What happened
The 2026 edition of the Piolets d’Or, climbing’s most prestigious prize, was held last week in a remote corner of the French Alps, with the ceremony at Bourg d’Oisans and gatherings in the tiny village of Saint-Christophe-en-Oisans. ExplorersWeb was there for the post-award experts’ panel, where jury members and awarded climbers debated the future of the prize. This year’s awarded climbs included Jannu East by Benjamin Vedrines and Nicolas Jean, plus the complete teams from Ultar Sar, Aikache Chokk and Jerupaja Grande, and a lifetime achievement award for Peter Habeler, 84.
How the jury works
The jury works remotely from a Big List of outstanding climbs compiled by Lindsay Griffin, long-time editor of the American Alpine Journal, and the UK’s Alpine Club. Jurors study the climbs and narrow them to a shortlist that is not made public. Awards go to the climbs chosen by a majority, and this year decisions were finalised on the first vote, with no tie-break needed. Organisers made clear that appearing on the Big List does not make a team a Piolet d’Or nominee, despite some teams announcing themselves as nominees on social media — and no one at the panel supported publishing the shortlists.
Why drones divided the room
The liveliest debate was about drones. Vedrines and Jean used drones to check their planned route on Jannu, though the drone proved useless for a section they could not see from base camp and lost connection approaching it; before the summit push they used drones to identify the true highest point. The Ultar Sar team also had a drone. Most awarded climbers agreed drones are acceptable as long as teams are completely transparent about what they used them for. Jury member Jordi Corominas called them an innovation here to stay, no different from satellite messengers or modern ice tools. Paul Ramsden, the record five-time winner, stood against the tide: in his view drones spoil the adventure and uncertainty of pure alpine style, and he himself uses neither drones, trackers nor satellite phones.
What to watch
Organisers floated expanding the awards with a special prize for the best rock climb and possibly the best ski descent, building on a new performance category tested this year — one performance ski descent, Typhaine Duperier’s alpine-style climb and ski descent of Nanga Parbat’s Schell route, took the female award. The physical trophy itself has also changed: it is no longer a golden ice axe, but a hand-crafted plaque bearing La Meige, set on rock from La Berarde, a village destroyed in a flood two years ago. Next year’s ceremony returns to the same location, perhaps in late summer, marking 150 years since the first ascent of La Meige.
Source: ExplorersWeb — https://explorersweb.com/piolets-dor-insider/
