UKC

Mont Blanc (4,808m), Miage (northwest) face
Simon Richardson (UK)-Micha Rinn (Germany)

Should this his not be highlighted in bold

I find it comforting that a brief annual report on the most cutting edge climbing, the climbing that defines the risk taking, adventure that so drew me in, many years ago, gets so little interest and comment on a climbing forum. I like the fact it is of less interest than 'Chalk bag for big hands' or 'Average Speed Cameras' or 'Is Boris a total or Partial Loon?'.

It tells me that the real heart of the pastime is as crazy and esoteric and of little interest to the average punter as ever. Excellent! 

Pretty exceptional year for Tom Livingstone when he wins a Piolet d'Or and has a further two ascents on the longlist.

My utmost congratulations to all the winners and the other notable ascents but there's something quite bitter in the list of its 3 winners given that two of the awards are being awarded posthumously and the third is being awarded to a team for a route a stones throw away from the the one that killed Sergey Glazunov.

It's been a cruel year for mountaineering and I feels like Piolet D'or has unconsciously acknowledged that. 

Thanks all.

I know it's a bit lame, but I wanted to give my thoughts on the PdO. (UKC - you can delete this comment and include it in the original article if you want)

 

It’s nice for people to acknowledge the years of effort and dedication associated with Aleš, Luka and my ascent of Latok I last year, but I don’t agree with the concept of awards in alpine climbing. To award a trophy is to signify that something is the best, implying others are not as worthy. Alpine climbing is a subjective activity; it’s artistic, serious, and there are no winners or losers. 

An example is the UK Young Alpinists Meet, an event taking place right now that I’ve organised. Should I award the ‘best climb?’ What is the ‘best?’ There are those that recognised their limitations and asked for help, or chose to turn back on routes; they made sensible mountaineering decisions. But what about those that pushed themselves to get to the summit, but maybe took more risks?

Some view the PdO as the ‘Oscars of Climbing,’ but it has a poor history. It provoked competitiveness, played on climber’s egos, and awarded very controversial ‘alpine style’ attempts (sometimes not even alpine style). It now seems to be more of a celebration of climbing and meeting of friends, which I like... but why still the awards?

I respect these climbers who have previously been ‘involved’ with the PdO: Marko Prezelj, Rolo Garibotti and Ian Parnell. Part of me wishes to follow in their style and actions… and part of me just wants to go climbing. You should read their comments about the PdO.

To quote Marko Prezelj, but to use my own trips from last year: ‘I climbed in Canada, Scotland, Slovenia, Alaska, UK, Pakistan, India and America. I cannot decide which trip was the most... the "most what" in fact?’

I also do not appreciate how the PdO makes me feel. It plays on my human ego. I already have a devil on my shoulder at the end of a run-out who whispers, ‘uh oh, you’re gonna take a big one!’ I don’t want another offering me a golden trophy. And I’m being partly hypocritical - I am a sponsored climber (I wouldn’t say ‘professional athlete,’ but perhaps that’s because I’m British). I play the game, and I post about it online. But I have drawn my line of comfort in the sand, and I rarely cross it.

I respect the views of others - I guess some may value this award. And I would like to offer my condolences to the families of David Lama and Hansjorg Auer. They were inspiring people and climbers. But I also want to remember Marc-Andre Leclerc, Jess Rosskelley, Tom Ballard, and many others.

If you really want to say ‘nice one,’ then I would humbly accept your comment. But a more appropriate word would be ‘jebise,’ which is Slovenian humour, and a greeting between good friends. It’s said with a smile. It means, ‘hey, f*ck you!’

The Pakistan trip was Luka and Aleš’s idea, and we shared an unexplainable, unquantifiable adventure in the mountains. Our trip to Pakistan will forever be burned into my memory. I am grateful to call them good friends.

I will not be at the PdO this year, which is fine by me - I’ll be in Pakistan with good friends, hopefully climbing in the mountains. Since Aleš and Luka are apathetic about the award, they will attend the PdO, and will accept their (second) trophy. I will follow their example and also accept. But my heart and my head say: this is not for me. I am very tempted to say ‘f*ck you!’ to the award. But whatever, I’m going climbing.

I think that is a false conclusion to come to. Some things such as "Is Boris a total or partial loon" invite comments and discussion and so gets multiple return hits. Whereas maybe the Piolet d'Or article talks about stuff which largely speaks for itself - it does not mean it is of any less interest to climbers on here who might well read it with genuine interest once (as I did) and then feel no need to return to it (except to make this comment......! ).

Fair comment! 

No it's not fair comment. Heart in the highlands has made the essential point. UKC is not interested in curtting edge climbing, but on the number of posts its leading posters get on non climbing topics. As a humble member of one of the organizations sponsoring PdOs I am glad however to see Tom Livingstone's reactions. I have always been opposed to the PdO  idea, while welcoming some recognition of big achievements, but regret the competive form: leave that to the kind of thing they organize annually in Chamonix on artificial climbing walls, and which is receiving less and less following to judge by poster comments concerning this year's events. 

I think that is a somewhat cynical view without any real evidence to back it up. The vast majority of users would not be here in the first place if they were not interested in climbing related topics (whether cutting edge or not). To illustrate my earlier point, a non climbing thread on Average Speed Cameras which I've found interesting and contributed to and which has been on here a similar time to this one, has had about 4 times as many views but 20 times as many posts. This suggests to me that whereas this thread is receiving a lot of interest from many different users but of whom few see a need to comment (which doesn't imply lack of interest), the Average Speed Camera one has attracted many return visits from a probably smaller number of users (including myself) who have been actively involved in discussion.

Well said Tom. I think it's an interesting perspective to get from someone who is also a sponsored climber, as opposed to say someone like Voytek who echews the 'game' as you call it, entirely. Can you imagine Voytek Kurtyka with an instagram account?

What will you do if your sponsors start referring to you as 'Piolet d'Or winner Tom Livingstone'? Do you have any control over that kind of thing, would it bother you, or would you just let it go?

Thanks for that contribution Tom.  As you well know, this is not the first time the PdO has generated some controversy, not the first time climbers have felt uncomfortable with what it represents.  I guess I would say that there a diversity of opinions about the awards just as their is a diversity of humans engaged in climbing.  I don't know what the answers are. I like the idea of a celebration of many climbers and ascents of different kinds, but I also know that for better or worse it seems an inescapable part of human nature to compete, rank, grade, assess, award, venerate, worship, and so on.  I guess this leaves the PdO, and the climbers involved, stuck somewhere in the middle.  I admire the climbers who attend the celebration, participate in the ritual, however flawed, and do their part as judges the following year to shape the event as they see fit, and I admire the climbers who, like you, choose to voice their opinions, and stay away.  So, that was an inspiring climb you and your friends completed, I hope you have a wonderful time on your next adventures, and jebise!