Piolets d’Or criticized for encouraging risk

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Almost all disciplines have an annual award, if not multiple awards, given to those who excel in that field. Are you a great soccer player? You could win the Ballon d’Or a year. Have you written a collection of compelling short stories? If so, you might end up receiving the story award. It is therefore not surprising to learn that the mountaineering world also has its own annual award – the Piolet d’Or, or Golden Ice Ax, which was first awarded in 1992.

The aim of the awards, as explained on their website, is to “raise awareness of the biggest climbs of the year across the world”. That, in itself, seems pretty trivial. But there’s also a problem with a prize that inherently involves taking risks – a significant number of winners have died climbing mountains.

This, in turn, has led some to criticize the rewards and question whether they do more harm than good. A new article by Michael Levy in The New York Times explores the growing controversy over the Piolets d’Or. It also includes a disturbing statistic: “at least seven” people who have won the award since 2008 have later died while climbing.

The organizers of the awards rebuffed accusations that they rewarded dangerous behavior. Prize organizer Christian Trommsdorff told The Times that “[r]isk is not a factor in the selection process.

However, several recipients of the award have expressed mixed emotions at the idea of ​​winning it. The article specifically quotes Tom Livingstone, who wrote about his conflicting emotions about being part of a team that completed one of the “Honored Climbs” for 2019.

“It sparked competitiveness, played on climbers’ egos and rewarded some very controversial attempts at ‘alpine style’ (sometimes not even alpine style),” Livingstone wrote. “It now seems to be more of a celebration of climbing and meeting friends, which I like… but why always the rewards? “

Two years later, the questions he raised still resonate, with few easy answers.

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