Babanov and Koshelenko win Piolet d'or 2003

Valeri Babanov and Yuri Koshelenko won the prestigous Piolet d'Or for their ascent of Nuptse East South Pillar in November 2003.

Planetmountain.com

February 2004

Traduci in

Without a shadow of doubt: the Piolet d'Or 2003 had to be theirs. And so it was: on Friday night ValÃ©ry Babanov and Yuri Koshelenko walked away with the prestigious French mountaineering award for their ascent of Nuptse's South Pillar on 2 November 2003.

The two Russian mountaineers climbed with resolute determination to solve a great remaining Himalayan problem, which Koshelenko defined as "the greatest ascent of my life." Their sole ascent was perfect and, considering it was carried out during the crowded Jubilee celebrations of nearby Everest, is worth double.

This year's jury in Grenoble was comprised of Hubert Giot (GHM), Leslie Fucsko (GHM), Adriano Favre (ITA), Guy Chaumereuil, the editors of Montagnes Magazine and the winners of the Piolet d’Or 2002, Mick Fowler and Paul Ramsden. Theirs was the task of choosing a winner from the other seven nominees, listed below.

13Â° Piolet d'or, Valeri Babanov, Yuri Koshelenko

13Â° Piolet d'or, Valeri Babanov, Yuri Koshelenko

WINNER 13th PIOLET D'OR

Â Â Nuptse East south Pillar , Nepal
Valeri Babanov, Yuri Koshelenko (RUS)
Route: Moonlight Sonata/south pillar Nuptse east
Length: 2400m
Grade: VI – 5, A3/A4, WI 6, M5
Strategy: Fixed ropes up to 6700m, return to Lukla, then four-day ascent to reach summit. Free climbing from 6900 to 7803m. Descent to base camp in two days with one bivouac.

The other candidates for the 13th Piolet d'Or

Â Â Himalayan Trilogy Nepal and Pakistan
Jean Christophe Lafaille (FRA).
Three 8000m peaks without supplementary oxygen and in alpine style

Dhaulagiri, 8172m, Nepal
Route: NE Ridge
Length: 3200m
Grade: VI – 2
Alpine style, without supplementary oxygen, solo. Start establishing camps 3 May. Final push 17 May, summit 20 May at 10.00, return to base camp at 6.00

Nanga Parbat, 8125m, Pakistan
New route on Diamir Face Â«TomÂ», 2100m on Diamir Face to the left of the Kinshofer Route, which it joins at 7100m to then continue to the summit.
Length: 2100 + 1025m
Grade: VII – 4
Alpine style without supplementary oxygen together with Simone Moro via the route "Tom" up to 7100m. Jean Christophe was then joined by Ed Viesturs and together they climbed the Kinshofer Route.Bivouacs at 6500m, 6800m and 7400m.Start 20 June, summit on 23 June at 11:45, then return to base camp on 24 June.

Broad Peak (Falchan Kangri), main peak 8047m, Pakistan.
Route: the 1957 Route via the W ridge and N crest
Length: 3150 m
Grade: VI – 2/3
Alpine style without supplementary oxygen. Start 13 July together with Ed Viesturs. Camps at 6200m, 7000m and 7400m. Summit on 15 July at 10:45, after having left Camp 3 at 7000m at midnight.

Â Â New route NW Face of Thalay Sagar, India
StÃ©phane Benoist and Patrice Glairon-Rappaz (FRA), 21-30 September 2003
Route: One Way Ticket, exit via the Australian Route and Polano NorvÃ©gienne.
Length: 1200m, 29 pitches.
Grade: ED+, VII – AI6, M6, rock 5.
Strategy: 10 pitches in the first 2 days (snow 50/75Â°) before being held down due to bad weather at 6000m. Three more days of climbing needed to reach the summit on 29 September at 17.00. Descent to 6500m and a further night in the portaledge, before returning back to base camp, at times using fixed ropes left in place by a Korean expedition in the lower section of the wall.

Â Â New routes on Chacraraju and Jirishanca, Peru
Aymeric Clouet and Didier Jourdain (FRA)

Chacraraju Est (6001m),FA of South Face, Cordilliera Bianca, Peru.
Route: En lo alto, el viento sera nuestra recompensa
Length: 800 m. 9 long pitches through the central bastion.
Grade: V – AI5+, M6, Ice flute 70Â°.
Free climbing in one push plus abseil descent in 25 hours on 15 August.

Route: Tambo, churros y amigos.
Length: 1200 m. 30 pitches
Grade: VI – 7a, A2, colerette de glace Ã 95Â°.
Strategy: Start 29 August. 4 days to fix ropes to first bivouac, 2 rest days before 7 day push. Summit 9 September with 6c/7a free climbing, 5 bivouacs on portaledge, 1 bivouac in large ice cave beneath summit before reaching the summit the next day. descent 9 and 10 September.

Aymeric Clouet had attempted the route on Chacraraju the previous year with Arnaud Drouet, and finished it in 2003. It is dedicated to Arnaud, who died this summer on the Grands Mulets.

Â Â New route on Annapurna SE Ridge, Nepal
Ian Parnell, Kenton Cool (UK) and John Varco (EUA)
Route: SW crest
Length: 2500m
Grade: VI – rock 5, M5, WI4
Strategy: Ian Parnell and Kenton Cool climbed the first 600m free while John Varco haulbaged the gear using fixed ropes left in place by the Slovenian expeditions of 1995 and 2000. the three then climbed the remaining 1900m free, before descending back to base camp using fixed ropes in the lower section of the route.

Â Â Citadel, Alaska, Kichatna Range.
Marcin Tomaszewski, Dawid Kaszlikowski e Krzysztof Belczynski (POL)
Route: Last Cry of the Butterfly.
Length: 1200m.
Grade: VI – 5.10b, A4, 80Â°.
Strategy: capsule style, three camps on the wall. 17 days in all, 12 of which on the wall. The summit is reached through the ridge in bad weather conditions (wind and snow falls); on the descent they were forced to bivouac a full day on the ridge to protect themselves from a storm (3rd May). Bivouacs and descent to the base camp, removed 5th May.

Â Â Citadel, Alaska, Kichatna Range.
Stuart Mcaleese, Ollie Sanders, Twid Turner (UK)
A more direct and obvious route on the huge East face of Citadel: a perfect ice couloir, steep and technical: “every climber's dream to omake the first ascent of such a route.”
Route: The Super Dupa Couloir.
Length: 1200m, 21 pitches.
Grade: VI - WI 6+.
Free climbing, 2 bivouacs on wall, abseil descent by night. Total: 3 days and a half.

THE JURY PIOLET D'OR 2003
President: Jean Troillet
Hubert Giot (GHM)
Leslie Fucsko (GHM)
Adriano Favre (ITA)
Guy Chaumereuil (creator of Award)
The editors of Montagnes Magazine
Mick Fowler and Paul Ramsden (winners of the Piolet d’Or 2002).