Piolets d’Or Awarded To All Six Nominated Ascents

Photo by Pascal Tournaire.
Courtesy of Piolets d'Or.

A huge “Congratulations!” goes out to all the alpinists that received a Piolet d’Or for their phenomenal ascents during 2012. Among the six ascents that were awarded, Kyle Dempster and Hayden Kennedy’s ascent up the south face of The Ogre (Baintha Brakk) in Pakistan was one of them. Kyle and Hayden are both Edelweiss athletes and live in Salt Lake City, UT and Carbondale, CO.

As reported in the official press release and on various climbing media websites, this year’s prestigious award didn’t go to just one or three ascents but to six:

• Baintha Brakk, a.k.a. The Ogre (7,285m), Pakistan
• Nanga Parbat (8,125m), Pakistan
• Kyashar (6,770m), Nepal
• Muztagh Tower (7,284m), Pakistan
• Kamet (7,756m), India
• Shiva (6,142m), India

In addition to those ascents, a Special Mention was given to two ascents on Cerro Torre—one of them made by Hayden Kennedy—for their honorary ethics of style and respect.

Before the official six nominated ascents were named, Kyle and Hayden actually had two ascents in Pakistan that made it on the “Super Big List” of nominees: the one ascent on the Ogre and another on K7. Kyle Dempster is no stranger when it comes to the Piolets d'Or, as he now holds two awards after only three nominations. His first award was presented to him in 2010 for his ascent of The Great White Jade Heist in China.

In a time when it seems like everything has been climbed, Kyle and Hayden are among the world-class alpinists that are raising the bar in the world of alpinism. Their passion and determination to explore is what will lead them onto new and exciting adventures in the future.

Video of the 2013 Piolet d'Or awards ceremony:


Video interview with Kyle Dempster and Hayden Kennedy before the 2013 Piolets d'Or award ceremony:


Links for the 2013 Piolet d’Or Awards:
http://www.pioletsdor.com/images/PO2013/presse/cp6_gb.pdf
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1ydEZQ03VVY&feature=youtu.be
http://www.climbing.com/news/everyone-is-a-winner-at-2013-piolets-dor/
http://www.rockandice.com/lates-news/everyone-wins-at-piolets-dor
http://www.planetmountain.com/english/News/shownews1.lasso?l=2&keyid=40763
http://www.planetmountain.com/english/News/shownews1.lasso?l=2&keyid=40758

Links for the ascents on the Ogre and K7:
http://www.planetmountain.com/english/News/shownews1.lasso?l=2&keyid=40011
http://www.alpinist.com/doc/web12f/newswire-k7-ogre-full-report
http://www.alpinist.com/doc/web13w/wfeature-mugs-2012-kennedy
http://enormocast.com/episode-31-hayden-kennedy-andrew-bisharat-pbr-frothy-climbing-spray/#comment-9371
http://www.climbing.com/news/trio-makes-first-ascent-on-k7/

Links for the ascent on Cerro Torre:
http://enormocast.com/episode-6-hayden-kennedy-alpine-taliban-or-patagonian-custodian-part-1/
http://enormocast.com/episode-7-hayden-kennedy-alpine-taliban-or-patagonian-custodian-part-2/
http://www.alpinist.com/doc/web12w/newswire-kruk-kennedy-statement

A special note: It was exciting to see that Gerlinde Kaltenbrunner, a Valandre athlete, was on this year’s Piolet d’Or Jury. Gerlinde was the first woman to climb all 14 peaks over 8,000 meters without supplemental oxygen.

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