Fowler and Ramsden win Piolet d'Or

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 Tom Briggs 06 Feb 2003
The favourite may have been French Alpinist Jean Cristophe Lafaille, but Britain's very own Mick Fowler and Paul Ramsden have been awarded the Piolet d'Or for their route on the north face of Siguniang in China.

Congratulations lads!

The pair were also awarded Climbing magazine's 'Golden Piton' for the route.

Paul's next trip is to The Troll Wall (in winter) with Andy Kirkpatrick.

http://www.ukclimbing.com/news/

jon 06 Feb 2003
In reply to Tom, UKC News Editor: i'm not bloody surprised they won after reading paul article on the climb. Well done lads. I particularly liked the bit about the standing bivi's with one nut for protection!
 Doug 06 Feb 2003
In reply to jon:
Fowler's been nominated so often its about time he got it, wonder if Tut Braithwaite chairing the jury helped

There's a short piece (in French) over on www.ice-fall.com under 'news montagne'
Graham B 06 Feb 2003
In reply to Doug:

Congratulations Mick & Paul!
 Skyfall 06 Feb 2003
In reply to Tom, UKC News Editor:

Now that really is newsworthy

Brilliant that their achievement has been recognised.
Removed User 06 Feb 2003
In reply to Tom, UKC News Editor: Hello everybody, I´ve 2 questions, could anyone answer to them?
1.) Since which year does the Piolet d´Or exist?
2.) Could anyone link me to a list of all winners of this award?
Thank you very much.
Bye, Rainer.
 Doug 06 Feb 2003
In reply to Removed UserH R:
Don't know of a list on the web, but by serendipity I've' been looking in 'Montagnes' for a non related article & found an article in Jan 2001 listing all the winners to date.

First awarded 1991 Marko Prezelj & Andrej Stremfelj (1st ascent South pillar, Kangchenjunga)

1992 Michel Piola & Vincent Sprungli (new route on Tour du Paine)

1993 'équipe jeunes haut niveau du CAF' (several new routes in the Pamir)

1994 Francois Marsigny & Andy Parkin (Col de l'esperance, Cerro Torre)

1995 Andreas Orgler, Heli Neswaba & Arthur Wutscher (1st ascent, the Pearl, Mt Bradley, Alaska)

1996 Thomas Huber & Vania Furlan (East face direct, Ama Dablam)

1997 Russian expedition (West face, Makulu)

1998 Andrew Lindblade & Athol Whimp ( 1st ascent, North face of Thalay Sagar)

1999 Lionel Daudet & Sébastien Foissac (South face of Burkett Needle, Alaska)

Don't know who won in 2000 or 2001, seems a Brit has won before, but as part of an anglo-french pair (& he lives in France)
dru 06 Feb 2003
In reply to Doug: 1996 you mean tomaz humar not thomas huber!!!!

huber and iwan wolff won for Shivas Line in 2000 I think?
Snoow plodders 06 Feb 2003
In reply to Tom, UKC News Editor:
Okay, so Mick may be good at blowing his own trumpet, but no one else has such a technical repetoire as 'The Tax Man' - he's an inspiration!


If you disagree, you disagree with the whole idea of exploratory climbing, and that's what puts British climbers on the map!
 Tyler 06 Feb 2003
In reply to dru:

Funny that Humar didn't win it for his Dhaulagiri route in '99 which sounds one of the most awesome achievements of the decade, do you think the judges were worried that he was another Cesen?

Well done to Fowler and Ramsden - for the route more than the award.

Removed User 07 Feb 2003
In reply to Doug: Hi Doug, thank you for your information. Wishing you a nice weekend. Rainer
Removed User 07 Feb 2003
In reply to Tyler: Yes, I was also a little bit surprised about Humar not having won the award in 1999. I think Dhaula South was one of the greatest adventures in alpinism...So long, bye, Rainer
Dr Jamie 07 Feb 2003
In reply to Tom, UKC News Editor:

Nice Mick and Paul. 'Bout time Mr Fowler got recognised for his efforts. But as for being the first brits, doesn't Andy Parkin count?
OP Tom Briggs 07 Feb 2003
In reply to Dr Jamie:

Yes, he does count. I should have said "all British team".
Anonymous 07 Feb 2003
In reply to Dr Jamie: Nice Mick and Paul???????

I think that's pushing it!!

Perhaps it depends how you read it.
 Jamie B 08 Feb 2003
In reply to Tyler:
>
> Funny that Humar didn't win it for his Dhaulagiri route in '99 which sounds one of the most awesome achievements of the decade, do you think the judges were worried that he was another Cesen?

Considering that he had cameras and telescopes trained on him throughout this seems a strange suggestion.
>
> Well done to Fowler and Ramsden - for the route more than the award.

I'll second that; about time British mountaineering in general and Fowler in particular were recognised. Fowler is a colossal inspiration to the current talented pack. Can't imagine Cartwright and Cross were too far behind.

