2023 Piolets d'Or 'Significant Ascents' List Includes Routes by AC Members

^{Paul Ramsden acclimatising in the Jugal Himal. The line of his new route 'The Phantom Line' (1300m ED) is visible in the background
Photo: Tim Miller}

The Piolets d'Or have released a list of what they consider to be "significant ascents" from 2022. Among the noted routes are several by Alpine Club members:

• The first ascent of Gulmit Tower (5810m) by AC member Will Sim and Fabian Buhl.
  
  
• The first ascent of the east summit of Barnaj II (6303m) by Tom Seccombe and AC members Callum Johnson and Matt Glenn.
  
  
• The first ascent of Jugal Spire (6563m) by AC members Paul Ramsden and Tim Miller.
  
  
• The first ascent of 'The Pace of Comfort' (950m, 5.10 A3+ M6 70°) on the north-west face of Kichatna Spire (2739m) by David Allfrey, Whit Magro and AC member Graham Zimmerman.

The complete list of ascents is available to view on the Piolets d'Or website.

This list, as the website makes clear, does not represent the nominees for this year's Piolets d'Or Awards, but rather it is a record of significant or innovative ascents climbed in alpine or capsule style during 2022.

The 2023 Piolets d'Or awardees will be announced in due course and will receive their awards at a special ceremony on 15 November in Briançon, France.

AC Peak Lectures Return for 2023/24

Having taken a pause at the height of the COVID-19 pandemic, our popular Peak District lectures have taken longer to return than we would have hoped. However, thanks to the hard work of AC vice-president Adéle Long, they are now back with a full schedule for the autumn and winter of 2023/24.

The lectures will take place once a month from October to March, either at The Sir William Hotel in Grindleford or Outside Café in Hathersage. The planned dates and speakers are below:

5 Oct : Charlene Gibson - Climbing Cho Oyu
9 Nov: Catherine Moorehead - In conversation with Jeremy Windsor about her biography of Doug Scott.
7 Dec: Simon Richardson - Looking Around New Corners in the Alps and Canada
11 Jan: Mick Fowler - Chombu: 'The one that got away'
8 Feb: Kasia Piatek - An Expedition to Sikkim
14 March: Ronnie Legg - Ama Dablam by an Average Josephine

Some of the venues are yet to be confirmed, but will be added to the listings in due course. The first two lectures will take place at The Sir William in Grindleford.

We hope to see you there!

2023 Boardman Tasker Award Shortlist Announced

The judges of the Boardman Tasker Award for Mountain Literature have announced the shortlist for this year's competition.

^{© Boardman Tasker Charitable Trust}

The shortlisted titles are: Sherpa by Pradeep Bashyal and Ankit Babu Adhikari, Unraveled by Katie Brown, The Hidden Fires by Merryn Glover, British Mountaineers by Faye Latham and Closer to the Edge by Alpine Club member Leo Houlding.

The Boardman Tasker Award, now in its 40th year, was set up in memory of Pete Boardman and Joe Tasker who were tragically lost while climbing on the north east ridge of Mount Everest in 1982. It continues its efforts to pomote mountain literature through this annual award and associated monetary prize. 

The winner(s) will be announced on 17 November as part of an event with the shortlisted authors at Kendal Mountain Festival.

Alpine Club Statement on the Death of Mohammad Hassan

Recent events on K2 have prompted several members to contact the Club to express their concern at the fate of Mohammad Hassan, a Pakistani high-altitude porter who died high on the mountain in late July.

While the circumstances of Mohammad’s death are still not wholly clear, the Club wants to express its condolences to Mohammad’s family and its concern to the Pakistani authorities at how K2 is being managed. From what we do know, it seems clear that Mohammad was ill-equipped for such an environment and that no serious rescue attempt was made, with many climbers continuing to the summit while Mohammad remained in a perilous position.

It can never be right that a local porter should be abandoned in this way if something could be done and there are vital questions to be answered about how this situation could be allowed to occur.

We share the concerns of those in the guiding world who have expressed their alarm at what happened on K2 and await with interest the promised enquiry from the Pakistani authorities.