a single winner it automatically implies a loser, which is the essence of competition. And first place means there is a second, third and last place. Is the last place truly less-worse, or were the winners simply more adept at the manipulation game? Did they exaggerate the "beauty" of their ascent more effectively, and market themselves better to the jury?

The idea of inspirational gatherings of climbers is positive however I cannot support the absurd idea of those same climbers "competing" at alpinism. At the Piolet d'Or ceremony I spoke against this competition. I said the trophy is not important to me because the choice of a winner is subjective, like singing and beauty contests, and commercial influence on the event is obvious and definite. My broken English prevented me from being clear.

But the story of the Piolet d'Or makes it clear that comparing climbs (and the protagonists and their ideals) is nonsense, much less doing so for one calendar year. If comparison is impossible what are the media and sponsors presenting and promoting, and why? For increased sales, or for FAME maybe?

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In Slovenia fame has the same word as a woman's name: "Slava". Old people used to say: "Slava je kurba" (Fame is a b!tch), one day she is sleeping with one and the next day with another. Fame is a cheap trap set by the media in which the complacent are quickly caught and exploited, realizing too late that trust and honor do not live in the same house as notoriety. The public doesn't truly care about climbers, who are links in an incestuous chain binding sick hunger for attention to media that promote or criticize according to their interests. The Piolet d'Or show organizers know and count on the cruel fact that they will always find plenty of desperate, passionate gladiators and clowns to role-play in the fame game. The more interesting question is whether it is Reality Show or Soap Opera?

If the romantic idea of the Piolet d'Or will survive in the future it must evolve into a simple gathering where climbers can exchange ideas, and share their dreams, illusions, and realities. Perhaps they might even climb together—with no one cast as winner or loser. If this is not possible then I ask the media and the promoters to stop forcing the competitive spirit into alpinism, and to start respecting the alpinists, their human differences and the creative ideas that make alpinism a complicated and rewarding experience.

I apologize if I have offended anyone who is addicted to Miss Fame; she gets around so watch out for STDs. And finally, alpinists are bullets, and the media is a rifle. Where is the target?

Marko Prezelj

Kamnik, Slovenia

Second week in February, 2007

In reply to RobNZ: this ^ +1

In reply to UKC News:

An interesting perspective on this: http://www.planetmountain.com/english/News/shownews1.lasso?l=2&keyid=40...

In reply to Marko:

Well said!

I think however that the decision of the jury to give the award to all 6 nominated teams was the best they could come up with without deciding to scrap the event totally.

Here is an event for all to climb together.....

www.chamonixmoutainfestival.com 1-8th June 2013

In reply to UKC News: It's an interesting one. I liked what Marko said about the media it reminded me of the old Eiger Northwand days, however I am actually on the judging panel for a local climbing award. Our award (it covers all types of climbing) was created to help bolster local climbing talent which was sorely needed, actually create competition, hopefully get some media attention so to inspire people to go climbing.

Closest to my heart it is to reward people who had selflessly given back to the climbing community through crag creation, resolving access issues, unpaid training services, hut building & maintenance.

It doesn't get publicised outside our city really.

We had an agonising decision making process this year, there can be only one and as Marko says it's a subjective process it has to be.