Few Swiss mountaineers have won the Piolet d’or (since 1992) or the Piolets d’or (since 2009), the supreme award for mountain specialists who are highlighted for exceptional ascents. Only four have had this honor until this year.
There was the Genevan guide Michel Piola, in 1993, for his ascent with the French Vincent Sprungli of the east face of the South Tower of Paine, in Patagonia. At that time the prize rewarded only one expedition per year.
Since 2009 and the appearance of the Piolets d’or, which highlight several ascents each year, the Bernese Ueli Steck, who died in 2017, and his Valais teammate Simon Anthamatten were honored for the first alpine style ascent of the north face of the Tengkampoche (6500 m), Nepal.
Ueli Steck was again rewarded in 2014 for his solo on the south face of Annapurna, in Nepal. And in 2023, a special mention was awarded to Valaisanne Caro North and her teammates for the first ascent of the east face of the Northern Sun Spire (1527 m), via the Via Sedna route, in East Greenland.
But this year, three new names will be added to the list of Swiss mountain “heroes”: those of Genevan Matthias Gribi (24 years old), Vaudois Nathan Monard (28 years old) and Neuchâtelois Hugo Béguin ( 25 years).
Between October 3 and 7, 2023, the three young Swiss guides opened a new route (called “Tomorrow is another day”) on the north face of Flat Top (6057 m), in the Kishtwar region, India, before descending via the still virgin west face. This would only be the third ascent of this Himalayan mountain.
On his Instagram account, the day after this feat, Matthias Gribi wrote: “In the end, at the cost of lengths of ice in poor conditions, not easy mixed and rocky lengths, transitions in deep snow, a bivouac sitting with your feet in the void and four bivouacs in total on the mountain (three on the ascent, one on the descent), we achieved what we had come for.
The three Swiss mountaineers will receive their prize between December 8 and 11, in San Martino di Castrozza, in the Dolomites (Ita). The other awards will go to the Japanese Kazuya Hiraide and Kenro Nakajima, who died this summer during an attempt on K2, for their “Secret Line” on the Tirich Mir (Pakistan) and to the Americans Jackson Marvell, Matt Cornell and Alan Rousseau for their Alpine style ascent of the north face of Jannu (Nepal).
A special mention will be awarded to the Italian Nives Meroi for “all of her achievements”.