JAMIE B>

dave 08 Feb 2003
In reply to Tom, UKC News Editor:

It does raise the question though of whether climbers should be awarded medals for the climbs they do. Does climbing need medals to sustain interest in it? And, are medals desirable in climbing?
Might it be posssible for climbers to be motivated by the desire to win the medals? Is that healthy for climbing as the activity we know or even the individals concerned?
It's a deep issue. Here's a relate thread
http://www.ukhillwalking.com/forums/t.php?t=36262
 sutty 08 Feb 2003
In reply to dave:

Climbers do not do it for medals, would you go and do a dangerous first ascent in the himalaya in the hope that you got a medal for it?

the ones we are talking about are the wooden spoon medals, ones you do not want to get.
Removed User 08 Feb 2003
In reply to dave: I think the "Piolet d´Or" is an award created by Russians. In Russia, there has been a competitive thinking for many, many years. Why not? Maybe, the winner is not always a fair winner, but everyone knows that it´s extremely hard to compare alpinistic achievements...The fact that Humar didn´t win the award for maybe the greatest thing in the history of alpinism seems to be a little bit strange, e.g. ...But it´s the decision of the jury.
Wishing you all a nice Sunday.
Greets from Germany, Rainer.
Damo 09 Feb 2003
In reply to Removed UserH R:
> (In reply to Removed Userdave) I think the "Piolet d´Or" is an award created by Russians.

It's French, with some Russian input, especially in earlier years.

>The fact that Humar didn´t win the award for maybe the greatest thing in the history of alpinism seems to be a little bit strange,

Oh, come on. He did a lot of hard climbing, to be sure, but:
- the face had basically been climbed twice, once by Yugoslavs, once by Japanese, admittedly not directly, but big climbs nonetheless. It's not like he was the first guy on the face
- the line took a major detour - sensible but not aesthetic
- he did not go to the summit - again, sensible, but not what it could have been
- there was a lot of media hype, which is a personal preference, but not intrinsic to the quality of the climb, only to the budget

What about Beghin on the S face of Makalu, Kurtyka and Schauer on G4, Loretan & Troillet on ChoOyu SWface/Everest Nface/DhaulaEface in winter/, Messner on NangaParbat78/Everest80, Colonel Norton on Ev in 1924 even ?

Humar is an awesomely bold and talented climber, whose feats I will never match, but that Dhaula climb was more hype than substance.

D

 Doug 09 Feb 2003
In reply to Damo:
The Piolet d'Or is French, organised by Montagnes magazine & the Groupe de Haute Montagne (a group a bit like the UK Alpine Climbing Group). Don't know of any particular Russian involvement, they make an effort to have non French climbers on the panel and several Brits have been involved over the years.

Steven Martin 09 Feb 2003
I remember when Doug Scott was awarded a bravery medal for saving someone's life, and he refused it, he said something like life is about each other not awards. .... god my memory is bad these days. Can anyone remember more details?
Removed User 09 Feb 2003
In reply to Damo: I was a little bit suprised about all that media hype, and especially, when I heard about 1,700,000 visitors of www.humar.com during the expedition. I think that the differences between the best mountaineers in this world are not too big. Many nations have great people: GB with Fowler, Germany with Alex and Tom Huber, Switzland with Loretan, US with Anker, and so on, and only to mention some of them. I guess eastern climbers, like Babanov, Karo, Humar, have just other mentalities than many western climbers. So they are sometimes willing to face other difficulties (-> with other objective dangers) - a nd that can sometimes mean suicide... !
But you are right: all climbs you mentioned, Beghin, Messner, Kurtyka, ..., are not less valueable than Dhala S-face.
Greetings, Rainer.
 TobyA 10 Feb 2003
In reply to Steven Martin: He was offered a knighthood for his epic descent of the Ogre followed by a crawl for 8 (?) miles down a glacier dragging two broken legs. He refused and said anyone who wanted to live would have done the same.

Some people point out that although Bonnington and Scott showed obvious great skill and tenacity surviving that descent - they probably would not have made it without the help of Mo Anthoine and (IIRC) Clive Rowland, who's part in the story is often forgotten.
RichT 10 Feb 2003
In reply to TobyA:

And to be fair, when I've heard Chris and Doug talking about the epic at different times they've made this very clear and been full of praise for Mo and Clive
Anonymous 10 Feb 2003
In reply to RichT: Is that Clive Rowland as in Clive Rowland Mountain Sports (shop) of Inverness? Never made the connection before.
 TobyA 10 Feb 2003
In reply to RichT: I found Bonnington's website when googling Clive Rowland to check I remembered the name right - and as you say - even in the brief note there he gives them full credit, so I guess it is just hearing the story told by others, not Bonnington or Scott themeselves.
Dr Jamie 10 Feb 2003
In reply to Anonymous:

sorry, should have read 'Nice one, Mick and Paul', not 'Nice Mick and Paul'. Can see why that looked weird.

Saw Mick Fowler talk once. Brilliant. Gets on a plane, goes to Bolivia, climbs something totally huge, goes home. He makes it seem so effortless, like going to the shops or something. Should be sports personality of the year.

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