Three Epic Ascents Win the 2025 Piolet d’Or
Photo: Lucyna Lewandowska Fotografia
The Piolets d’Or – mountaineering’s most prestigious awards – have announced the three 2024 ascents honored this year for boldness, technical mastery, and alpine spirit. The 2025 ceremony will take place for the second year running in San Martino di Castrozza in Italy’s Dolomites, supported by Trentino Marketing, the Municipality of Primiero San Martino di Castrozza, and the Dolomites UNESCO Foundation. This year’s international jury selected climbs from Nepal and Pakistan, reflecting what it called “the continuing vitality of modern alpinism.”
Kaqur Kangri (6,859 m) – Nepal Himalaya
First ascent of the southwest arête (1,670 m, 5.10 A0 M7 WI5), Kanti Himal, October 15–21, 2024
By Americans Spencer Gray, Ryan Griffiths, and Matt Zia
The American trio targeted the remote Kanti Himal, where photos revealed only the upper south face. Opting for the southwest ridge, they hiked eight days to a 4,700 m base camp, acclimatized on a 6,200 m peak, and made their first attempt in mid-October.After reaching 5,800 m, a stove failure forced retreat. Following the death of a friend back home, Zia left the expedition, while Gray and Griffiths returned for a second push. Climbing on granitic gneiss, often sharing one pair of rock shoes, they endured two days of snow and ice on the crux headwall – eight sustained mixed pitches. From a high snowfield camp, they summited on October 31, then made roughly 12 rappels down the northwest ridge and west slopes, returning to base the same day. The jury praised their technical difficulty, elegant style, and full traverse, calling the route one of West Nepal’s hardest and a benchmark for exploratory Himalayan alpinism.
Gasherbrum III (7,952 m) – Pakistan Karakoram
First ascent of the west ridge via Edge of Entropy (~3,000 m), Baltoro Muztagh, July 31–August 4, 2024
By Aleš Česen (Slovenia) and Tom Livingstone (UK)
At just 48 meters below 8,000 m, Gasherbrum III long held the title of the world’s highest unclimbed mountain until 1975, when a Polish team made the first ascent via the southeast face – a climb still notable as the highest first ascent by women (Alison Chadwick and Wanda Rutkiewicz). Only one repetition followed, in 2004. A British attempt on the west ridge in 1985 reached 7,400 m but retreated in high winds. Česen and Livingstone failed on the northwest face in 2022 but returned in 2024 after three acclimatization climbs – one topping 7,000 m. Beginning July 31, they climbed alpine-style up the west ridge, bivouacking at 7,000 m, 7,500 m, and 7,800 m (an open sitting bivouac) before bypassing the headwall (M6). They summited and descended the east face and Gasherbrum II’s normal southwest ridge, sleeping once at Camp 4 (7,400 m), and reached base on August 6. The jury highlighted their long, committing route on a rarely visited near-8,000 m peak, a pure alpine-style ascent demonstrating that adventure still thrives on the world’s highest mountains.
Yashkuk Sar (6,667 m) – Pakistan Karakoram
First ascent via north pillar – Tiger Lily Buttress (2,000 m, AI5+ M6 A0), Batura Muztagh, September 19–23, 2024
By August Franzen, Dane Steadman, and Cody Winckler (USA)
In the remote Chapursan Valley, near Afghanistan’s border, Americans Franzen, Steadman, and Winckler explored the Yashkuk Yaz Glacier, an area visited by only three expeditions before them. After acclimatizing with new routes on nearby 6,000-meter peaks, they launched their main climb on September 19, following the steep north pillar of Yashkuk Sar I. Two days of ice and snow led to exposed bivouacs at 5,600 m and 5,900 m. When a huge ice mushroom collapsed on their planned headwall line, they traversed left into a new system, bivouacking on what they called “the airiest ledge of our lives.”
The third day brought hard mixed ground and surreal snow to the summit ridge, where they bivouacked in a crevasse at 6,400 m. They summited on September 23 and descended via a complex combination of rappels, traverses, and downclimbing – over 2,000 m in total – reaching the glacier that same night.The jury commended their high-risk commitment, remote exploration, and youthful drive, noting how the team “embodies the spirit of alpinism through imagination and style.”
Celebrating the Spirit of Exploration
Together, these three climbs – Kaqur Kangri, Gasherbrum III, and Yashkuk Sar – represent the essence of the Piolet d’Or: small, self-reliant teams tackling difficult objectives in remote corners of the world with elegance and boldness.
As the awards return to San Martino di Castrozza (December 9–12, 2025), they celebrate not only achievement but the enduring creativity and courage of alpinists worldwide.