Notes from the Top
Cutting Edge Climbs and a Pig’s Knee
The Piolets d’or
Joanna Croston
My first time at the Piolets d’or was in France, at La Grave in 2016. I was planning on visiting a friend in Chamonix anyway, she was moving house, so I told her I would turn up to give her a hand. It was meant to be a combo work/play trip and I was looking forward to it. It could have been the jet lag but when I picked up my rental car in Geneva I was a little concerned. The car that had been reserved for me seemed like it was better suited to a troupe of clowns. It was a black and orange Smart Car, specifically the entire interior was orange including the dash. Now normally I’m not one who cares about this sort of thing but it was my first Piolets and I didn’t want to seem like an outsider, in fact I was hoping that I might just blend right in. There was definitely not going to be any “blending” with this car unless I was headed to a Lego convention.
I did make it to La Grave from Chamonix via some crazy roundabout route since it was spring and many of the high passes in France were still closed. I think perhaps I took the most expensive route possible as well. One of my tolls through the gut of an Italian mountain near Briançon cost me around $140. More unnerving than that was the fact that the tunnel was 13 km long. There was no reason to feel unsafe or alarmed in my racy Smart Car was there? Surely these transport trucks could see me and my bright orange interior?
Once I arrived at the celebrations in La Grave it all came together. Ironically most of the events were held under a “Big Top” tent, so pulling up in my clown car, I felt completely at home. Over the days that followed, I met up with some friends, Bernadette Mcdonald, Victor Saunders, Sandy Allan, John Porter and artist Andy Parkin to name a few. I met the late Hayden Kennedy there. Who knew then that we would lose such a bright shining star of alpinism. He was on top of the world with this recent award. I chatted with Paul Ramsden, a four time Piolet winner. We chatted mostly about polar bears for some reason. I ate breakfast every morning in the small alpine pension with Voytek Kurtyka. I was overwhelmed by his friendliness, we talked about life more than climbing, about music and art. He was reluctantly there, but with prodding of a global alpine community, he had come to finally accept the Piolet Lifetime Achievement award. He had been nominated three times previously and had declined each time. Everyone was treated like a me, driving a clown car, and we had a grand time.
In 2018, I returned to the Piolets d’or, this time in Poland at the Mountain Festival in Ladek-drozj as they were the newly nominated base camp for the awards ceremony. This would be the first time that the Piolets would leave the Alps, so many were wondering how the event would be received in Poland and by the climbing community at large. The Piolets have had bouts of controversy before, so more turbulence was not what the awards needed. But luckily for the Piolets, alpinism in Poland is a bit like hockey in Canada. Everyone knows the players, the peaks, their past. I’ve never experienced so much pride for the climbing community as I have in Poland. Every four-year-old kid and his grandmother can tell you about all the Polish winter expeditions to the Himalaya. It’s a point of national pride. So what better place to host the Piolets d’or? Little did I know the vip treatment would continue, only this time…polish style.
It started with a shot of homemade vodka on the airport shuttle. Our fine hostess pulled out two clear, unmarked bottles from her bag and told us her friend made this vodka from lemons and that we “must drink!”. Much to her disappointment this bus full of vips only made it about three-quarters of the way through one bottle. She shook her head in disappointment at these foreign climbers and dignitaries. The shenanigans continued the next day when we all gathered for what was meant to be a day long hike in the mountains above Ladek-drozj. Things got awry when the military truck showed up. The enthusiastic mayor of the town whisked us into the open aired vehicle and we 4x4ed all the way up to an alpine hut, where we got to walk for about 45 minutes before we were once again whisked away, this time into the dining hall for beer and perogies. Delicious! But not much of a hike.
The Piolets celebration lasted a few days, just as it had in France. The award winners gave interesting presentations on their cutting-edge climbs. Particularly moving was the tribute by Kazuya Hiraide and Kendro Nakajima to the late Kei Taniguchi. Taniguchi had been a partner of Hiraide’s and was one of the only women to have ever won a Piolet. We mingled at private parties each night, the final one held at the vineyard of one of the festival’s biggest supporters. The weather was horrendous, we all huddled under a gazebo trying to stay dry and by the end of the night Sean Villaneuva O’driscoll and Nico Favresse had everyone churning out Irish drinking songs in all languages possible.
I started my journey home the next day and had the chance to share dinner that night in Prague with Chantel Astorga and Anne Gilbert Chase, who had been awarded a Piolet Special Mention along with Jason Thompson for their route on the southwest face of Nilkanth in India. They had also managed the first female ascent of the Slovak Direct on Denali a few months earlier. It only seemed appropriate to order a roasted “pig’s knee” to celebrate the past few days. Despite us being convinced there must be a language barrier with the menu, we got an actual pig’s vip, including