There were no losers at this year’s Piolets d’Or, the awards that celebrate excellence in alpinism. Literally. , from a Russian team that climbed a new route up Pakistan’s Muztagh Tower to a British pair that put up a new line on the Northeast ridge of Shiva in India. The unprecedented tie is the first of its kind since French magazine Montagnes began presenting the Piolets 21 years ago.
“2012 was an exceptional year for groundbreaking ascents,” the organizers said in a press release. “The jury struggled to reduce that list to six, but those that were eventually chosen are truely outstanding.”
Besides the six awards, the jury, headed by British climber Stephen Venables, gave a special lifetime achievement award to Kurt Diemberger, the only living mountaineer to have made the first ascent of two 8,000-meter peaks.
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