the discreet Italian Nives Meroi wins the first female mention

This special mention has long been debated, but this year’s choice of Nives Meroi will undoubtedly reconcile the fiercest opponents of a distinction aimed at promoting women’s mountaineering, which is still too often absent from the media. Considered the most famous Italian mountaineer, she has made her mark on the history of mountaineering on many occasions, without chasing honors. It is for her major role in the rise of Diamonds on the Soles of the Shoes, in May 2023, that she is rewarded this time. A route located on the west face of Kabru Sud (7,318m), in Nepal, in the Kangchenjunga Himal, climbed with her husband, Romano Benet, the Slovak Peter Hámor and the Slovenian Bojan Jan. “The Piolets d’Or aim to promote female mountaineering by awarding a special mention to an exclusively female expedition having made a significant ascent in a major massif, or to one or more women playing a leading role in an ascent in mixed group, or even a single woman for major climbs over the years. », Explains the organization which presented its prestigious awards on December 10 in San Martino di Castrozza, Italy. This year, and for the first time, this distinction goes to the Italian Nives Meroi. A mountaineer who is far from being unknown, given her track record and her remarkable ethics. In 2007, on the summit of Everest, Nives Meroi became the first woman to have climbed more than 10 8,000 meter peaks. At her side, her climbing companion, her husband Romano Benet. Two years later, on the slopes of Kangchenjunga (8,586m), the third highest mountain in the world, Romano suffered from sudden fatigue. He can no longer move forward and suggests that Nives go to the summit alone. But she refuses, and begins a long descent with him without his condition improving….