Organizers of the Piolet d'Or, the best-known prize in international mountaineering, have scrubbed plans for the 2008 award ceremony after running out of time to organize a prize with new criteria. The Piolet d'Or ceremony had been scheduled for February 15 in the Val d'Aoste, Italy.

Several high-profile nominees have declined to participate in the awards process, decrying the whole idea of choosing the “best” climb of the year in a pursuit as diverse and personal as mountaineering. Last year's co-winner, Marko Prezelj from Slovenia, denounced the prize on stage and then wrote widely published essays explaining why such prizes were incompatible with the spirit of alpinism.

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