Lifetime Achievement Award winner Denis Urbko
About the Award-Winning Ascents:
First ascent of Himjung Peak in Nepal by the Korean team of Kim Chang-ho and An Chi-young
The Korean team of Kim Chang-ho and An Chi-young
Award ceremony
Himjung Peak, the highest unclimbed peak in Nepal, was challenged by this Korean pair starting October 9 of the previous year. After three days, they summited via the southwest face route in temperatures as low as minus 22 degrees Celsius.
Zhou Peng, Li Shuang, and Yan Dongdong’s new route ascents in the Gongga Mountain range
Li Shuang and Zhou Peng receiving the award on-site
In October 2011, Zhou Peng, Li Shuang, and Yan Dongdong completed a series of new route ascents in the Gongga Mountain area: the north face of Lhotse Shar “In Memory of Chris” (AI2/55-degree snow slope, 1,000m), the west face of Gyachung Kang “Dance of Freedom” (M6/WI3/55-degree snow slope, 1,524m), and the central couloir on the south face of Little Gongga (5,924m).
In addition to the award-winning ascents, two other climbs were nominated: the Korean trio of Choi Suk-moon, Moon Sung-wook, and An Jong-Neung’s ascent of the north face route of Mount McKinley, and the Japanese duo of Kazuya Hiraide and Kei Taniguchi’s five-day alpine-style traverse of Nepal’s Namcha Barwa Peak (7,694m, located in Tibet, China). These two climbers had previously won the 2009 Asian Golden Piton Award for the first ascent of Namcha Barwa.
Asian Golden Piton Award (Piolets d’Or Asia)
The Asian Golden Piton Award is an annual award for Asian mountaineers, jointly initiated in 2006 by South Korea’s Men and Mountain magazine and France’s Montagnes magazine. This year marks its 7th edition. Developed from the Piolets d’Or (Golden Piton) Award, it aims to encourage innovative and groundbreaking achievements among Asian climbers. The selection process follows a similar format to the Piolets d’Or, with a jury composed of the editor-in-chief of Montagnes magazine and other mountaineers and media representatives voting to determine the winners. To date, only climbers from Japan, South Korea, and Kazakhstan have been nominated. The award is currently the highest honor in Asian mountaineering.