The 2015 Piolets d鈥橭r winners were announced on Tuesday, and three first ascents will be honored, . The ceremony will take place April 9 to 12 in Chamonix, France, and Courmayeur, Italy.
American climbers Alex Honnold and Tommy Caldwell will take one prize home for the first full traverse of the Fitz Roy range in Patagonia in February 2014. Working from north to south, the pair climbed seven peaks over five days: Aguja Guillaumet, Aguja Mermoz, Cerro Fitz Roy, Aguja Poincenot, Aguja Rafael Ju谩rez, Aguja Saint-Ex煤pery, and Aguja de l鈥橲. , they notched close to three miles of climbing and 13,000 feet of vertical gain, including some free- and simul-climbing on 65-degree ice.
鈥淚鈥檓 pretty psyched,鈥 Honnold told Rock and Ice about winning a Piolet d鈥橭r. 鈥淚鈥檝e joked before that if I ever won a Piolets d鈥橭r, I would just retire from climbing. Of course, I said that before I ever alpine climbed, so it seemed like some impossible thing.鈥
Three Slovenian climbers鈥擜les Cesen, Luka Lindic, and Marko Prezelj鈥攚ill be recognized for opening a new 4,400-foot route on the north face of India鈥檚 Hagshu last September. The Russian team of Alexander Gukov and Alexey Lonchinsky round out the recipients for climbing a new 5,314-foot route, named Shy Girl, on the southwest face of Thamserku in Nepal.
In the past, the Piolets d鈥橭r haven鈥檛 been announced until the awards ceremony, , but the 2015 committee wanted to move away from emphasizing competition and instead focus on celebrating the 鈥減assion, spirit, and values鈥 of alpine climbing, . 鈥淲e want to get the word 鈥榳inners鈥 out,鈥 spokesperson Liv Sansoz told Rock and Ice. 鈥淲inners implies losers, and that鈥檚 not what we are about. We are trying to celebrate the spirit of modern alpinism and its values.鈥