Welcome to What You Missed,听our daily digest of breaking news and topical perspectives from across the outdoor world. You can also get this news delivered to your email inbox six days a week by for the What You Missed newsletter.听

There鈥檚 a chicken-or-egg question at the heart of a in The New York Times about mountaineering鈥檚 highest honor, the Piolet d鈥橭r.

Does the annual award tempt climbers to take deadly risks in the high mountains? Or do mountaineers simply face life-or-death situations as they pursue the unclimbed or punishing routes that Piolet d鈥橭r judges tend to honor?

罢丑别听Times contacted some of the biggest names in mountaineering for their perspectives, among them Frenchman , Argentine , and even the sport鈥檚 elder statesman Reinhold Messner, who accepted the Piolet d鈥橭r lifetime achievement award in 2010.

鈥淚 was always against the idea that traditional climbing is a competition,鈥� Messner told The Times. 鈥淕enerally I am not for medals at all. The lifetime award鈥攊t鈥檚 about respect.鈥�

This story lacks a conclusive answer to its existential question, with interviewees presenting opinions on both sides of the divide. Garibotti, who for the award in 2006 and 2009, believes the awards at the very least reinforce a culture of extreme risk taking. Scottish climber , meanwhile, thinks few mountaineers are actually motivated by the awards, likening the Piolet d’Or to a Nobel Prize granted to a scientist for a breakthrough in a niche field of study.

鈥淭hey鈥檙e not like, 鈥業f I do this, I鈥檒l get a Nobel Prize,鈥欌�� Hawthorn said.

The story has sparked a debate online within the mountaineering community, with climbers and fans taking to social media, , and even the story鈥檚 comments section to voice their opinions.

I've literally never met or even heard of any alpine climber who 1) does what they do because they think it will earn them a piolet d'or, and 2) is even all that glad to have won a piolet d'or (lots of people try to refuse to accept it, which I also think is dumb).

— Andrew Bisharat (@EveningSends)

鈥淧eople were making, and dying on extreme ascents long before the Piolet d鈥橭r, but I agree with the general sentiment, that climbing and awards are odd bedfellows,鈥� wrote one commenter on the 罢颈尘别蝉鈥櫶�website.

鈥淒ying doing what you love is overrated,鈥� wrote another. 鈥淚鈥檝e lost 34 friends and relatives that way. Who loves having his neck broken, head smashed in, or lungs full of snow? The companies that sponsor these athletes aren鈥檛 paying them to top-rope at the gym.鈥�

Mountaineering rewards those who are comfortable with risk, and the world鈥檚 top climbers share a desire to push themselves in environments that most people would never choose to explore. There are a growing number of external forces that also push climbers to tackle bigger and bolder routes, such as sponsorship obligations and media opportunities. It鈥檚 no secret that major expeditions these days become , , or for major outdoor companies.

Whether a Netflix documentary or a branded film can motivate a mountaineer to a greater degree than either the Piolet d’Or or his or her own internal drive, however, is a question for an altogether different story.

Canyoneering Death in Zion National Park

Andrew Arvig of Chesapeake, Virginia, died over the weekend while canyoneering with two others in Heaps Canyon, a section of pools and cliffs approximately four miles from the park鈥檚 main entrance. On Sunday rangers located the trio stranded above Emerald Pools. Two climbers were perched on a cliff, while Arvig hung from a rope about 260 feet above the ground.

Crews lowered Arvig, and a doctor later pronounced him dead. Officials with the National Park Service are investigating the cause of his death.

According , the trio had set out Saturday morning to rappel from a series of cliffs overlooking the Emerald Pools section of the park. They encountered problems near the canyon鈥檚 exit when Arvig overshot a small rock ledge, where he needed to re-anchor his rope for the final rappel to the ground. The other two climbers were able to reach the ledge and called for help, but poor reception delayed their connection to search and rescue. By the time rescue crews reached them on Sunday morning, Arvig was dead.

Heaps Canyon is known to be one of the more dangerous sections of the park, and in 2015 a man died after falling 100 feet through the slot canyon.

The incident is the latest in what has been the for the park鈥檚 search-and-rescue crews. By early October, crews had recorded more than 160 operations鈥攆ive involving fatalities鈥攚ell above the annual average of 110.

Don鈥檛 Troll Lindsey Vonn

Lindsey Vonn reads your tweets, and she鈥檚 happy to correct your very wrong opinions about her.

Yes I ski for fun all the time. Took me a moment to get back into it since I was always in so much pain the last few years of racing. You and @T_Prizm don鈥檛 know me at all. My passion and love for skiing is what brought me back from all of my injuries. My production co just

— lindsey vonn (@lindseyvonn)

Member Exclusive

鈥�A New Theory on Sudden Cardiac Deaths in Young Athletes鈥� New research suggests the genes that lead to fatal heart attacks may be the same ones giving athletes a performance advantage. 国产吃瓜黑料

Around the 国产吃瓜黑料 Network

鈥�鈥� Putting yourself in a new and uncomfortable situation on a climb can yield great results. Climbing

鈥�鈥� Contributor Amelia Arvesen analyzes freeze dryers, waterproof backpacks, and everything in between to help with your holiday shopping.听Backpacker

鈥�鈥� Contributor Ian Collins spent three days riding in Idaho鈥檚 panhandle and found a trail network worthy of your attention. Beta

鈥溾�� No matter the distance of your next race, you will find helpful advice in this checklist. Trail Runner

The post What You Missed: Piolet d鈥橭r Story Sparks Mountaineering Debate appeared first on 国产吃瓜黑料 Online.

Winners of the 2021 Piolets d鈥橭r, mountaineering鈥檚 highest honor, were announced October 8 for two significant ascents, one in the Canadian Rockies and one in Pakistan, as well as a special mention for prolific big-wall soloist听. The recipients were awarded by a jury of five veteran alpinists鈥擨nes Papert, Kelly Cordes, Victor Saunders, Valery Babanov, and Helias Millerioux; the latter two are themselves past recipients.听

On October 28, the prestigious Lifetime Achievement Award was also given to Yasushi Yamanoi, a 56-year-old Japanese alpinist with noteworthy rock, ice, and alpine ascents around the world. He is the 13th recipient of the award and joins a heavy-hitting list of climbing greats. The official awards ceremony will be held November 26-29 in Brian莽on, France.听

This year鈥檚 award winners were recognized for feats on the following summits:听

Mount Robson (12,972 feet), British Columbia

From September 30 to October 1, 2020, American Ethan Berman and the UK鈥檚 Uisdean Hawthorn established , a 7,500-foot Grade VI route on Mount Robson鈥檚 historic Emperor Face. The jury was most impressed by the duo鈥檚 commitment to a lightweight and self-supported style; Berman and Hawthorn made the 12.5-mile approach by foot in the pouring rain, bivvied once below the face, climbed virgin terrain on technical ground, bivvied again at the new elevation, and then spent a full day navigating the rime-fused traverse to the summit.

Looking back on the ascent, Berman told Climbing听that 鈥渨hat stands out the most is how wild and out-there the adventure was鈥攍ike climbing the final ice pitches to the summit through a tube of rime gargoyles leaning every which way.鈥�

Though not Canadian-born, both Berman and Hawthorn are currently based in Canada and appreciate how accessible Mount Robson is compared to big mountains abroad. 鈥淵ou don鈥檛 have to travel around the world and pay a ton of money to get the raw, visceral experience that climbing in the mountains delivers,鈥� Berman said.

In a press release, the that 鈥淏erman and Hawthorn were only the second team (and the first for almost 40 years) to climb a new line on the face, and reach the summit, without using a helicopter for the approach or descent.鈥�

As for the award itself, Hawthorn said he was happy to see the restructuring of the Piolets d鈥橭r in 2009 to include multiple ascents and the Lifetime Achievement Award. Before that year, the award received criticism for recognizing only one recipient and for creating a competitive atmosphere in the alpine climbing community.听

Hawthorn said this new multi-recipient format levels the playing field for less media-inclined climbers. 鈥淭hese days it鈥檚 easy for certain ascents to receive attention, because of [several] factors,鈥� he said. Did the alpinists make a film about the ascent? What language do they speak? How many Instagram followers do they have? 鈥淭he [jury] doesn鈥檛 take these things into account and considers ascents that don鈥檛 make the news at all,鈥� he continued. 鈥淭he members of the jury, made up of experienced and respected alpinists, [are] people who have committed themselves to alpinism for many years. To give them an opportunity to promote what they consider impressive ascents from the year is important. It鈥檚 alpine climbers driving the direction of alpinism鈥攏ot editors, marketing managers, or film directors.鈥�

Sani Pakkush (22,808 feet), Tolltar Valley, Pakistan

From October 16 to 19, 2020, French alpinists Pierrick Fine, 26, and Symon Welfringer, 28, made the first ascent of Revers Gagnant, an 8,200-foot route (M4+ WI 4+ 90掳)鈥攁nd just the second ascent of the mountain鈥攐n Sani Pakkush鈥檚 south face and southwest ridge.听

The pair originally planned to visit Nepal that autumn but a bout of pandemic-related restrictions forced them to change objectives. Pakistan was the only country willing to let them enter, so an online photo they found of Sani Pakkush became their last-minute goal.

Theirs would be an exploratory trip through and through. 鈥淭he south face is big and complex and rises from the head of the Tolltar Valley, the upper part of the glacier almost certainly not reached previously by mountaineers,鈥� the Piolets d鈥橭r press release said. 鈥淭he odds were stacked against them as October is generally far too late for climbing big mountains in Pakistan.鈥�

鈥淭o be honest, until now, the Piolets d鈥橭r was something unreachable for me. I have to admit that it was something I would have loved to accomplish one day,鈥� Welfringer told Climbing. 鈥淚n alpinism, you don鈥檛 really get recognition from what you achieve. The community is quite small, and the public doesn鈥檛 always understand the meaning and the difficulty of [creating routes]in remote areas like the Himalayas and other wild ranges.鈥�

Fine told Climbing that he appreciated the jury鈥檚 emphasis on rewarding style and ethics, and he pointed to the that inspired his own climbing. Speaking candidly, he said he was surprised to learn of his award; he thinks Revers Gagnant would not receive the Piolets d鈥橭r in a year when more climbers were allowed into the Himalayas. 鈥淏ut this [ascent] is also in the spirit of the award鈥攁dventure and daring,鈥� Fine said.

Special Mention: Silvia Vidal

Catalan climber Silvia Vidal has made cutting-edge solo ascents around the world. She received this mention for 鈥渄oing more with less,鈥� according to the Piolets d鈥橭r press release, and for embodying an authentic lust for adventure while upholding a high standard of commitment. For more than two decades, Vidal, 50, has shown 鈥渋mpressive feats of endurance and hard aid climbing on remote big walls around the world,鈥� the press release said. 鈥淗er most notable ascents have been achieved mainly in total autonomy: entirely alone, no radio, no mobile, no GPS, no weather forecasts, no communication. Drilling tends to be minimal, and always by hand.鈥�

Vidal鈥檚 new routes, climbed in capsule style, have been in places such as Alaska, Canada, Chile, India, Mali, Pakistan and Peru. The jury recognized significant solo ascents including her 2017 ascent of听Un Pas M茅s (1,730 feet, 5.10a) on听Xanadu in Alaska, which required 36 days of ferrying equipment鈥攕ome听335 miles of walking鈥攂oth up to and down from the face, and 17 days alone on the wall, and in 2020,听Sincronia Magica (3,871 feet, 5.10b) on El Chileno Grande, Chile, which saw 16 days of load carrying and, after fixing the initial 590 feet, 33 days alone on the wall.

The Lifetime Achievement Award: Yasushi Yamanoi

The Lifetime Achievement Award was first given to Walter Bonatti in 2009, to acknowledge the impact his career had on the following generations of young alpinists. Legendary climbers who have since received the award include Catherine Destivelle, Jeff Lowe, and Reinhold Messner.听

Lindsay Griffin and Rodolphe Popier, with input from Hiroshi Hagiwara, chose to honor Yamanoi for his wide-ranging鈥攁nd ongoing鈥攃areer: from his initial free-solo forays around his home in Japan to chasing hard crack climbs like Cosmic Debris (5.13a) and Sphynx Crack (5.13b) in America, to becoming the first person to solo Patagonia鈥檚 Fitz Roy (11,171 feet) in winter, which he accomplished听in July 1990.听

As noted in the听, 鈥嶻amanoi, 56, first explored the world of high-altitude climbing in the early nineties as part of a siege-style Japanese expedition on Broad Peak (26,414 feet). While Yamanoi didn鈥檛 take to the heavy, militant tactics of that climbing style, he became enamored with the greater ranges and returned, time and again, for significant ascents: a new 7,200-foot route on the southwest face of Cho Oyu (21,864 feet), solo; a first ascent of the east face of Kusum Kanguru (20,889 feet), solo; a first ascent of the striking southwest face of Bublimotin (19,685 feet) with Taeko and Daisaku Nakaga; and a proud attempt of the unclimbed east face of K2 (28,251), with the Polish alpinist Voytek Kurtyka.

鈥淲hether solo, as a married couple, or with friends, Yasushi Yamanoi鈥檚 climbing has shown great creativity, commitment, and resilience,鈥� the press release said. 鈥淗is minimalist style and often discreet ascents paved the way for younger Japanese climbers to operate in modern alpine-style. Together with a great respect for the environment through which he travelled, these qualities make Yasushi Yamanoi a worthy recipient of the 13th Career Award.鈥�

The post Alpinism鈥檚 Highest Honors Announced: Recipients of the 2021 Piolets d鈥橭r appeared first on 国产吃瓜黑料 Online.